More Potassium for a Healthy Life

Potassium substance that often found in bananas, white beans and potatoes can contribute to protect midlife women from strokes, however most of them in this age group do not eat nearly enough potassium-rich foods. Experts at Albert Einstein College of Medicine based in Bronx, New York monitored more than 90,000 postmenopausal women ages in range of 50 to 79 for an average of 11 years.

The results determined that those who have diets involving most potassium have 12 percent less risk to get a stroke, while 16 percent of them were less likely to develop an ischemic stroke (the type where the  supply of blood to certain part of the brain is cut off) than women who have lowest potassium intake. The experts also found out that the women who get the most potassium were 10 percent less likely to die those who consumed lower potassium. Also, the risk of ischemic stroke was reduced by 27 percent for those women who do not have high blood pressure and had the highest   potassium consumption. The risk of all stroke types was 21 percent less likely among these women than those who had the lowest potassium intake.

Furthermore, women who have high blood pressure and ate the most potassium had lower risk of death, but the risk of stroke was not reduced compared to those who had diet with the least potassium. This result speaks to high blood pressure as a potential stroke risk factor.

In the study, only 2.8 percent of women consume at least 4.700 mg of potassium every day, the recommended amount given by the USA Department of Agriculture. Meanwhile, there are only 16.6 percent of those women that consumed at least 3.510 mg or more as suggested by the WHO. However, the study results were based on potassium from food, not from supplements.