• Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide.
• Diets high in sodium increase a person’s risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.
• With the widespread consumption of processed foods, many people find it hard to limit their sodium intake.
The women may be able to combat the effects of sodium by eating a potassium-rich diet, potentially decreasing their risk of CVD (Cardiovascular disease).
CVD is a general term for conditions affecting the heart or blood vessels. It's usually associated with a build-up of fatty deposits inside the arteries (atherosclerosis) and an increased risk of blood clots.
Bananas are not only rich in vitamin A, they are also a good source of vitamin B6 and tryptophan (an amino acid), which helps your body produce serotonin, the feel good hormone that improves your mood and relieves symptoms of depression.
Bananas are plentiful in fiber, which is good for your heart. One medium banana contains 3.1 g of fiber as well as 1.3 g of protein and 422 mg of potassium. Eating three bananas every day will improve your heart health and reduce your risk of heart attack and coronary heart disease.
They're full of important nutrients, but eating too many could end up doing more harm than good. Too much of any single food may contribute to weight gain and nutrient deficiencies. One to two bananas per day is considered a moderate intake for most healthy people.
Researchers then measured their blood pressure and collected a urine sample. They estimated dietary intake of sodium and potassium levels by measuring urinary levels of these two minerals.
Researchers analyzed the effect of potassium intake on blood pressure, after adjusting for age and sodium intake.
In women, they found a negative correlation between potassium intake and systolic blood pressure (SBP) — as intake increased, SBP decreased. The effect was greatest in those women who had the highest sodium intake.
In women with a high sodium intake, every 1 gram increase in daily potassium was associated with 2.4 millimeters of mercury (mm/Hg) lower SBP.
“Lowering the SBP by just over 1 mm/Hg is not clinically significant in practice. What it does indicate is that sodium intake alone is not the only factor we should be concentrating on when preventing CVD, and personalized nutrition approaches are key in achieving optimal health outcomes”.
Doctor saying: “I think the advice we should be giving is to increase whole plant foods, naturally high in potassium, such as avocados, legumes, artichokes, beets and apricots, and minimize ultra-processed foods which are often very high in sodium.”
They found that, overall, those with the highest potassium intake had a 13% lower risk of cardiovascular events than those with the lowest.
When analyzed separately, high potassium intake reduced the men’s risk by 7%, and the women’s by 11%. Dietary sodium did not influence the relationship between potassium and CVD.
The results suggest that potassium helps preserve heart health, but that women benefit more than men. The relationship between potassium and cardiovascular events was the same regardless of salt intake, suggesting that potassium has other ways of protecting the heart on top of increasing sodium excretion.
Although eating bananas during pregnancy is considered safe, they should be avoided in certain cases. Women who suffer from allergies and women who have diabetes or gestational diabetes are advised against eating bananas. Bananas contain a latex-like substance that is a known allergen.
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