It ’ s no secret that keeping a lid on your blood pressure is one of the best things you can do for your heart . After all , high blood pressure is the # 1 cause of heart disease . But when blood pressure is in the healthy range , your whole body benefits . The risk of hearing loss , kidney damage and even dementia drop . And while dips in estrogen that occur during menopause can cause blood pressure to climb , it ’ s easy to outsmart elevations . Just …

Enjoy another slice of pizza

Or savor spaghetti sauce . A

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⁄ 2 cup of tomato sauce supplies 19 mg . of lycopene , a compound with BP-lowering abilities . Research in the American Heart Journal suggests getting 15 mg . of lycopene daily can shave 10 points off systolic ( the top number ) blood pressure and lower diastolic pressure by 4 points in eight weeks . Lycopene , which is released from tomatoes during cooking , enhances the production

1 ( 24 oz .) pkg . lightly breaded chicken strips , such as Tyson

1 ( 28 oz .) jar tomatobasil pasta sauce

3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

16 oz . cooked penne pasta

1 Tbs . olive oil

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Sip a pink spritzer Adding pomegranate juice to sparkling water makes for a sweet-tart refresher . And in a study in Atherosclerosis , people who drank a mere 1 1 ⁄ 2 oz . of pomegranate juice daily netted significant blood-pressure reductions in two days . Credit goes to polyphenol compounds

1 Heat oven to 400 ° F . Coat baking sheet with cooking spray . Place chicken strips on baking sheet ; bake until crisp , 15 min . Remove from oven .

2 Heat oven to 450 ° F . Spoon 1 Tbs . pasta sauce onto each strip . Dividing evenly , sprinkle 2 cups cheese on top . Bake 5 min . In bowl , toss pasta with olive oil , remaining 1 cup cheese and pasta sauce until coated . Serve pasta alongside chicken . Serves 6 . found in pomegranates and concentrated in their juice , which act on blood pressure – regulating enzymes in much the same way pressure-lowering drugs called ACE inhibitors do .

Squeeze your

Sure , pickleball keeps your blood pressure low . But what about when you ’ re short on time ? Turns out simple handgrip exercises rein in high BP readings too . A Canadian study found they can lower your

The tomatoes packed into pasta sauce contain lycopene , which reduces BP

Note : Check with your healthcare provider before supplementing systolic blood pressure by up to 19 points and your diastolic BP by up to 7 points in eight weeks . By flexing the muscles in your fingers and hands , your body automatically sends nerve signals from blood vessels to your brain to keep your levels low . While study participants used hand-grip devices , you can mimic the effects by squeezing and releasing a tennis ball for 8 minutes three times a week .

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In a Harvard study , subjects who used OTC mouthwashes twice a day were up to 85 % more likely to have high blood pressure than those who rinsed less often . Antibacterial mouthwash kills off oral bacteria needed for the formation of pressure-easing nitric oxide , explains Nobel prize – winning nitric oxide researcher Louis Ignarro , Ph . D . If you feel you need a freshening fix , he advises rinsing with a drop or two of peppermint oil mixed into 1 ⁄ 4 cup of water .

— Melissa Gotthardt