Tomato juice can help you meet recommendations to increase your vegetable intake, and it may also help you lower your blood pressure as part of a healthy diet. High blood pressure, or hypertension, increases your risk for stroke, kidney disease and heart disease, so it is important to eat a balanced diet and consult with your doctor if you have concerns.
Benefits
Tomato juice may help lower your blood pressure because it provides 556mg of potassium per cup, and a high-potassium diet may lower your blood pressure. Healthy adults should get at least 4,700mg of potassium per day, according to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Tomato juice provides 44mg of vitamin C, or 73 percent of the daily value, and this antioxidant vitamin may lower high blood pressure, according to the Linus Pauling Institute Micronutrient Information Center.
Vegetable Recommendations
Tomato juice counts toward your vegetable servings, and you should have four to five servings per day, if you are on a 2,000-calorie diet, to meet recommendations in the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, or DASH, diet. This plan may lower your blood pressure, and it also emphasizes fruits, whole grains, reduced-fat dairy products, lean proteins and legumes, according to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Your doctor may have additional suggestions for lowering your blood pressure.
Weight Concerns
Obesity increases your risk for high blood pressure, and with 41 calories per cup, tomato juice is a better choice for lowering blood pressure than higher-calorie fruit juices. Orange juice has 112 calories per cup, and prune juice has 118 calories, according to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines. However, liquid calories, such as from tomato juice, are not as satisfying as calories from solid foods, and you may be better able to control your weight and lower your blood pressure by eating cooked tomatoes, with 43 calories per cup.
Considerations
Drink tomato juice on its own as a snack or with a meal, or incorporate tomato juice into your diet by adding it to recipes. Tomato juice can be a base for a soup or tomato sauce, or you can use it to increase the nutrients in chicken or fish dishes, home-made salad dressings, dips or stews. Tomato juice with added salt can have more than 600mg sodium per cup, so choose low-sodium juice. Sodium may lead to high blood pressure, so limit your daily sodium to 2,300mg, or to no more than 1,500mg if you have high blood pressure, according to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines.
