Can Eating More Tomatoes Daily Help Lower High Blood Pressure?

For older adults with mild high blood pressure, a new study suggests consuming tomatoes may help manage hypertension and may even lower the risk of developing high blood pressure in the first place.

In the study, people without high blood pressure who ate the most tomatoes or tomato-based foods had a 36% lower risk of developing hypertension than those who ate the least.

In people who already had high blood pressure, especially those with stage 1 hypertension, moderate consumption of tomatoes was associated with a reduction in blood pressure.

The study involved 7,056 participants, 82.5% of whom had hypertension. They were questioned regarding their daily consumption of tomatoes and sorted into four classifications: less than 44 grams per day, 44–82 grams (intermediate), 82–110 grams (upper intermediate), and more than 110 grams.

The authors of the study observed a lowering of diastolic blood pressure in those with both the highest and intermediate levels of tomato consumption compared with the lowest levels of consumption. Participants with stage 1 hypertension and intermediate tomato consumption experienced a lowering of both systolic and diastolic blood pressure compared with participants who consumed the fewest tomatoes.

Diastolic blood pressure reflects the pressure in arteries when the heart is at rest. It is expressed as the lower blood pressure number, with systolic blood pressure, the upper value, indicating the pressure in the arteries as the heart beats.

The study is published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

While tomatoes, as a ripened flower ovary containing seeds, qualify as fruits, they are generally considered a vegetables. They belong to the nightshade family. Nightshade vegetables include bell peppers, eggplant, spices such as cayenne and paprika, and potatoes, except sweet potatoes.

Two of the compounds in tomatoes most likely to be protective against hypertension are lycopene and potassium.

“Lycopene, the most plentiful carotenoid in tomato, does not only reduce the angiotensin-converting enzyme and its gene expression, preventing the synthesis of angiotensin 2… but also promotes the generation of nitric oxide in the endothelium [cells that line the blood vessels] — helping lower blood pressure and improving blood flow,” explained Co-author Rosa María Lamuela-Raventós, Ph.D.

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Sources:

David Murcia-Lesmes, Inés Domínguez-López, Emily P Laveriano-Santos, Anna Tresserra-Rimbau, Sara Castro-Barquero, Ramón Estruch, Zenaida Vazquez-Ruiz, Miguel Ruiz-Canela, Cristina Razquin, Dolores Corella, Jose V Sorli, Jordi Salas-Salvadó, Karla-Alejandra Pérez-Vega, Enrique Gómez-Gracia, José Lapetra, Fernando Arós, Miquel Fiol, Luis Serra-Majem, Xavier Pinto, Emilio Ros, Rosa M Lamuela-Raventós, Association between tomato consumption and blood pressure in an older population at high cardiovascular risk: observational analysis of PREDIMED trial, European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, 2023;, zwad363, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjpc/zwad363

Oxford Academy. (2024, January 12). Can eating more tomatoes daily help lower high blood pressure?. MedicalNewsToday. Retrieved January 12, 2024 from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/can-eating-more-tomatoes-daily-help-lower-high-blood-pressure 

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