1. Go Big on Beans
When you think potassium, you probably picture bananas. But white beans clock 173 more milligrams of potassium per serving. (Adzuki beans, great northern beans, soybeans, and pink beans all have more potassium than bananas.) Why does that matter? “Potassium-rich foods help you excrete sodium, lowering your blood pressure,” says Desiree Nielsen, R.D., author of Eat More Plants. In fact, eating a cup of potassium-rich beans every day for 10 weeks can decrease systolic blood pressure by an average of 2.25 points, according to research.
