A friend told Hua Zi that he saw information on the Internet that eating more potassium-containing foods can lower blood pressure. Is it true? Hua Zi told him that this was true. The sodium ion in salt is the main factor that induces high blood pressure, which will cause blood pressure to rise. Potassium ions can counteract the boosting effect of sodium ions, so potassium supplementation can help lower blood pressure.
However, potassium ions need to be supplemented in sufficient amounts to have a good blood pressure lowering effect. Some studies have shown that 3500~4700 mg of potassium should be supplemented every day to have a significant blood pressure lowering effect. It is not easy to make up this amount.
One, eat 1.5 pounds of vegetables every day
People with high blood pressure are advised to eat more vegetables. Vegetables are not only rich in potassium, but also contain calcium, magnesium, vitamins and other trace elements that the human body needs. It should be noted that vegetables also need to be matched. Green leafy vegetables have more dietary fiber, which is more likely to produce a feeling of fullness and easy to eat.
So when choosing vegetables, you can choose half a catty of green leafy vegetables, and choose a catty of tomatoes, winter squash, eggplant, potatoes and other vegetables to match. However, it should be noted that do not add too much salt, soy sauce and other seasonings when cooking, and the taste should be light. Otherwise, excessive intake of sodium salt will offset the antihypertensive effect of potassium ions.
Second, eat 0.5~1 catties of fruit every day
Fruits are also rich in potassium, but it should be noted that fruits also contain calories such as fructose and fat. Excessive consumption can easily lead to obesity. Therefore, eat less fruits with higher calories to avoid excessive calorie intake, which will affect your health.
The familiar banana is a fruit with high potassium content, but it is also high in calories. Don’t eat more, about half a catty per day is enough. Oranges are slightly lower in calories, while watermelons and cantaloupes are lower in calories. Under the same weight, you can eat more low-calorie fruits, and it is no problem to eat 1 pound a day.
Third, replace staple food with whole grains
The potassium contained in coarse grains such as beans, millet, and oats is several times that of polished rice and flour. When cooking staple foods, you can replace half of the milled rice and noodles with whole grains and beans. Under the condition that the total calorie intake remains the same, the intake of potassium ions can be greatly increased.
It is a better choice to replace the staple food with potato, sweet potato, yam, taro and other potato foods, which are the foods with the highest potassium ion content in daily food . Potassium content in potatoes, for example, is 26 times higher than in milled rice. If you replace half of the rice for three meals a day with potatoes, you can basically get 50% of the total potassium ions required per day.
Fourth, you can choose low sodium salt when cooking
Normal table salt is sodium chloride, but in low-sodium salt, potassium chloride and magnesium chloride are used to replace part of the sodium chloride. Choose low-sodium salt in daily cooking, which can not only reduce the intake of sodium ions, but also increase the supplementation of potassium ions.
Generally speaking, low sodium salt contains 25% potassium chloride and 10% magnesium chloride, and only 65% sodium chloride, but the taste is salty remains at around 80%. If hypertensive patients limit salt to 6 grams per day, when using low-sodium salt, the actual intake of sodium salt is less than 4 grams, which is very suitable for hypertensive people.
Five, pay attention to the balanced intake of nutrition
Eat 100~200 grams of lean meat, milk, eggs, fish every day while eating vegetables, fruits and whole grainsMeat and other animal protein foods. Because animal cells also contain a large amount of potassium, the nutrition provided by animal protein to the human body is not only high-quality protein, but also various trace elements such as potassium, iron, calcium, zinc, and magnesium.
A vegan diet is not recommended for those with high blood pressure. In addition to ensuring protein intake, you should also consume 25 grams of fat per day to obtain fat-soluble vitamins. Vegetarian food will lead to unbalanced nutrition, which will affect nutrient metabolism and make it more likely to cause metabolic disorders.
To sum up, eating more potassium-containing foods can help lower blood pressure. But you need to pay attention to the diet to ensure a balanced nutrition. In people with normal renal function, oral potassium supplementation is safe. It should be noted that people with renal insufficiency will affect the regulation of potassium ions and are prone to hyperkalemia, so potassium supplementation should not be done too much. I am Huazi, a pharmacist. Welcome to follow me and share more health knowledge.