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A banana a day
The newspapers have delivered a steady diet of medical fare. Some of the areas covered are frightening: heart disease, different types of cancers, and stroke–the plagues that seize many in regional populations, including Guyana’s, and lay them low.
The onset of a dreadful disease does not have to mean the end of the world, through abandoning hope and waiting for whatever comes.
A few simple adjustments could make a difference. One particular such adjustment involves taking the simplest of steps towards a healthier lifetime.
There was some coverage in a Reader’s Digest article dated September 19. It’s about a fruit. Guyanese, particularly the more working-class ones, can rest easy. No, it is not about grapes -green or red, seedless or organic, or imported red-cheeked apples, which just one a day may keep the doctor away, as in somewhere far.
There is that presence, those many benefits: it is mineral rich, with one property after another that highly recommends. The first health benefit from regular usage is protection from heart attacks and stroke.
It is because it is beneficial to blood flow and works well towards the prevention of hardening of arteries which could creep up on the unheeding and unsuspecting. A man could fall and be dead before he hits the ground. There are few finales more abrupt and earth shattering than such a passing. It could be avoided.
It could be resisted because this easily available blessing is around and about. Always visible; mostly plentiful, almost never out of season, with many appealing varieties, as to size, taste, cost.
According to the Reader’s Digest article, “Overall, mice given a low-potassium diet had much harder arteries than their counterparts. Mice who received high levels of potassium, on the other hand, showed significantly less artery hardening and reduced stiffness in their aorta…”
This was further corroborated by prior research, which indicated that a potassium-rich diet helps lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart disease, according to Ragavendra Baliga, MD, a cardiologist at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
“One analysis published in the Journal of American College of Cardiology in 2011 included data from 11 studies and 250,000 people,” Dr. Baliga says. “This study reported that an average increase of 1540 mg of dietary potassium per day is linked to a 21 percent reduced risk of stroke.”
Another study at the University of Alabama, meanwhile, broke ground to probe the mineral’s contributions to overall artery health. This is the bottom line: a sufficiency of potassium helps maintain a healthy heartbeat.
Michelle Routhenstein, MS, RD, CDN, CDE, a preventative cardiology dietitian took the bit in her teeth, “When potassium is deficient, low levels can cause heart arrhythmias and potentially impair blood flow to the brain, muscles, and organs,” she says. Other experts in the field confirm and reconfirm that potassium saves lives, and enough of it on a sustained basis can go a long way in improving one’s quality of life and holding off the dreadful in less robust years.
It is as simple as a banana a day. The secret is out and now made more public: cheap, ever-present, accessible, sweet, sour and, for sophisticated taste buds, simply heavenly. But that’s not the only option for the ordinary Guyanese shopper.
For though bananas have lots of potassium, the same Dr. Baliga, referenced earlier, normally recommends broccoli, spinach, carrots, cauliflower, and other vegetables to his patients instead. So don’t worry if the yellow fruit is hated, there are still plenty of ways to eat a good amount of potassium, including these other foods with more potassium than a banana.
A banana a day could make man or woman a top banana around here. Think about it.
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