Is it really effective to lift your legs frequently to reduce edema? Nutritionist Cai Yixuan reveals: 3 must-eat high-potassium foods to get rid of edema

Sitting or standing for a long time and poor blood circulation can easily cause foot edema, which is very troublesome! In order to combat annoying edema, many girls will never forget to lift their legs before going to bed no matter how sleepy or tired they are, and they will not relax until their legs are numb. Nutritionist Cai Yixuan recommends these 3 high-potassium ingredients to double your edema-reducing effects!

Office workers are glued to their chairs all day long and have relatively little time for exercise, so their blood circulation is naturally poor. In addition, most takeout and snacks have heavy flavors, and the sodium-potassium imbalance causes excessive sodium ions in the body to hold on to water, which causes edema. If you want to say goodbye to edema, in addition to regular exercise and leg lifting and massage to improve lower limb circulation, improving the sodium-potassium balance in the body is the fundamental solution. If you can combine your diet with the three high-potassium ingredients recommended by nutritionist Cai Yixuan, the effect of reducing edema will be doubled!

Three high-potassium foods to reduce edema

High Potassium Food 1: Avocado

Avocado, known as the "cream of the forest", is not only rich in high-quality monounsaturated fatty acids, vitamins C and E, which help reduce the risk of blood vessel blockage and maintain blood vessel elasticity, but a small piece can also provide plenty of dietary fiber and potassium ions, making it an excellent tool for weight loss and edema.

One avocado can provide nearly 13 grams of dietary fiber, which is close to 1/2 of the recommended daily dietary fiber intake for adults. Avocados mainly provide water-soluble dietary fiber, which is definitely familiar to people who pay attention to weight control. Eating a little can make you feel full. It is also an important nutrient for probiotics in the intestines and an indispensable nutrient for maintaining smooth bowel movements and intestinal health. In addition, avocado is also a high-potassium product. One avocado can provide 916 mg of potassium ions, which is about 1/3 of the World Health Organization's daily potassium recommendation (3150 mg). It is a good helper to balance the sodium-potassium imbalance in the body!

However, avocados belong to the "fat" category. Eating one avocado is equivalent to taking in 6 tablespoons of oil. Even though it has a high nutritional density, you still need to pay attention to the amount you consume.

Avocados are not only rich in high-quality monounsaturated fatty acids, vitamins C and E, which help reduce the risk of blood vessel blockage and maintain blood vessel elasticity, but a small avocado can also provide plenty of dietary fiber and potassium ions, making it an excellent tool for weight loss and edema.

High Potassium Food 2: Spinach

Not only Popeye relies on spinach for energy, but those who want to eliminate edema can also rely on spinach to help! Spinach has a high potassium content, with every 100 grams of spinach providing 510 mg of potassium ions. You can easily get potassium ions by just ordering an extra plate of spinach at a snack bar at noon. When cooking spinach at home, don't forget to keep a little more of the "stem", which has a higher fiber and potassium ion content.

High Potassium Food 3: Sweet Potato

There are all kinds of sweet potato products on the market, such as frozen sweet potatoes, honey sweet potatoes, sweet potato balls, baked sweet potatoes, etc., which shows how much Taiwanese people love sweet potatoes. However, sweet potatoes are not only delicious, but also a good helper in reducing swelling!

After being cooked at high temperature and then cooled, sweet potatoes can produce "resistant starch" which is similar to dietary fiber and difficult to digest and absorb. It only provides 2.8 calories per gram, which is much lower than the 4 calories per gram of ordinary starch. Resistant starch can also maintain the health of intestinal flora and eliminate your "big belly". Sweet potatoes are also a high-quality source of potassium ions, but Taiwan’s sweet potatoes come in all colors. Which color is best, yellow, red, or purple? For the same 100 grams of sweet potato, if you want to get the most potassium ions, red sweet potatoes have the highest content, with 300 mg of potassium ions per 100 grams. Yellow and purple sweet potatoes have similar content, about 270 mg per 100 grams.

Sweet potatoes provide only 2.8 calories per gram, which is much lower than the 4 calories per gram of regular starch. Resistant starch can also maintain healthy intestinal flora and eliminate your "big belly".

【Nutritionist’s Tips】

Mild edema of the lower limbs is common among students and office workers and is mostly caused by lack of exercise and heavy diet, but there are many other causes of edema. Decreased kidney function, heart failure leading to poor circulation, or cirrhosis of the liver can all lead to edema. If the swelling does not improve after a long time, you should seek medical diagnosis and treatment, and then combine it with dietary therapy to truly solve the edema!