Bananas are fruits that are eaten all over the world; and in many different forms. You might eat bananas plain, or in a fruit salad but they can also be cooked, fried, grilled, or eaten as chips; but did you know that this common fruit can help reduce high blood pressure?
Today, a lot of people suffer from the rising issue of high blood pressure; it can be very dangerous and even deadly, if not treated with caution, but instead of taking medication, you can just eat a couple of bananas every day to lower your blood pressure naturally. In addition, they are also very healthy as they contain vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, folate, phosphorus, and potassium- all essential proteins and minerals.
According to a study on blood pressure conducted in India, people who continuously ate two bananas daily for a week noticed that their blood pressure had reduced by 10 percent.
Another study done in 1997 showed that eating five bananas a day had half the effect on high blood pressure as blood pressure controlling pills.
Blood pressure controlling pills can be very dangerous to use; even though they can help reduce high blood pressure, they can have harmful side affects. So eating bananas are obviously a better option to reduce blood pressure.
The reason is because bananas are packed with potassium. Though researchers aren’t yet totally sure about how the intake of potassium lowers blood pressure, they have some ideas. One idea is that potassium causes blood vessels to be less sensitive, which in turn leads to less blood vessel contraction; this leads to lower blood pressure.
Another theory is that potassium helps blood vessels to relax, therefore causing a lower blood pressure. Though no one is positive about how potassium affects blood vessels, it still works.
http://highbloodpressure.about.com/od/prevention/a/potassium.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/264552.stm
http://www.livestrong.com/article/375163-do-bananas-lower-high-blood-pressure/