Finding the right balance between eating a healthy diet and not having to totally give up the foods you love can be challenging, but a new study gives hope to fans of one food that sometimes gets a bad rap. Research from Purdue University finds that eating more potatoes can actually boost heart health by lowering blood pressure.
The study set out to analyze the dietary sources of potassium and the effects that increased consumption could have on high blood pressure and other cardiovascular health issues. Researchers split participants into four groups: one that ate 23-hundred milligrams of potassium every day, and three groups that got a thousand milligrams of potassium in the form of french fries, baked potatoes or pan-cooked potatoes.
And the results show those who ate baked or boiled potatoes saw a “significant decrease” in systolic blood pressure, compared to the control group. But the most surprising finding? That came from the french fry group, which didn’t see blood pressure drop, but it didn’t go up either! So basically, fries had no negative effect on blood pressure. Study authorDr. Connie Weaver says the findings highlight “the importance of focusing on a total diet approach for maintaining health versus one that overemphasizes avoidance of any single food or food group.”
Source:Best Life