It might seem counterintuitive to
recommend foods high in salt to aid in the reduction of high blood pressure.
And it’s true that many high-sodium foods
are terrible for you. However, it’s not because of the salt, necessarily, that
this is so. It’s all because of the other ingredients of a particular food.
Scientists put this idea to the test
recently and found that one very salty soup is very beneficial to health and
even lowers blood pressure.
What do tomatoes, cucumber, peppers,
onion, vinegar, garlic and olive oil all have in common? Other than each being
really good for you separately, they are all ingredients in fresh gazpacho, a
very healthy Spanish chilled soup.
The ingredients of this tasty
traditional dish can vary from region to region, but basically include all the
ingredients above, plus other seasonings- like salt.
Gazpacho is pretty high in salt, no
matter how it’s prepared, but the high salt content can’t ruin the tremendous
health benefits, says a research group out of Barcelona, Spain.
After looking at the effects on
almost 4,000 people studied, the conclusion was that blood pressure could be
dropped by more than 25% by including fresh gazpacho regularly in diets.
Each of the ingredients has its own
long list of health benefits, and the fact that it’s chilled and not cooked
preserves most of them.
Cooking degrades the nutritive value
in any food, and gazpacho is served chilled after it’s blended in a food
processor. Using fresh, organic ingredients makes it even healthier.
The antioxidant and vitamin benefits
of the soup, it is theorized, far outweigh the detrimental effects of the added
salt.
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