As potassium is a proven and powerful regulator of high blood pressure, it is wise to incorporate foods high in potassium into your daily diet in order to reduce the risk of a stroke. Studies have shown that including small portions of the following foods into your diet could cut the risk of dying from a stroke by as much as twenty-five to forty percent. You can substitute the above with a portion of any other food you may prefer which is high in potassium. Research has found that potassium helps to protect blood vessels from the damage caused by high blood pressure. It allows the cells of the blood vessels to function normally, even when a person is suffering from high blood pressure.
Potassium even helps prevent strokes that are unrelated to high blood pressure.
It plays a major role in preventing strokes caused by blood and haemorrhages in people with or without high blood pressure. According to experts, the modern diet is sadly lacking in potassium. Our ancestors thrived on a diet based on foraging for roots, fruits, seeds and tubers etc., all of which are high in potassium. It is estimated that, today, we eat less than a quarter of the potassium consumed by prehistoric man, who probably ate between 7,800 and 11,000 milligrams of potassium a day. A study at the University of California, San Diego, spanned a period of twelve years and involved 859 men and women over the age of fifty.