Evidence of an Inverse Relationship Between Dietary Potassium Intake and Blood Pressure

Abstract

Experimental studies have demonstrated that elevation of potassium concentration in the blood affects elements of renal function in ways that are known to be associated with long-term reductions in blood pressure. In a wide range of animal models of hypertension, dietary potassium supplementation has been effective in reducing blood pressure and/or prolonging survival. Potassium supplementation, in many but not all studies, reduces blood pressure in hypertensive subjects, and dietary modifications that increased potassium intake were found to substantially reduce blood pressure in hypertensive and normotensive subjects. In several of the largest population studies of factors associated with hypertension, involving subjects from all parts of the world, potassium intake was reported to be inversely and strongly related to blood pressure. The magnitude of the effect is sufficiently great to warrant recommendation by the authors of some of the studies that potassium supplementation and dietary modification to a higher potassium intake be recommended for hypertensive patients, and for normotensive subjects to reduce their risk of developing hypertension.