Postmenopausal ladies who eat foods higher in potassium are not as likely to possess strokes and die than ladies who consume less food potassium-rich foods, based on new research within the American Heart Association’s journal Stroke.
“Previous research indicates that potassium consumption may lower blood pressure level. But whether potassium intake could prevent stroke or death wasn’t clear,” said Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller, Ph.D., study senior author and distinguished university professor emerita, department of epidemiology and population health at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY.
“Our findings give women another reason to eat their vegetables and fruit. Vegetables and fruit are good sources of potassium, and potassium not only lowers postmenopausal women’s chance of stroke, but additionally death.”
Researchers studied 90,137 postmenopausal women, ages 50 to 79, for an average 11 years. They looked at how much potassium the ladies consumed, in addition to when they had strokes, including ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes, or died throughout the study period. Women within the study were stroke-free at the start as well as their average dietary potassium intake was 2,611 mg/day. Results of this study are based on potassium from food, not supplements.
The researchers found:
Ladies who ate probably the most potassium were 12 percent not as likely to suffer stroke generally and 16 percent not as likely to suffer an ischemic stroke than women who ate the least.
Ladies who ate probably the most potassium were 10 % less likely to die than those who ate the least.
Among women who did not have hypertension (whose blood pressure was normal and they were not on any medications for high blood pressure), those who ate probably the most potassium were built with a 27 % lower ischemic stroke risk and 21 percent reduced risk for all stroke types, when compared with women who ate minimal potassium within their daily diets.
Among women with hypertension (whose blood pressure level was high or they were taking drugs for top blood pressure level), those who ate the most potassium were built with a lower risk of death, but potassium intake didn’t lower their stroke risk.
Researchers suggested that higher dietary potassium intake might be more beneficial before high blood pressure develops. Additionally they said there was no evidence of any association between potassium intake and hemorrhagic stroke, which could be associated with the low quantity of hemorrhagic strokes within the study.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends that ladies get your meals at least 4,700 mg of potassium daily. “Only 2.8 percent of women in our study met or exceeded this level. The World Health Organization’s daily potassium recommendation for women is lower, at 3,510 mg or more. Still, only 16.6 % of ladies we studied met or exceeded that,” said Wassertheil-Smoller.
“Our findings claim that women need to eat more potassium-rich foods. You will not find high potassium in junk food. Some foods high in potassium include white and sweet potatoes, bananas and white beans.”
While increasing potassium intake is most likely a good idea for many older women, there are some people who have an excessive amount of potassium within their blood, which can be dangerous towards the heart. “People should seek advice from their doctor about how much potassium they should eat,” she said.
The study was observational and included only postmenopausal women. Researchers also did not take sodium intake into consideration, so the potential importance of an account balance between sodium and potassium is not one of the findings. Researchers said more studies are needed to see whether potassium has got the same effects on men and younger people.
First author is Arjun Seth, B.S. and other co-authors are: Yasmin Mossavar-Rahmani, Ph.D.; Victor Kamensky, M.S.; Brian Silver, M.D.; Kamakshi Lakshminarayan, M.D.; Ross Prentice, Ph.D.; and Linda Van Horn, Ph.D. Author disclosures are on the manuscript.
The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute funded the study.
