When you eat a lot of processed food, you’re probably going to eat more sodium than you need. The Food and Drug Administration says the average American gets 3,400 milligrams of sodium every day, which is 1,100 milligrams more than the recommended limit. It’s sodium that can raise your blood pressure. That’s where potassium comes in. Potassium works to lower your blood pressure and weakens the effects of sodium. Fruits like apricots, melons, and bananas are good sources of potassium.
A 2016 study in the New England Journal of Medicine tracked the diets of more than half a million people over several years. Less than one in five of those people said they ate fresh fruit every day. People who ate fresh fruit like an apple every day had on average 4 points lower systolic blood pressure compared to people who never or rarely ate fruit. They also had lower glucose levels. Eating fresh fruit every day also reduced their risk of cardiovascular death by 40%, and their risk of major coronary events, ischemic stroke, and hemorrhagic stroke lowered by 34%, 25%, and 36%, respectively.