Low salt diets were our ally to control blood pressure. We had been overlooking the importance of banana

Sodium and potassium are two key elements for the functioning of our body, one sometimes interconnected to the point of serving one as a counterweight of the other. The excess sodium that we associate with high blood pressure leads many to control their salt consumption. On the other hand, if there is a food that we associate with potassium this is banana. Although not the only remarkable one.

Less salt … or more bananas. A study based on mathematical models He has found Tests that increasing potassium consumption can be even more effective than reducing sodium consumption when our goal is to regulate our blood pressure. This can help us increase the dietary options of people at risk of cardiovascular diseases.

“Usually, when we have high blood pressure, we are recommended to eat less salt,” Explain in a press release Anita Layton, co -author of the study. “Our research suggests that adding more foods rich in potassium to your diet, such as bananas or broccoli, can have a greater positive impact on your blood pressure than just cut the sodium.”

Electrolytes Both sodium and potassium function and electrolytes In our body, that is, substances that help our body conduct electrical signals, but that also fulfill other functions such as regulating the amount of water in our body or the level of acidity in the blood. Calcium, magnesium or phosphorus are other elements that enter this category.

The sodium Specifically, it plays an important role in maintaining the volume of the blood fluid under control. Under normal conditions, if our body detects an excess of sodium or an excess volume in the extracellular medium, it reacts excreting sodium to return to normal. The lack of potassium is has related with greater difficulty in controlling the risks derived from sodium in our body.

A mathematical model. The connection is well described in the scientific literature but the complexity of the biological mechanisms involved makes it difficult to estimate the magnitude of this connection between sodium, potassium and blood pressure. To estimate it, a team of researchers from the University of Waterloo, in Canada, has created a mathematical model that allows you to quantify this connection.

The new model managed to identify how the potassium to sodium ratio consumed affects the body. The model takes into account aspects that affect this relationship such as sex or age. The team observed, for example, that, although men are more easily in an increase in blood pressure, they also respond to a greater extent to the increase in the proportion between potassium and sodium.

The details of the study were published In an article In the magazine American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology.

Evolutionary question. As explained by the team responsible for the study, evolution has been able to have a great impact on how these elements affect us. They point out that, during the recent evolutionary history of the human being, the presence of fruits and vegetables in our diet has been high, so it is natural that the regulatory systems of our body depend in such a degree of nutrients that these give us.

Contemporary Western diets are, however high in sodium and low potassium. This could explain, they point out, why blood pressure problems are so prevalent in industrialized countries.

Not only bananas. We usually associate potassium to bananas but these are not the only foods that this nutrient contributes. Among the foods that They stand out for their contribution in potassium They are vegetables such as spinach, tomatoes, avocados and brocoli; legumes such as beans, lentils and soy; The potatoes. Among the products of animal origin are some dairy products, and fish such as phatan, salmon and Verdel.

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