Drop salt and discover potassium

This study analyzed the relationship between sodium and potassium intake, determined by their excreted values in the urine, and blood pressure.

Hypertension (high blood pressure) is increasing in prevalence worldwide, and is considered to be a leading cause of death, stroke, heart attacks, congestive heart failure, and chronic renal impairment.

Increasing evidence suggests that dietary patterns associated with high salt (mainly sodium) consumption and with low intakes of potassium, calcium, and possibly magnesium contribute to higher levels of blood pressure. An understanding of these associations has important implications not only for the prevention and treatment of hypertension but also for developing population-based strategies to decrease cardiovascular disease risk by shifting the overall blood pressure distribution toward lower levels.

This study enrolled 102,216 participants. Each participant provided a fasting urine sample (the second sample of urine collected during fasting) which was used to evaluate the amount of sodium and potassium excreted in the urine. These amounts represented the sodium and potassium intake of each participant. In order for evaluation to be as accurate as possible adjustment for factors known to be associated with blood pressure including age, sex, educational level, weight, alcohol intake, and geographic region were performed.

Following analysis, researchers concluded that there is a significant positive association between estimated sodium excretion and systolic blood pressure (pressure when the heart is contracting) and between estimated sodium excretion and diastolic blood pressure (pressure when the heart is relaxed). For each 1-gram increase in estimated sodium excretion, there was an increase of 2.11 mm Hg in systolic blood pressure and an increase of 0.78 mm Hg in diastolic blood pressure.

Further analysis showed that the increase in blood pressure was not uniform (linear). Estimated sodium excretion was more strongly associated with increased systolic and diastolic blood pressure in persons with hypertension, persons older than 55 and persons with high levels of sodium excretion (above 5 gram per day).

Estimated potassium excretion showed an opposite association with systolic and diastolic blood pressure. For each increase of 1 gram in estimated potassium excretion per day, there was a decrease of 1.08 mm Hg in systolic blood pressure and a decrease of 0.09 mm Hg in diastolic blood pressure.

This study concluded that there is a significant (non uniform) association of sodium and potassium excretion with blood pressure, which is most pronounced among persons consuming high-sodium diets, persons with hypertension, and older persons.

This article underlines the importance of a healthy diet. Talk do your doctor or dietician about reducing your salt intake and increasing your potassium intake.