You might not think that your hand strength has a lot to do with your blood pressure, but a new study says otherwise.

People taking medication for high blood pressure lowered their systolic (top number) blood pressure by five points by squeezing a handgrip exerciser three times a week for eight weeks. Participants squeezed the exerciser a total of four times at each session. That’s not much.

Researchers speculate that using a handgrip exerciser may produce small changes in pathways that affect the autonomic nervous system, which controls heart rate, blood pressure and blood vessel function.

There are plenty of blood pressure myths out there, but with a little bit of luck and a little bit of work you may be able to avoid blood pressure drugs entirely.

One simply way is to eat more of these 5 blood-pressure lowering foods.