High blood pressure? You should have more bananas to keep numbers down

Blood pressure related ailments keeping you sick, and no medicine or lifestyle changes making any impact on lowering the count? Here’s help: Make bananas keep your BP in check.

Bananas are loaded with a load of important vitamins and minerals: They are a rich source of vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, folate, phosphorus and potassium. One banana can provide us with around 400 mg of potassium, and it is this very potassium content which gives it the ability to control high blood pressure.

But how do bananas help in doing so? What is the process?

“Bananas contain potassium, a key mineral which helps lower blood pressure. It does so, by balancing the negative effects of high salt intake in our body. Eating salt increases the level of sodium in your body, in the bloodstream, thereby affecting our kidneys to remove water. The kidney is the prime organ which filters our bloodstream and removes excess fluid from it. By consuming a fruit like a banana, you are reducing the pressure on your kidney and thus taking your blood pressure to a healthy level too,” explains Dr Manoj Kutteri, wellness director at Atmantan Wellness Centre, Pune.

But won’t having bananas lead to weight gain? No, says Ramesh Gajria, founder of Train Me app.

“This fruit is also an easy go-to-snack providing you the benefit of consuming only 100 calories along with a vitamin and mineral rich diet including vitamin C and potassium,” Gajria stresses.

But even if you eat bananas regularly, you need to see a doctor if you have high blood pressure and follow medical advice.

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First Published: Apr 27, 2018 10:44 IST