The Tomato Juice Experiment

Lately lycopene, that lovely nutrient associated with a tomato's red hue, has been in my news feed. Tomato comes up first on the list of daily foods to ingest, primarily because lycopene has been shown to lower triglycerides, lower blood pressure, and for men, lower the risk of prostate cancer. I could use something to lower my triglycerides! They're not horrible but they have been creeping up each year and it's best to catch these trends early. (Lower blood pressure wouldn't hurt either.)

Even T-Nation (the online muscle mag) has an article extolling the benefits of lycopene (click here to read it). Of course, tomatoes are part of the nightshade family (potatoes, eggplants, peppers) so if this causes inflammatory issues, then skip the tomato products (juice, paste, sauce, stewed) and consult your doc about supplements. Unfortunately, it's been explained that lycopene needs to be cooked to increase its bio-availability. 

While T-Nation likes to shill products and constantly recommends supplements, the meat of their articles contain useful information. (Yeah, I pretty much ignore their product recs.) The MIT Press Reader article (first paragraph above) suggests one to one and one half cup of tomato products daily to lower triglycerides. Okay, that's not too onerous. I can give that a shot. I just have to figure out what tomato products! I settle on low-sodium tomato juice because I can drink 8 oz of that daily without any issues (until I develop some weird allergy or intolerance). Eating oatmeal and prunes, and filtering my coffee has worked for lowering my cholesterol so let's see if tomatoes will help my triglycerides and blood pressure!

There's a lot of salt in 8 oz of regular tomato juice, roughly 600-650 mg of sodium depending on the brand. If you're using lycopene to lower your blood pressure, you don't want that! I'm salt-sensitive so I naturally want the low-sodium version, which I couldn't find at my grocery store, so I bought low sodium V-8. It's probably mostly tomato juice, but who knows in what percentage? When I got home, I did an online search and discovered that another shop carried the product I wanted. I don't normally go there so when I found what I wanted, I bought 4 bottles on the spot. Low-sodium tomato juice contains 160 mg. I could order it on Amazon, but frankly, I prefer to buy in person when possible.

Temps peaked at 65F today. The gym wasn't nearly as crowded this morning and Lazy Pedals and his pal Middle-Age Guy were kibbitzing while pedaling ellipticals one and two. I got on elliptical four and happily tuned them out. My earbuds only lasted that long and I had to swap them for my AirPods when I got to the Stretch Cage. It's not that I don't like them: they just don't get loud enough to drown out all the chatter around me. So yes, I prefer my old earbuds with the wire that loops behind my head and drapes over my hair clip holding my braid off my back and neck. 

I feel like I've reached my max on hammer grip pull-ups, but maybe I'll surprise myself. I'm actually surprised to get this many reps as it is! The rest of my routine is pretty routine, including the Step Mill. And I admit to being wary about Seated Cable Rows, especially since my sciatica has taken a huge backseat to the ever-present dull lower back ache. I'd rather have the back ache than the sciatic pain. At least I can sleep and sit and drive like a normal person now. And I'm not taking any ibuprofen, acetaminophen or gabapentin. My cold rash, however, doesn't seem to be responding to the new ointment (mometasone furoate), but maybe it's too early to tell just yet.

There are less people in the gym today but a lot of regulars. It feels like Spring, but we're under the threat of potential snow in a few days. Yep, that seems just like March in the northeast. I'm thinking of doing Rip Skulls tomorrow. While I was on the stair climber, I glanced down into the free weight area and saw a fellow doing what looked like modified skull crushers, but only part two somehow ending with the bar on his forehead. I'm used to seeing people do only part one. Rip Skulls seem to be both parts: 1) extend arms straight up with bar, bend at elbow and touch bar to forehead; 2) rotate extended arms over head and drop down slightly behind bench; pull bar with extended arms to full perpendicular position (position 1).

7 March 2021
Balmy Monday

Precor elliptical
Program 3
Time: 30 min + 5 min cd (5766)
Distance: 2.89
Cal: 323
HR: n/a

HGPU 22

Crunches 60
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
60 Dead Bugs
Elbow Plank 60s
Quick Child’s Pose
Cat stretch 12x
Fire Hydrants 25 x 2
Bird Dogs 60s x 2
Child’s Pose
Push-Ups 30
Air Squats 25
Mild Mat stretch w 3 Eye Yoga

HGPU 21.5

Matrix StepMill (right)
Manual 10 min
Speed 6 (52-57)
Step 544
Floors 34
Calories 80
HR: n/a