A new study suggests that eating foods such as bananas and salmon may help reduce the negative effects on your body. A new study published in the European Heart Journal found that high-potassium diets (such as bananas and salmon) were associated with lower blood pressure, especially in women who ate a high-salt diet.
“It is well known that high salt intake raises blood pressure and increases the risk of heart attack and stroke,”
said study author Professor Liffert Vogt of the University of Amsterdam Medical Center in the Netherlands. Researchers analyzed the relationship between potassium intake and blood pressure and found that potassium intake in women was associated with blood pressure.
The more minerals entered the body, the lower the blood pressure. Overall, the team found that those with the highest potassium intake had a 13% lower risk of cardiovascular events than those with the lowest intake. “The relationship between potassium and cardiovascular events was the same regardless of salt intake, suggesting that potassium may have cardioprotective ways beyond increasing sodium excretion,” said Vogt.
