Just Peachy Blood Pressure

Try this naturally sweet treat to help keep your blood pressure (BP) in the safety zone: dried peaches.

Bananas get all the credit for being a super source of BP-friendly minerals, but other fruits deliver them, too. High on the list are dried peaches and dried apricots. Ounce for ounce, they deliver nearly six times the potassium in bananas. And research shows this mighty mineral helps control blood pressure.

Your body relies on minerals like calcium, magnesium, and potassium to regulate blood pressure. So if you have high blood pressure, the right foods may help bring it down. When researchers compared potassium chloride, the kind in some blood pressure medications, and potassium citrate, the all-natural form in fruits and vegetables, they found both types significantly lowered blood pressure in people with hypertension. The extra potassium brought the study participants' systolic blood pressure (the top number) down by about 13 points and lowered their diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) by about 5 points.

Getting at least 3,000 milligrams of potassium every day can make your RealAge as much as 0.6 years younger. Along with apricots and bananas, try these potassium-rich fruits and juices for variety: cantaloupe, honeydew melon, watermelon, orange juice, and grapefruit juice.

Recipe Corner
Get a potassium fix with this recipe for Homemade Trail Mix. It contains 247 milligrams of potassium per serving, thanks to the dried apricots. Find more potassium-rich recipes at EatingWell.com.

Effect of short-term supplementation of potassium chloride and potassium citrate on blood pressure in hypertensives. He, F. J., Markandu, N. D., Coltart, R., Barron, J., MacGregor, G. A., Hypertension 2005 Apr;45(4):571-574.