Women after menopause who eat more potassium-rich foods, such as bananas, are not as likely to have a stroke, according to recent research.
Potassium-rich diets have long been linked to lower blood pressure, but this is the first time we have seen that potassium levels are related to stroke risk, according to senior author Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller of the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.
Her research group analyzed data on 90,000 women aged 50-79. At year one and year three after they enrolled, each woman filled out a questionnaire on their diets. The women were in the study an average of 11 years. The researchers utilized these questionnaires and the values of potassium in common foods to discover that the women on average consumed 2600 mg of potassium daily.
FDA recommendations state that adults and adolescents should get at least 4700 mg per day. Some of the foods that are high in potassium include bananas and avocados. A typical banana has about 400 mg of potassium, and one cup of avocado has 700 mg.
The research team divided the women into four groups, based upon how much potassium they consumed. The groups ranged from those who had 1900 mg per day to those who had 3200 mg per day of potassium.
Every year, three women per 1000 suffered a stroke, and 12 died of any cause.
The study showed that women who consume the highest levels of potassium were at least 12% less likely to have a stroke, and 10% less likely to die during the clinical trial period than those patients who ate the lowest levels of potassium.
The effect of potassium was the strongest for women who did not have hypertension.
The researcher noted that the reduction in risk of stroke by consuming higher levels of potassium is quite moderate when compared to other risk factors, such as weight, physical activity level, smoking and drinking alcohol in moderation.
The effect of potassium on stroke risk is likely similar for men, the study concluded.
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