If you are one of the 33 percent of Americans suffering with high blood pressure, or hypertension, you are at an increased risk for developing cardiovascular disease or suffering a stroke. These are among the top five causes of death in the United States. You have almost certainly been advised by your physician to lower your sodium intake, but what you might not have been told is that increasing the amount of potassium in your diet could have more of an impact on your blood pressure than decreasing your dietary intake of sodium.
Hypertension Damages Blood Vessels
Excess sodium in the blood causes the heart to work harder to provide adequate blood flow to tissues and organs. This increases the volume of blood that is pumped due to excess sodium drawing water into the blood vessels and results in persistent pressure on the blood vessels. Over time, blood vessels become less elastic and harden, which leads to cardiovascular disease. Thus, halting the damage that hypertension wreaks on your cardiovascular system is important and can be achieved primarily through dietary changes. Optimal levels of systolic and diastolic blood pressure are less than 120 over 80, respectively.
Potassium Strongly Impacts Blood Pressure
According to a study published in "Current Hypertension Reports," potassium might have more of an impact on your blood pressure than sodium. Compared with an equal amount of sodium, potassium was 2.5 times more effective in decreasing blood pressure. In patients who consumed at least 4,700 mg of potassium daily, an average reduction of 8 points for systolic blood pressure and 4.1 points for diastolic blood pressure was observed. For each 0.6 mg increase in potassium intake, systolic blood pressure dropped by 1 point and diastolic pressured dropped 0.52 mg per day. Furthermore, people who had high intakes of table salt had greater reductions in blood pressure when they increased dietary potassium intakes.
Potassium in Prevention and Treatment
A meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials in the "Journal of the American Medical Association," or JAMA, investigated the effects of potassium on blood pressure. A total of 33 randomized controlled clinical trials with a combined 2,609 participants showed that low potassium intake was associated with hypertension. Researchers concluded that increasing potassium should be recommended for the treatment and prevention of hypertension, especially in populations that were less likely to decrease dietary sodium intake.
Continue to Pay Attention to Sodium
Most clinical evidence points toward lowering sodium intake in combination with increasing potassium. The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension eating plan, or DASH, encourages intakes of at least 4,700 mg of potassium daily and sodium intakes of less than 2,300 mg, or one teaspoon of table salt, daily for most people and less than 1,500 mg for those with hypertension. Rich sources of potassium include white and sweet potatoes, spinach, tomatoes, bananas, apricots, apples, oranges, beans, milk and yogurt. Getting more of these food sources will not only result in improvements in blood pressure, but also improve overall health. Refer to the DASH eating plan in the Resources section for high potassium, low sodium meal plans.
References
- "Current Cardiovascular Reports"; "Nonpharmacologic Therapy for Hypertension: Does it Really Work?"; T. Tejada et al; November 2006
- "Current Hypertension Reports"; "The Importance of Potassium in Managing Hypertension"; M.C. Hoston; March 2011
- "Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism"; "Relationship Between Dietary Cations and Blood Pressre"; H. Kesteloot; 1991
- "Journal of the American Medical Association"; "Effects of Oral Potassium on Blood Pressure. Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Clinical Trials"; P.K. Whelton et al; May 1997
