Are you looking for a way to reduce your chance of having a stroke? If so, we have one answer. It’s not a medication or surgery, or any invasive procedure for that matter…it’s your diet.
This research was published in The Journal of Stroke, which analyzed 10 different international studies of 200,000 middle aged adults, looking at their diets and any foods associated with having a stroke.
The researchers found a link to potassium intake, showing that with every 1,000 mg increase in potassium in your diet, the risk of having a stroke goes down significantly over a decade. We already know that a high sodium diet is bad, but here we are seeing that a high potassium diet is good.
To be clear, we aren’t looking at the use of supplements, but at getting potassium from food sources, most of which are naturally good for you. We recommend that most people get about 4.5 grams or about 500mg of potassium per day. Good sources of potassium are found in many healthy foods, such as beans, dairy products and bananas.
Be careful if you’re on certain medications that can alter the potassium levels in your body (such as diuretics), and it’s important to monitor your potassium levels in such cases.