Evaluating a well-balanced diet that contains more natural than industrial foods is essential to keep your health up to date. This is because a proper diet, linked to good habits in daily life, can help prevent conditions such as high blood pressure, which affects many Brazilians and increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, and kidney failure. So, can you guess which fruit is particularly helpful in lowering so-called high blood pressure?
Fruit for high blood pressure
If you answered banana, you are correct! The element is an excellent source of potassium, a mineral that has a direct impact on our blood pressure.
This happens due to some mechanisms. For example, a structure found in cells known as a sodium-potassium pump. When there is enough potassium in the body, the amount of sodium that is excreted from the body (through the urine) increases.
This process helps lower blood pressure, as well as better control the central nervous system’s release of adrenaline and norepinephrine, two hormones also associated with vasoconstriction.
Additionally, potassium is also essential for maintaining muscle tone, proper nerve function, and even heart health.
Other meals
Therefore, including a daily banana in the diet can be an interesting way to reach the recommended volume of the mineral (4700 mg/day). But fruit isn’t the only one rich in potassium: some foods contain higher amounts of the micronutrient. Look at examples:
- Banana: 422 mg per unit (medium size);
- Sweet potatoes: 542 mg per unit;
- Avocado: 487 mg in half serving.
- Dried apricots: 430 mg in six units;
- Spinach: 839 mg per cup cooked;
- Pumpkin: 896 mg per cooked cup;
- Beans: 739 mg per 100 grams.
