Those who are seeking a way to help lower blood pressure naturally may need to look no further than their own kitchen.

Chicken legs – which are often discarded in the U.S. in favor of more popular chicken breast cuts – have been found to contain proteins that are effective at combating hypertension (high blood pressure).

Researchers in Japan extracted collagen from chicken legs and gave it to rats that had hypertension. Collagen, sometimes described as the glue holding the body together, is a fibrous protein that supports other tissues.

The findings, published in the Journal of Agricultural Chemistry and Food, reveal that these rats exhibited lower blood pressure eight hours later, compared with those who did not receive collagen.

In addition, these positive results persisted for four weeks, the scientists said.

“Chicken collagen hydrolysate prepared in this study was composed of foods that can be easily incorporated into the daily diet,” the researchers wrote.

Previous research has discovered that chicken soup has anti-inflammatory properties that help ease common cold and flu symptoms – which is probably why it has been used as a remedy for so many years.