Episode 93
Bananas Aren’t Beta Blockers
When Bananas Aren’t a Beta Blocker
People love to believe that food can replace medicine. We talked about this in Episode One, where I explained that Hippocrates never said “let food be thy medicine.” Still, the myth endures.
Food does matter. The right eating pattern can lower blood pressure. One of the best-studied is the DASH Diet—short for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. It is often called America’s version of the Mediterranean Diet. While the Mediterranean Diet was being mapped out for overall health, the DASH researchers asked a sharper question: what foods can lower blood pressure directly?
Why DASH Is Unique
Unlike most nutrition studies, the original DASH trial provided all the food to participants. That meant researchers knew exactly what people ate, meal after meal. This is rare and expensive, but it gave them confidence in the results.
The DASH diet emphasizes:
- Fruits and vegetables, especially potassium-rich foods like bananas, beans, and leafy greens
- Whole grains
- Lean proteins, like fish and poultry
- Low-fat dairy
- Less red meat, sweets, and sodium
Because it combined several food groups, DASH worked quickly. Within two weeks, blood pressure dropped.
What the Studies Show
The results were consistent. People following DASH lowered their systolic blood pressure (the top number) by 8–11 mmHg and their diastolic pressure by 5–6 mmHg. That is about the same as one standard blood pressure pill.
Even more important, DASH showed that sodium reduction matters. Those who cut sodium intake to 1,500–2,300 milligrams per day saw the greatest improvements. This shattered the myth that unlimited salt is safe. Too much sodium raises blood pressure, increases heart disease risk, and fuels strokes.
The Role of Electrolytes
This is where things get messy. Electrolytes, especially sodium, are necessary during prolonged exercise—typically more than 1–2 hours, in hot weather, or when sweating heavily. Under those conditions, sodium helps prevent hyponatremia, a dangerous drop in blood sodium levels.
However, for most people exercising less than an hour, water is enough. Regular meals will replace lost sodium. Salty drinks or powders aren’t required. In fact, most commercial sports drinks don’t even contain enough sodium to match sweat losses in extreme events.
The Salt Supplement Scam
Here is where the grift appears. Shirtless salesmen on social media love to sell high-priced mango-flavored salt packets as “essential” electrolytes. They promise performance and recovery, but they may actually raise your blood pressure and put you at risk.
Science says otherwise. Electrolyte supplementation should be individualized and used with caution. People at highest risk from unnecessary sodium loading include:
- Those with hypertension, heart failure, or kidney disease
- Women, who are more prone to overhydration and hyponatremia due to smaller body size and lower sweat rates
- Older athletes or those with low body mass
- Recreational athletes who follow outdated advice to “drink as much as possible”
Even ultra-endurance athletes cannot rely on sodium supplements alone. If they drink more than they lose, sodium will not prevent hyponatremia and may make things worse. The best strategy is to drink to thirst and use salty foods or fluids only when truly needed.
What a DASH Day Looks Like
How can you follow DASH in real life? Here’s one sample day:
- Breakfast: Oatmeal with berries and a banana
- Snack: A handful of unsalted nuts
- Lunch: Black bean and vegetable salad with vinaigrette
- Dinner: Grilled salmon with leafy greens and brown rice
- Extra: Low-fat yogurt or skim milk
This pattern supplies potassium, magnesium, calcium, and fiber—nutrients that relax blood vessels and lower pressure naturally. Notice what’s missing: salty snacks, processed food, and canned soups.
Food and Medicine Together
So what does it all mean? The DASH Diet lowers blood pressure and improves overall health. But it does not replace medication. Blood pressure medicines—ACE inhibitors, ARBs, calcium channel blockers, diuretics—reduce systolic pressure by 20–40 mmHg. That is two or three times more than DASH.
Food helps. Medicine saves. Together, they work best.
The Bottom Line
Bananas, beans, and leafy greens are wonderful. Electrolyte supplements are rarely needed. Expensive salt powders sold by social media influencers are scams. And the DASH Diet? It’s real, it works, and it shows that food has power—just not enough to replace your beta blocker.
Transcript
>> Dr. Terry Simpson: This is sort of episode two of our miniseries about
Speaker:food isn't a prescription pad. We've already
Speaker:debunked in episode one the idea that food is
Speaker:medicine. You may remember that Hippocrates never
Speaker:said that, no matter how many times a wellness
Speaker:influencer might report that or RFK
Speaker:Jr saying it. Well, again, if RFK
Speaker:Jr is your fact checker, you are in a world of
Speaker:hurt. But here's the thing. Food is
Speaker:powerful. Food is empowering.
Speaker:Lifestyle changes continue to be
Speaker:the cornerstone upon which physicians
Speaker:try to help you. The right foods can
Speaker:actually lower your blood pressure. And there's an entire diet
Speaker:that was designed for it called the DASH diet. And it
Speaker:works, just not as well as actual medicine.
Speaker:So today we're going to talk about bananas, beans, leafy
Speaker:greens, but why they might not replace
Speaker:your hydrochlorothiazide or lisinopril or beta
Speaker:blocker.
Speaker:I'm your Chief Medical Explanationist, Dr. Terri Simpson,
Speaker:and this is Fork U Fork University,
Speaker:where we bust a few myths, make sense of the
Speaker:madness, and teach you a little bit about food
Speaker:and medicine.
Speaker:DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop
Speaker:Hypertension. It's often called America's version
Speaker:of the Mediterranean diet. Why? Because when
Speaker:researchers were shaping the Mediterranean diet
Speaker:guidelines, another group asked narrower question.
Speaker:What foods and what food groups could directly lower blood
Speaker:pressure? And here's what made dash
Speaker:different. Researchers didn't just hand out
Speaker:pamphlets. They cooked all the food for the
Speaker:participants. Every meal, every snack,
Speaker:every day. That level of control is
Speaker:expensive and hard to do, but it's why the
Speaker:DASH sodium studies are so powerful.
Speaker:They could say with confidence, this diet
Speaker:lowered blood pressure. The DASH diet
Speaker:emphasizes fruit, vegetables, especially
Speaker:potassium rich fruits like bananas,
Speaker:beans, leafy greens, whole grains, lean
Speaker:proteins, fish, poultry, and low fat dairy.
Speaker:And more importantly, cutting back on sodium
Speaker:sweets and cutting back on red meat.
Speaker:And DASH works because potassium, magnesium and
Speaker:calcium relax blood vessels and balance
Speaker:sodium. The leafy greens and things like beets
Speaker:actually help your body produce more nitrous oxide.
Speaker:Fiber helps too. So when you
Speaker:flood your body with these nutrients, your arteries get
Speaker:less stiff and your blood pressure will come down.
Speaker:In trials, the DASH diet lowered
Speaker:systolic blood pressure. That's the top number, by
Speaker:about 11 millimeters of mercury.
Speaker:That's about the same thing as taking some blood pressure
Speaker:pills. We actually have Talked about the DASH diet
Speaker:previously in episode 46 of 4U, and it's
Speaker:worth repeating. This is one of the most
Speaker:studied diets out there. In the original
Speaker:DASH trial, blood pressure dropped within
Speaker:two weeks. That's Quick. Other
Speaker:studies following it confirmed the same thing.
Speaker:An 8 to 11 millimeter reduction in systolic and a
Speaker:5 to 6 millimeter reduction in the diastolic or
Speaker:lower number. Here's the kicker. It
Speaker:worked best when paired with low sodium
Speaker:intake. This was one of the first diets to
Speaker:clearly show that less salt meant lower
Speaker:blood pressure. Now there's people who think that
Speaker:unlimited salt is just fine. They're
Speaker:wrong. Excess sodium is
Speaker:directly tied to high blood pressure or heart
Speaker:disease, stroke, and even stomach
Speaker:cancer. Now let's tackle
Speaker:the exercise angle. A lot of folks
Speaker:buy salty electrolyte drinks, then think they
Speaker:need them every time they work out. For most people
Speaker:who exercise less than an hour, you don't need
Speaker:electrolytes. Water is fine. Where
Speaker:electrolytes matter is prolonged or high
Speaker:intensity exercise, usually more than one or
Speaker:two hours, especially in the heat or with heavy sweating.
Speaker:Think marathon runners in Phoenix, Arizona in
Speaker:the summer. That just is torture. But it actually
Speaker:happens. But that's when sodium helps prevent
Speaker:hyponatremia, which is a dangerous
Speaker:condition where over drinking plain water
Speaker:dilutes your body's sodium. But here's a
Speaker:catch. Many sports drinks don't even have enough
Speaker:sodium to replace what you've lost. In those cases,
Speaker:salty snacks or actual food work better.
Speaker:And after exercise, if you're eating a normal meal, plain
Speaker:water plus food is usually enough for
Speaker:recovery. And now the scam.
Speaker:You've seen them shirtless salesmen on
Speaker:Instagram selling overpriced mango flavored
Speaker:salt packets as if they're miracle electrolyte
Speaker:replacements, hawking them on streets as people go
Speaker:off to the shore to try and enjoy a day in the
Speaker:sun. It's just nonsense on
Speaker:stilts. The Dash trials proved
Speaker:beyond argument that excess sodium
Speaker:raises blood pressure and with it, the risk
Speaker:of heart disease and stroke. So while these
Speaker:bros tell you salt is the fountain of life,
Speaker:what they're really selling is a faster trip to your
Speaker:cardiologist. Here's the
Speaker:electrolyte replacement has a role, but in
Speaker:very specific settings.
Speaker:Prolonged endurance exercise,
Speaker:heavy sweating, extreme heat. For almost
Speaker:everyone else, it's unnecessary. And for
Speaker:some, it's dangerous. So
Speaker:who's most at risk? People with high blood pressure?
Speaker:People with heart failure? People with kidney disease because more
Speaker:salt means more fluid retention and more
Speaker:complications. Women, smaller
Speaker:body size and lower sweat rates make
Speaker:them more likely to over hydrate and develop
Speaker:hypon. Older
Speaker:athletes and those with low body mass, the
Speaker:margins are even slimmer. Those dudes might
Speaker:actually be hurting themselves. And recreational athletes,
Speaker:where most of us as weekend warriors,
Speaker:we need to not be following that outdated advice
Speaker:to drink as much as possible. Those are the ones who
Speaker:end up over hydrated, not the pros.
Speaker:But even in ultra endurance events,
Speaker:sodium supplementation does not reliably
Speaker:prevent hyponatremia if you drink more than
Speaker:you sweat out. In fact, it can make the
Speaker:problem worse. The Wilderness Medical
Speaker:Society and the American College of Sports Medicine
Speaker:both say the same thing. Sodium should only
Speaker:be added when sweat losses are high. And fluids should
Speaker:be guided by thirst, not by some
Speaker:influencer's affiliate code. So yes,
Speaker:if you're running a hundred mile ultramarathon in the
Speaker:desert, sodium may have a role.
Speaker:But buying the mango flavored salt packets for a
Speaker:half hour jog? You're not an athlete. You're
Speaker:a customer.
Speaker:So what does a DASH look like in real life? On your plate, Getting
Speaker:away from the shirtless salesman of supplements and scams.
Speaker:Breakfast. A bowl of oatmeal and berries and a banana
Speaker:pan full of unsalted nuts. Lunch. Black
Speaker:beans, lentil soup, veggie salad, vinaigrette,
Speaker:grilled salmon, side of leafy greens, maybe brown
Speaker:rice, and maybe a little bit of extra low fat
Speaker:yogurt for some calcium. That's a day on the DASH
Speaker:diet. Did you notice? No salty canned soup, no
Speaker:fast food fries, no processed snack. And here's the challenge.
Speaker:It's not about eating one banana. It's about
Speaker:changing your entire eating pattern.
Speaker:Now let's compare it to medication.
Speaker:One pill, like an ACE inhibitor, calcium channel
Speaker:block, or diuretic can lower your systolic blood pressure by
Speaker:20 to 40 millimeters of mercury, which is double
Speaker:or triple what dash can do. And here's the other difference.
Speaker:Meds don't depend upon whether you ate, ah, your kale salad today.
Speaker:They aren't concerned if you decided to have some french
Speaker:fries that were extra salty. They work consistently
Speaker:every time you take them. So, yes, DASH
Speaker:helps, but it's not going to replace your beta blocker, your
Speaker:ACE inhibitor, your calcium channel blocker, your diuretic.
Speaker:Here's a takeaway. The DASH diet's
Speaker:fantastic. I endorse it completely. It
Speaker:lowers blood pressure, improves overall health, and pairs
Speaker:beautifully with medicine. But if you're
Speaker:trying to control high blood pressures with bananas and beans
Speaker:alone, you're setting yourself up for
Speaker:disappointment. Food helps,
Speaker:medicine saves. And please
Speaker:do not buy into the myth that unlimited salt is
Speaker:healthy or that you should get the pink
Speaker:Himalayan salt. High sodium raises
Speaker:blood pressure. DASH studies proved it. Electrolyte
Speaker:drinks, save them for marathoners, not, uh,
Speaker:Morning walkers. And the sweet
Speaker:spot is always food and
Speaker:medicine. So when you see that shirtless salesman
Speaker:of supplement and scam standing on the side of road saying, hey, you want
Speaker:some of these electrolyte drinks? Let me give you some for free. You can buy it on
Speaker:Amazon. Walk on by. Enjoy
Speaker:your bottled water.
Speaker:This has been episode two of, uh, Food is in a Prescription Pad.
Speaker:Next time, when salmon is in a stent, how, uh, the
Speaker:Mediterranean diet lowers risk but still doesn't open
Speaker:blocked arteries. I'm Dr. Terry Simpson, your
Speaker:chief medical explanationist. Remember, bananas are great, but they're
Speaker:not beta blockers. Fork U is
Speaker:produced, researched and written by me, Dr. Terri
Speaker:Simpson. It is distributed by our friends at Simpler Media
Speaker:and the pod God, Mr. Evotera. For references
Speaker:and more, please please visit yourdoctorsorders.com
Speaker:and4q.com and here is the constant
Speaker:disclaimer. I am a board certified physician
Speaker:and certified in culinary medicine, but I am
Speaker:not your physician. This podcast is for
Speaker:education, not for personal medical advice. Always
Speaker:talk to your own doctor and registered dietitian
Speaker:before making changes to your health. Especially if you're going
Speaker:to buy one of those silly electrolyte packets because you
Speaker:actually harm yourself. Get to know your
Speaker:doctor. Not a chiropractor, not an eastern shame.
Speaker:Alright, everybody, have a good week.
Speaker:You know, Ivo, some folks think that if they eat bananas, beans
Speaker:and kale, they can toss out their blood pressure meds. That's like saying you don't need
Speaker:a seatbelt. If you drive carefully, it works till the crash.
Speaker:And the same goes for those mangroves flavored salt packet
Speaker:sold by the shirtless Instagram Bros. It's not
Speaker:performance science, that's performance scam. I'll
Speaker:stick with my meds, my bananas, and keep the show going
Speaker:because we're only on episode two of this series
Speaker:and we've got like a hundred to go
Speaker:and. No, the pension plan
Speaker:is we just die with our boots on, buddy.
Speaker:Aw.
Speaker:>> Speaker B: Uh, damn. Oh, well, I get to save a lot
Speaker:of money on those sugary sports drinks, I guess. Though
Speaker:I might spend them all on bananas. That's bananas.
Speaker:See what I did there? Yeah.
