Balancing Blood Pressure: the potassium/sodium connection

There are a lot of misconceptions about blood pressure. One important misconception is that it’s all about how much sodium a person takes in. In reality, a healthy blood pressure is as much about potassium as it is sodium.

Studies have shown that “People with the highest ratio of sodium to potassium in their diets had double the risk of dying of a heart attack than people with the lowest ratio, and they had a 50 percent higher risk of death from any cause.” (5)  In other words, by increasing your potassium intake, you can cut your chances of dying of a heart attack in half!  

Furthermore, “Our bodies need far more potassium than sodium each day, but the typical US diet is just the opposite: Americans average about 3,300 milligrams of sodium per day, about 75 percent of which comes from processed foods, while only getting about 2,900 milligrams of potassium each day.” (3,4)

We take in the opposite of what we need…we need high potassium and medium sodium intake.  Most people exceed the RDA for sodium, but few get close to the requirement for potassium.  Increasing your potassium is more important than lowering your sodium in the overall  picture.

Boulder Salt can help in your efforts to maintain a healthy blood pressure. It contains the ideal sodium to potassium ratio and is also an excellent source of magnesium (another key player in the equation!).  

For a list of delicious foods that are good sources of potassium, check out our blog The Challenge of Potassium

3. Brown IJ, Tzoulaki I, Candeias V, Elliott P. Salt intakes around the world: implications for public health.Int J Epidemiol. 2009;38:791-813. 

    

4. Dietary Guidelines for Americans Scientific Advisory Committee. Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010, to the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Health and Human Service. 2010.

     5. Yang Q, Liu T, Kuklina EV, et al. Sodium and potassium intake and mortality among US adults: prospective data from the Third                   National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Arch Intern Med. 2011;171:1183-91.