Steady Your Blood Pressure with This Picnic Treat

Drop your blood pressure down a few notches by enjoying this pink, juicy picnic treat more often: watermelon.

Turns out watermelon is loaded with an amino acid called L-citrulline. And in a small study of prehypertensive people, this compound helped improve circulation and lowered people's systolic blood pressure by as much as 9 points. Pretty sweet!

Savor Some Slices
Nine points may sound like a small drop. But it's enough of a drop to prevent prehypertension from progressing to full-blown hypertension. And a drop in aortic systolic blood pressure is thought to be especially important in mitigating cardiovascular disease risk. In the study, not only did people's systolic blood pressure drop when they took a watermelon extract of L-citrulline and L-arginine, but also their blood flow arterial function improved compared with the placebo group. The watermelon extract used in the study contained approximately 2.7 grams of L-citrulline, which is the same amount you'd get from about 7 cups of watermelon juice. That's a lot of juice. But other studies have shown blood pressure benefits with smaller amounts, so don't feel like you have to eat the whole melon. (Related: Use these strategies to ensure you get accurate blood pressure readings every time.)

Amazing Amino Action
Just what's so great about L-citrulline from watermelons? In the body, this compound gets converted into another amino acid that's key to the formation of nitric oxide (NO) -- that stuff that helps open and relax arteries. So whether you slice it, dice it, or juice it, you'll want some watermelon year-round, not just on your summer menu. When you've had your fill of watermelon wedges, try one of these succulent melon recipes from EatingWell:

• Watermelon & Goat Cheese Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette
• Watermelon Gazpacho
• Watermelon Slush

Discover three other live-younger benefits you'll get from eating watermelon.

RealAge Benefit

Reducing your blood pressure by losing excess weight can make your RealAge up to 25 years younger. Take the RealAge Test!

References

Actively patrolling your health can make your RealAge as much as 12 years younger. Take the RealAge Test  Copyright 2010 RealAge