2024-02-22 18:43:00
A new study suggests that increasing potassium intake may be just as important as reducing salt intake in controlling high blood pressure. The use of a salt substitute enriched with potassium chloride has shown clear reductions in the risk of stroke, major cardiovascular events, and premature death.
Supplemental potassium accounted for between 61% and 88% of the blood pressure-lowering effects recorded in the trial. In all cases, the results indicated that most of the drop in blood pressure was attributable to the increase in dietary potassium.
Potassium is an essential mineral present in a variety of whole foods such as legumes, leafy green vegetables, and fruits such as bananas, tomatoes, avocados, spinach, cantaloupe, cantaloupe, and guava. Current dietary recommendations suggest a potassium intake of more than 3.5 g/day, but the global average intake is only 2.25 g/day. Difficulty in meeting recommended dietary changes has led to a call to include recommendations for low-sodium potassium-fortified salt in hypertension treatment guidelines.
The study was published in the Journal of Human Hypertension.
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