Eat Bananas Regularly to Prevent Stroke after Menopause: Study

Binge on bananas to cut the risk of stroke after menopause, advises a research.

Recently, experts at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York discovered that eating food that are high in potassium alleviates the possibility of suffering a stroke in post-menopausal women by 12 percent. They investigated health status and dietary habits of over 90,000 women aged between 50 to 79 for a period of 11 years.

Findings revealed that women whose potassium consumption from food like banana and fruits was 14 percent less were likely to experience ischemic stroke, a deadly condition that occurs due to rupturing of the brain arteries. The risk of early mortality was 10 percent lower for subjects who ate sufficient levels of potassium compared to those with low intake of the nutrient.

Significant changes were observed among participants without hypertension and in women with high erratic blood pressure .

In addition, the research found high potassium intake benefits health and keeps diseases at bay. The nutrient found abundantly in fruits, vegetables, beans and leafy greens suppresses the effect of sodium in blood and averts heart diseases and stroke.

"Our findings give women another reason to eat their fruits and vegetables," said Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller, co-author and researcher at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, reports the Live Science News.

"The World Health Organization's daily potassium recommendation for women is lower, at 3,510 mg or more. Still, only 16.6 percent of women we studied met or exceeded that. You won't find high potassium in junk food. Some foods high in potassium include white and sweet potatoes, bananas and white beans," adds Wassertheil-Smoller.

More information is available online in the Journal Stroke.