Go Bananas

Potassium, found abundandly in bananas, is a mineral for which previous studies suggest is effective at lowering blood pressure. The US Department of Agriculture recommends that women consume at least 4,700 mg of potassium daily. Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller, from Albert Einstein College of Medicine (New York), and colleagues studied 90,137 postmenopausal women, ages 50 to 79 years who did not have a history of stroke at the study’s start, for an average 11 years. With subjects having an average dietary potassium intake of 2,611 mg/day, the researchers tracked potassium the consumption, and  incidence of strokes (ischemic and hemorrhagic), or died during the study period. Data analysis revealed that women who ate the most potassium were 12% less likely to suffer stroke in general and 16% less likely to suffer an ischemic stroke, as compared to those women who ate the least. Women who ate the most potassium were 10% less likely to die, as compared to those who ate the least.  Among women who did not have hypertension, those who ate the most potassium had a 27% lower ischemic stroke risk and 21% reduced risk for all stroke types, compared to women who ate the least potassium in their daily diets. The study authors conclude that: “High potassium intake is associated with a lower risk of all stroke and ischemic stroke, as well as all-cause mortality in older women, particularly those who are not hypertensive.”