Potassium lowers blood pressure

[moolie]

Hibiscus tea is also super for high blood pressure, it's worked a treat for my Dad who has had issues with hypertension since his early 30s. It runs in my family, so I keep an eye on my blood pressure (although I've never had problems) and try to drink at least a cup of hibiscus tea every day. Most "zinger" teas have hibiscus, or you can use dried flowers from a tea shop

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Do not treat a condition that needs to be treated long-term, unless you can also treat it with a proper diet. Keep in mind that K+ is an electrolyte, which must be kept in a normal range of 3.5 to 5. Too much or too little will cause a heart attack and can kill you. I lost a patient because his K+ level was at 8.
Hybiscus flowers can lower bloodpressure, as previously stated. It can be treated medically or herbally, but is there perhaps any other conditions that can be treated with a proper diet and exercise?

 

[Chantilly]

Re: Potassium. Some other foods high in potassium besides the ones listed earlier in this thread:

White beans, cooked -- 1004 mg in 1 cup

Dark leafy greens (like spinach), cooked -- 839 mg in 1 cup

Baked potatoes -- 926 mg in 1 average potato with skin

Baked acorn squash -- 899 mg in i cup, cubed

Yogurt, plain, non-skim -- 625 mg in 1 cup

Dried apricots -- 1.5 g in 1 cup

Prunes -- 1.4 g in 1 cup (although I sure wouldn't eat a cupful of prunes at one time!)

Dried currants and raisins -- 1.3 g in 1 cup

Dates (especially Medjool) -- 167 mg in 1 date

Dried figs -- 1 g in 1 cup

Nectarines and peaches -- 285 mg in 1 nectarine

Plantains -- 716 mg in 1 cup of cooked plantain

One reason why blacks in the USA have such high blood pressure is that they no longer eat the heavily vegetarian West African diet, which includes figs and plantains. West Africans who eat a traditional West African diet have some of the lowest blood pressure in the world. The lower levels of potassium (along with a higher fat diet and more salt) are a primary factor in high blood pressure.

 

[Marianne]

Thanks, great list!