Research: Tomato consumption helps prevent and manage hypertension

A team of Spanish Researchers conducted an observational analysis on more than 7.000 participants (men and women aged 55 and above, with high risk of Cardio Vascular Disease), within the PREDIMED (Prevención con Dieta Mediterránea) trial. The results were published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

High-blood pressure affects 18.6 million people globally and a healthy lifestyle, with a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, is strongly advised.
Tomato is affordable and widely available, as well as a main ingredient in healthy diets such as the Mediterranean Diet.
Tomato contains non-sodium minerals, carotenoids (of which lycopene is the most abundant) and phenolic compounds. Lycopene has many benefits for the cardiovascular system, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-atherogenic and antiplatelet effects. 85% of our lycopene intake comes from tomatoes and tomato-derived products.
Studies already support the beneficial health aspects of tomato (-based products) and of lycopene. However, the lack of general consensus on the effects of tomato intake on blood pressure led the scientists to conduct this new study.
 
Daily tomato consumption was categorized into four groups, from lowest (<44g) to highest (>110g). Long-term tomato consumption was shown to have a lowering effect on SBP and DBP in grade 1 hypertension, but not in grades 2 and 3 hypertension. Daily consumption in the highest group (equivalent to a large sized tomato per day) was associated with a 36% decrease in the risk of hypertension.
 
Sources:
https://academic.oup.com/eurjpc/advance-article/doi/10.1093/eurjpc/zwad363/7450162

Reference:
For the full article see: Eur. J. Prev. Cardiol., zwad363, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjpc/zwad363