Potassium is a mineral that helps your cells function properly. This article teaches you about its importance and the best sources to get it from.
Why Is Potassium Important?
Potassium is essential for your health for the following reasons:
Helps With Osteoporosis
As you age, your bones tend to get brittle. However, potassium-rich foods can slow down this process, helping your bones remain strong.
Prevent High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure happens when blood pushes too hard against the walls of your veins and arteries, resulting in stroke and heart failure. By eating potassium, you can remove the sodium responsible for high blood pressure and ease tension in the walls of your blood vessels.
Prevent Kidney Stones
Kidney stones are hard little balls created from minerals in your urine that cause pain while urinating. Potassium removes the acid in your body and stops kidney stones from forming.
Prevents Strokes
Strokes happen when blood flow is limited or cut off from part of your brain. This is occasionally caused by high blood pressure. With the right amount of potassium, you can keep your blood pressure under control and avoid strokes.
Sources of Potassium
Potassium can be found in multiple food sources, including:
Bananas
A single banana contains 422 milligrams of potassium. You can eat it as a snack, slice it into your cereal, or bake some banana bread.
Prunes
A half cup of dried prunes has 637 milligrams of potassium and loads of fiber. They can be baked into a tart or combined with nuts and cheese.
Potatoes
A medium-sized potato baked with skin contains 926 milligrams of potassium. However, eating it with lots of butter and sour cream could lead to more health issues than potassium can solve. So, enjoy your baked potato, but reduce the extras you use.
Lima Beans
Lima beans are loaded with fiber and have 436 milligrams of potassium in each half cup. You can make them easier to digest by soaking them overnight. If you don’t have the time to spare, frozen or canned versions are an excellent alternative.
Tomatoes
A medium tomato contains about 292 milligrams. If you can’t eat tomatoes regularly, try some pasta marina to get enough potassium. A cup of tomato puree has 1,065 milligrams, and a cup of tomato paste contains 2,650.
Conclusion
Potassium has numerous health benefits, including preventing high blood pressure, kidney stones, and strokes. To increase your potassium intake, you can eat bananas, prunes, potatoes, lima beans, and tomatoes.
