HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, July 22, 2022 (HealthDay Information) — It might sound bananas, however new analysis reveals consuming this potassium-rich meals can enhance coronary heart well being.
Avocados and salmon are also excessive in potassium, serving to counteract the unfavorable results of salt within the weight loss program and decreasing blood strain, researchers mentioned. Different potassium-rich meals embrace quite a lot of greens, fruits, nuts, beans, dairy merchandise and fish.
“It’s well-known that prime salt consumption is related to elevated blood strain and a raised threat of coronary heart assaults and strokes,” mentioned research creatorDr. Liffert Vogt, a professor of scientific nephrology and renal physiology at Amsterdam College Medical Facilities within the Netherlands.
“Well being recommendation has targeted on limiting salt consumption however that is tough to realize when our diets embrace processed meals,” he mentioned. “Potassium helps the physique excrete extra sodium within the urine. In our research, dietary potassium was linked with the best well being positive aspects in ladies.”
The research included near 25,000 British women and men between 40 and 79 years of age who have been a part of a analysis research between 1993 and 1997. Contributors accomplished questionnaires about their way of life habits and their blood strain and urine samples have been analyzed.
Urinary sodium and potassium have been used to gauge dietary consumption.
The researchers discovered that as potassium consumption in ladies went up, blood strain went down. And as potassium consumption rose, so did ladies’s blood strain.
Each 1-gram improve in each day potassium was related to a 2.4 mm Hg decrease systolic blood strain for these ladies. No hyperlink between potassium and blood strain was present in males.
Contributors have been adopted a median of 19.5 years (that means half have been adopted longer, half for a shorter time). Throughout that point, 55% of contributors have been hospitalized or died because of coronary heart illness.
After adjusting for such elements as age, intercourse, physique mass index, use of tobacco, alcohol and lipid-lowering medicine, diabetes and prior coronary heart assault or stroke, researchers discovered that folks with the very best potassium consumption had a 13% decrease threat of heart-related issues in comparison with these with the bottom consumption.
Males had a 7% decrease threat of coronary heart issues and ladies an 11% decrease threat, the research discovered. The quantity of salt within the weight loss program didn’t affect the connection between potassium and coronary heart occasions in both intercourse, researchers mentioned.
The findings have been revealed July 22 in European Coronary heart Journal.
“The outcomes recommend that potassium helps protect coronary heart well being, however that girls profit greater than males,” Vogt mentioned in a journal information launch. “The connection between potassium and cardiovascular occasions was the identical no matter salt consumption, suggesting that potassium has different methods of defending the guts on prime of accelerating sodium excretion.”
The World Well being Group recommends adults devour at the very least 3.5 grams of potassium and fewer than 2 grams of sodium (5 grams of salt) each day.
A 4-ounce banana has 375 mg of potassium; 5.5 ounces of cooked salmon has 780 mg; an almost 5-ounce potato has 500 mg, and 1 cup of milk has 375 mg.
“Our findings point out {that a} coronary heart nutritious diet goes past limiting salt to boosting potassium content material,” Vogt mentioned. “Meals firms may also help by swapping commonplace sodium-based salt for a potassium salt various in processed meals. On prime of that, we should always all prioritize recent, unprocessed meals since they’re each wealthy in potassium and low in salt.”
Extra info
Dietary Tips for People presents extra info on potassium-rich meals.
SOURCE: European Coronary heart Journal, information launch, July 22, 2022
