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Bananas can help women prevent stroke and prolong life
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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Recent studies have shown that regular consumption of bananas by postmenopausal women may help reduce the risk of stroke.
In a long-term experiment, scientists determined the amount of potassium consumed, previous strokes, and mortality due to stroke in volunteers.
The study lasted 11 years, during which more than 90 thousand women aged 50 to 79 were examined. It is known that bananas contain a lot of potassium, which helps reduce the likelihood of developing a stroke by about 1/4 (one medium banana contains 430 mg of potassium).
At the start of the study, none of the women had a history of stroke, and their average potassium intake was 2.6 mg per day. The World Health Organization recommends that women consume 3.5 mg of potassium per day, but only 16% of the study participants were consuming the required amount.
As a result of their observations, the scientists determined that women who consumed the highest amount of potassium had 12% fewer strokes (16% fewer ischemic strokes) compared to the group of women who consumed the least amount of potassium.
Among the group of women who did not suffer from hypertension and consumed enough potassium, the probability of ischemic stroke was 27% lower, and all other types of stroke - 21%. In the group suffering from high blood pressure and consuming a lot of potassium, scientists noted the lowest mortality rate, but in this group the level of calcium in the body did not affect the likelihood of stroke.
As a result, the experts concluded that regular potassium consumption is more beneficial before hypertension develops. At the same time, scientists have found that regular potassium consumption can reduce the risk of death due to stroke by 10%.
Not only bananas are rich in potassium, this microelement is also found in potatoes, sweet potatoes, and white beans. However, scientists warn that an excess of potassium in the body can provoke heart disease.
A stroke is an acute disturbance of blood flow to the brain that results in problems with movement, speech, or memory.
Recently, research by Stanford University specialists has shown that stimulating the part of the brain that controls movement can help speed up the recovery process after a stroke. The scientists' experiments were conducted on laboratory rodents. As a result, those mice whose brains were exposed to light were more active than the others. Thanks to this discovery, specialists believe, it will be possible to determine how the recovery process occurs after a stroke and develop effective treatment methods.
After a stroke, brain cells die due to the loss of oxygen and glucose (due to a blood clot). Treatment currently focuses on rapid recovery and minimizing damage, but treatment can take months as the brain begins to function again.
According to experts, optogenetic stimulation of the brain (exposure of light to specific neurons in the brain), which was tested on rodents, will allow the brain to recover after a stroke due to the formation of new connections between brain cells.
The scientists are now testing the effectiveness of optogenetic stimulation in other parts of the brain, which will allow them to develop effective brain intervention schemes that will be tested in future clinical trials.
Currently, it is impossible to use optogenetic stimulation on humans, as it requires genetic modification of target cells, but experts have no doubt that this problem will be solved in the near future.
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