The benefits of potassium in our diet

We all know that healthy eating is extremely important and we have previously blogged about the importance of vitamin D for people with dementia, how garlic is a super food we should all be including in our diets and how an elderly person can keep their health in check with kale. But today we want to talk about the importance of potassium in our diets and especially in an elderly person’s diet.

It’s an important mineral as it can help keep blood pressure at a reasonable level. It can also help keep your heart healthy and strong, in turn keeping your cardiovascular system in good condition.

Studies have also shown that potassium can help contribute to healthier muscles and it helps your body store energy to use later rather than converting it to fat. It can also reduce your risk of stroke by up to 40%.

You can opt for a potassium supplement to ensure you get the recommended daily allowance of the mineral, but it is always a better idea to try and get all those essential nutrients from food. There are lots of different foods that are good sources of potassium including bananas, sweet potatoes, spinach, prunes and fish such as tuna and salmon. This means it’s easy to include potassium in a main meal for dinner and also as a snack in the form of a banana or even raisins and almonds.