High blood pressure: Eat this popular fruit every day to lower your blood pressure reading
High blood pressure is a condition in which the pressure of blood in the body is too high.
It can be dangerous, because if blood pressure is too high it puts extra strain on the blood vessels serving the organs.
This can lead to serious complications such as heart attacks and strokes.
High blood pressure can be caused by many factors, one of which is eating an unhealthy diet, particularly one which is high in salt.
Cutting down or avoiding salt can therefore prevent blood pressure from becoming too high, and can lower blood pressure that is already high.
Some foods can also help lower blood pressure by helping to widen blood vessels, or by regulating salt in the body.
One fruit which can help to reduce blood pressure is the banana.
This is because bananas are packed with potassium, a mineral that helps control the balance of fluids in the body.
By doing this, it can help the kidneys to flush out excess salt from the body.
“Potassium is a key mineral that the body relies on heavily to function properly,” said Blood Pressure UK.
“It helps to lower blood pressure by balancing out the negative effects of salt.”
The kidneys help control blood pressure by controlling the amount of fluid stored in the body. The more fluid - the higher the blood pressure.
They do this by filtering the blood and sucking out any extra fluid, according to Blood Pressure UK, which is then stored in the bladder as urine.
“This process uses a delicate balance of sodium and potassium to pull the water across a wall of cells from the bloodstream into a collecting channel that leads to the bladder,” said Blood Pressure UK.
“Eating salt raises the amount of sodium in your bloodstream and wrecks the delicate balance, reducing the ability of your kidneys to remove the water.”
By eating more potassium-rich foods, it’s therefore possible to restore the balance.
This will help the kidneys to work more efficiently, in turn helping to lower blood pressure to a healthy level.
Potassium also helps the heart muscle work properly, helping prevent heart problems.
UK health guidelines advise getting 3,500mg of potassium a day, which should be possible through a healthy diet.
Bananas can contain between 350 and 450mg of potassium, but it’s important to get the rest through a balanced diet.
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