Latest / Fork U with Dr. Terry Simpson / Bananas Aren’t Beta Blockers

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Bananas Aren’t Beta Blockers · Fork U with Dr. Terry Simpson

• 0:04
  >> Dr. Terry Simpson: This is sort of episode two of our miniseries about
• 0:07
  food isn't a prescription pad. We've already
• 0:09
  debunked in episode one the idea that food is
• 0:12
  medicine. You may remember that Hippocrates never
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  said that, no matter how many times a wellness
• 0:17
  influencer might report that or RFK
• 0:20
  Jr saying it. Well, again, if RFK
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  Jr is your fact checker, you are in a world of
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  hurt. But here's the thing. Food is
• 0:29
  powerful. Food is empowering.
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  Lifestyle changes continue to be
• 0:34
  the cornerstone upon which physicians
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  try to help you. The right foods can
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  actually lower your blood pressure. And there's an entire diet
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  that was designed for it called the DASH diet. And it
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  works, just not as well as actual medicine.
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  So today we're going to talk about bananas, beans, leafy
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  greens, but why they might not replace
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  your hydrochlorothiazide or lisinopril or beta
• 0:57
  blocker.
• 1:01
  I'm your Chief Medical Explanationist, Dr. Terri Simpson,
• 1:04
  and this is Fork U Fork University,
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  where we bust a few myths, make sense of the
• 1:10
  madness, and teach you a little bit about food
• 1:13
  and medicine.
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  DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop
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  Hypertension. It's often called America's version
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  of the Mediterranean diet. Why? Because when
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  researchers were shaping the Mediterranean diet
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  guidelines, another group asked narrower question.
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  What foods and what food groups could directly lower blood
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  pressure? And here's what made dash
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  different. Researchers didn't just hand out
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  pamphlets. They cooked all the food for the
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  participants. Every meal, every snack,
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  every day. That level of control is
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  expensive and hard to do, but it's why the
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  DASH sodium studies are so powerful.
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  They could say with confidence, this diet
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  lowered blood pressure. The DASH diet
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  emphasizes fruit, vegetables, especially
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  potassium rich fruits like bananas,
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  beans, leafy greens, whole grains, lean
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  proteins, fish, poultry, and low fat dairy.
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  And more importantly, cutting back on sodium
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  sweets and cutting back on red meat.
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  And DASH works because potassium, magnesium and
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  calcium relax blood vessels and balance
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  sodium. The leafy greens and things like beets
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  actually help your body produce more nitrous oxide.
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  Fiber helps too. So when you
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  flood your body with these nutrients, your arteries get
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  less stiff and your blood pressure will come down.
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  In trials, the DASH diet lowered
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  systolic blood pressure. That's the top number, by
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  about 11 millimeters of mercury.
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  That's about the same thing as taking some blood pressure
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  pills. We actually have Talked about the DASH diet
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  previously in episode 46 of 4U, and it's
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  worth repeating. This is one of the most
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  studied diets out there. In the original
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  DASH trial, blood pressure dropped within
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  two weeks. That's Quick. Other
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  studies following it confirmed the same thing.
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  An 8 to 11 millimeter reduction in systolic and a
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  5 to 6 millimeter reduction in the diastolic or
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  lower number. Here's the kicker. It
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  worked best when paired with low sodium
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  intake. This was one of the first diets to
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  clearly show that less salt meant lower
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  blood pressure. Now there's people who think that
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  unlimited salt is just fine. They're
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  wrong. Excess sodium is
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  directly tied to high blood pressure or heart
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  disease, stroke, and even stomach
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  cancer. Now let's tackle
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  the exercise angle. A lot of folks
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  buy salty electrolyte drinks, then think they
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  need them every time they work out. For most people
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  who exercise less than an hour, you don't need
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  electrolytes. Water is fine. Where
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  electrolytes matter is prolonged or high
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  intensity exercise, usually more than one or
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  two hours, especially in the heat or with heavy sweating.
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  Think marathon runners in Phoenix, Arizona in
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  the summer. That just is torture. But it actually
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  happens. But that's when sodium helps prevent
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  hyponatremia, which is a dangerous
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  condition where over drinking plain water
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  dilutes your body's sodium. But here's a
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  catch. Many sports drinks don't even have enough
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  sodium to replace what you've lost. In those cases,
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  salty snacks or actual food work better.
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  And after exercise, if you're eating a normal meal, plain
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  water plus food is usually enough for
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  recovery. And now the scam.
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  You've seen them shirtless salesmen on
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  Instagram selling overpriced mango flavored
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  salt packets as if they're miracle electrolyte
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  replacements, hawking them on streets as people go
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  off to the shore to try and enjoy a day in the
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  sun. It's just nonsense on
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  stilts. The Dash trials proved
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  beyond argument that excess sodium
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  raises blood pressure and with it, the risk
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  of heart disease and stroke. So while these
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  bros tell you salt is the fountain of life,
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  what they're really selling is a faster trip to your
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  cardiologist. Here's the
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  electrolyte replacement has a role, but in
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  very specific settings.
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  Prolonged endurance exercise,
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  heavy sweating, extreme heat. For almost
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  everyone else, it's unnecessary. And for
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  some, it's dangerous. So
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  who's most at risk? People with high blood pressure?
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  People with heart failure? People with kidney disease because more
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  salt means more fluid retention and more
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  complications. Women, smaller
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  body size and lower sweat rates make
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  them more likely to over hydrate and develop
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  hypon. Older
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  athletes and those with low body mass, the
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  margins are even slimmer. Those dudes might
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  actually be hurting themselves. And recreational athletes,
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  where most of us as weekend warriors,
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  we need to not be following that outdated advice
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  to drink as much as possible. Those are the ones who
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  end up over hydrated, not the pros.
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  But even in ultra endurance events,
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  sodium supplementation does not reliably
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  prevent hyponatremia if you drink more than
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  you sweat out. In fact, it can make the
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  problem worse. The Wilderness Medical
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  Society and the American College of Sports Medicine
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  both say the same thing. Sodium should only
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  be added when sweat losses are high. And fluids should
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  be guided by thirst, not by some
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  influencer's affiliate code. So yes,
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  if you're running a hundred mile ultramarathon in the
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  desert, sodium may have a role.
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  But buying the mango flavored salt packets for a
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  half hour jog? You're not an athlete. You're
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  a customer.
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  So what does a DASH look like in real life? On your plate, Getting
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  away from the shirtless salesman of supplements and scams.
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  Breakfast. A bowl of oatmeal and berries and a banana
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  pan full of unsalted nuts. Lunch. Black
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  beans, lentil soup, veggie salad, vinaigrette,
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  grilled salmon, side of leafy greens, maybe brown
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  rice, and maybe a little bit of extra low fat
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  yogurt for some calcium. That's a day on the DASH
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  diet. Did you notice? No salty canned soup, no
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  fast food fries, no processed snack. And here's the challenge.
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  It's not about eating one banana. It's about
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  changing your entire eating pattern.
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  Now let's compare it to medication.
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  One pill, like an ACE inhibitor, calcium channel
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  block, or diuretic can lower your systolic blood pressure by
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  20 to 40 millimeters of mercury, which is double
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  or triple what dash can do. And here's the other difference.
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  Meds don't depend upon whether you ate, ah, your kale salad today.
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  They aren't concerned if you decided to have some french
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  fries that were extra salty. They work consistently
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  every time you take them. So, yes, DASH
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  helps, but it's not going to replace your beta blocker, your
• 8:01
  ACE inhibitor, your calcium channel blocker, your diuretic.
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  Here's a takeaway. The DASH diet's
• 8:07
  fantastic. I endorse it completely. It
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  lowers blood pressure, improves overall health, and pairs
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  beautifully with medicine. But if you're
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  trying to control high blood pressures with bananas and beans
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  alone, you're setting yourself up for
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  disappointment. Food helps,
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  medicine saves. And please
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  do not buy into the myth that unlimited salt is
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  healthy or that you should get the pink
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  Himalayan salt. High sodium raises
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  blood pressure. DASH studies proved it. Electrolyte
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  drinks, save them for marathoners, not, uh,
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  Morning walkers. And the sweet
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  spot is always food and
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  medicine. So when you see that shirtless salesman
• 8:48
  of supplement and scam standing on the side of road saying, hey, you want
• 8:51
  some of these electrolyte drinks? Let me give you some for free. You can buy it on
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  Amazon. Walk on by. Enjoy
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  your bottled water.
• 9:01
  This has been episode two of, uh, Food is in a Prescription Pad.
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  Next time, when salmon is in a stent, how, uh, the
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  Mediterranean diet lowers risk but still doesn't open
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  blocked arteries. I'm Dr. Terry Simpson, your
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  chief medical explanationist. Remember, bananas are great, but they're
• 9:15
  not beta blockers. Fork U is
• 9:17
  produced, researched and written by me, Dr. Terri
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  Simpson. It is distributed by our friends at Simpler Media
• 9:23
  and the pod God, Mr. Evotera. For references
• 9:26
  and more, please please visit yourdoctorsorders.com
• 9:29
  and4q.com and here is the constant
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  disclaimer. I am a board certified physician
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  and certified in culinary medicine, but I am
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  not your physician. This podcast is for
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  education, not for personal medical advice. Always
• 9:43
  talk to your own doctor and registered dietitian
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  before making changes to your health. Especially if you're going
• 9:49
  to buy one of those silly electrolyte packets because you
• 9:52
  actually harm yourself. Get to know your
• 9:55
  doctor. Not a chiropractor, not an eastern shame.
• 9:58
  Alright, everybody, have a good week.
• 10:07
  You know, Ivo, some folks think that if they eat bananas, beans
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  and kale, they can toss out their blood pressure meds. That's like saying you don't need
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  a seatbelt. If you drive carefully, it works till the crash.
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  And the same goes for those mangroves flavored salt packet
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  sold by the shirtless Instagram Bros. It's not
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  performance science, that's performance scam. I'll
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  stick with my meds, my bananas, and keep the show going
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  because we're only on episode two of this series
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  and we've got like a hundred to go
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  and. No, the pension plan
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  is we just die with our boots on, buddy.
• 10:41
  Aw.
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  >> Speaker B: Uh, damn. Oh, well, I get to save a lot
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  of money on those sugary sports drinks, I guess. Though
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  I might spend them all on bananas. That's bananas.
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  See what I did there? Yeah.