from European Heart Journal
Health advice has focused on limiting salt consumption to help avoid high blood pressure and the risk of heart attacks and strokes. However, that is difficult because salt is pervasive in our diets, especially in processed foods. A study in the European Heart Journal reports that women who eat potassium-rich foods, such as bananas, avocadoes and salmon, reduce the negative effects of salt consumption, including lower blood pressure. The study involved nearly twenty-five thousand people over the age of forty. During the next twenty years, people who had the highest amount of potassium in their diets had a thirteen percent lower risk of heart attack or stroke compared to those with the least consumption. Men had slightly lower protection from cardiovascular events.