Low potassium intake contributes to high blood pressure

Pennsylvania, November 10: Taking a diet too low on potassium may be an equal contributor to high blood pressure as a diet significantly high on sodium, a new study suggests.

However, the link is especially common among blacks, the results unveiled at the American Society of Nephrology's 41st Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, held on Nov. 8 highlighted.

Nearly 3,300 participants from the Dallas Heart Study took part in the study. Almost half of the study subjects were African American.

Through urine examination, the body’s potassium levels for each participant were recorded along with their blood pressure readings.

Analysis revealed a lower level of potassium in urine was strongly linked to high blood pressure readings. "The lower the potassium in the urine, hence the lower the potassium in the diet, the higher the blood pressure," lead author of the study, Susan Hedayati marked.

Moreover, as the blacks tended to consume the least amounts of potassium in their diet, they were to most likely to display the risky link.

Highlighting the fact that "there has been a lot of publicity about lowering salt or sodium in the diet in order to lower blood pressure, but not enough on increasing dietary potassium," Hedayati added, "This effect was even stronger than the effect of sodium on blood pressure."

In addition to the low-potassium-high-blood-pressure link, researchers also spotted a gene, the WNK1, which greatly influenced potassium's effect on blood pressure. But to accurately gauge the activity of WNK1 gene in the phenomenon, a study monitoring participants on fixed potassium diet is required, researchers claimed.

"We are currently doing more research to test how low potassium in the diet affects blood pressure through the activity of this gene," Hedayati said.

As of now, a diet high on potassium but low on sodium is the key to maintain a healthy blood pressure.