I have had hypertension before but thanks to good, old potato — it was gone in a matter of months.

What’s in potato?

Yes, potato is a potent remedy for high blood pressure. A good sized potato contains about 750 mg of Potassium, a potent element to counter the effects of high blood pressure. That is of course if you take adequate amounts of potassium daily. Hypertension is a major risk factor for stroke which can cripple the victim for life or even cause death. If someone is crippled for life, this will also mean high cost for maintenance or rehabilitation. So for people who are prone to high blood pressure or hypertension, potassium is a great food to prevent it.

Experiments on the effect of potassium

The idea that potassium can prevent high blood pressure originated from an experiment of genetically-engineered rats. Scientists discovered that the incidence of stroke among rats declined after they were fed a potassium-rich diet. They attribute the decrease in blood pressure to potassium. Further research on potassium confirmed the findings, and this is true as well among humans.

How much potassium should be consumed?

At present, it is believed that people should consume more than 40 mEq of potassium per day to prevent the risk of developing high blood pressure and avoid the debilitating effects of stroke. One mEq is about 39 mg of elemental potassium. Assuming that in one good-sized potato you can get 750 mg of potassium, this means that you need to consume at least two or more good sized potato daily to prevent high blood pressure. I just did this for almost a year, consuming on the average three good-sized potato during breakfast. And I also added a few servings of banana to top it up.

How does potassium lower high blood pressure?

Scientists are not yet able to explain how potassium lowers high blood pressure. Some believe that potassium makes the blood vessels less sensitive to agents of high blood pressure like hormones that narrows down the blood vessels. This lowers the overall blood pressure in the body. Other scientists believe that potassium has a direct relaxing effect to the blood vessels. Relaxed blood vessels allow blood to flow freely and prevent high blood pressure.