Can't make your teens eat less salt? Go bananas

Give your teens more bananas if you have trouble trying to make them reduce their salt intake.

The potassium in the fruit appears to protect teenagers from high blood pressure in adulthood, a new study found.

The research by Boston University tracked the eating habits and blood pressure of 2,185 girls aged nine and 10 for up to 10 years.

It found that while dietary advice has long focused on reducing salt consumption, sodium intake has no long-term effect on the girls' blood pressure.

But they found that girls whose diets were high in potassium throughout adolescence had lower blood pressure than those who ate less potassium-rich food.

But if your teen is sick of just eating bananas, don't fret.

There are many teenager-friendly foods that are a good source of potassium, including raisins, baked potato or potato skins, guacamole from one avocado and a serving of low-fat yogurt. Kiwi, nectarine, papayas and even dried coconut all have good amounts of potassium.

This article was first published on May 3, 2015.
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