High blood pressure: go for the bananas!
Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.
More posts by Christiane Fux All content is checked by medical journalists.People with high blood pressure should use table salt as sparingly as possible. Half of that is chlorine and half of sodium, and that increases blood pressure. Another change in diet is less well known, but could have a similarly powerful effect. It's just not about less, but more: Potassium from fruits and vegetables can help lower blood pressure.
Alicia McDonough and colleagues from the University of Southern California evaluated various studies on potassium and blood pressure. They determined the participants' potassium intake either through surveys on eating habits or, more precisely, on the basis of urine tests.
Potassium as an antihypertensive agent
The results agreed that higher potassium intake was associated with lower blood pressure levels. "More potassium could have as big an effect on blood pressure as saving salt," says McDonough. Foods that are particularly high in potassium include sweet potatoes, avocados, bananas, spinach, beans, apricots - and even coffee.
In experiments with rodents, the scientists then investigated the biological mechanism on which the potassium effect is based.
Potassium reduces sodium in the blood
Potassium is important for the heart, nerve and muscle function. On the other hand, too high potassium levels can stress the heart and cause cardiac arrhythmias, among other things. Therefore, the body balances the level at a level between 3.6-5.0 mmol / l.
It does this by flushing potassium out through the kidneys. "A diet high in potassium acts like a dehydrating drug," says McDonough. As the sodium levels in the body are lowered at the same time, the blood pressure benefits.
An appetite for salt dates back to prehistoric times
The fact that people like to eat salty has an evolutionary background: Both sodium and potassium are important for the body's functions. The typical vegetable-rich diet of early humans contained enough potassium anyway - sodium, on the other hand, was in short supply. Hence, man has developed a craving for salt, but not for potassium.
Modern nutrition turns this relationship on its head: processed foods often contain a lot of salt, as buyers react particularly positively to it - but often only little potassium. "Anyone who eats in the typical Western way automatically takes in too much sodium and too little potassium - which increases the likelihood of high blood pressure," says McDonough.
How much potassium is optimal?
The German Nutrition Society recently recommended a daily potassium intake of 4000 mg. According to McDonough's research, a little more is optimal for lowering blood pressure, namely 4700 mg of potassium. However, there are exceptions to the recommendation: People who suffer from kidney failure must reduce their potassium intake as much as possible.
