Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Blood Pressure, salt, and potassium

This link from Foodconsumer highlights a recent finding regarding potassium and blood pressure.

We have all heard how bad salt can be for our blood pressure. What we are not told is that the studies do not always support this conclusion. This study highlights what I believe to be a big reason for this. The salt - potassium balance is out of kilter, hence leading to high blood pressure. Potassium intake appears to be much higher in the past, with studies on some hunter gatherer groups who typically display low blood pressure indicating very high potassium intake.

The USDA recommends 4,700 grams of potassium a day. That is a lot, difficult to achieve with modern foods. For a list of potassium rich foods see this link.

1 comment:

Zanaprin said...

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