We’ve heard that it’s important to control our sodium (salt) intake if we want to control high blood pressure. Nothing new there. But now, researchers say it’s even better if we also focus on adding high potassium foods to our diets, to balance our sodium-to-potassium ratios…
Makes sense. I remember, back in university – lo, those many years ago – we already understood the relationship between sodium and potassium, as complementary elements that regulated the flow of signals in our neurons…
Balance essential
“Early humans ate lots of fruits and vegetables. And as a result, our body’s regulatory systems may have evolved to work best with a high potassium, low sodium diet,” an abstract of the report on a new study from Waterloo University points out.
“Today, western diets tend to be much higher in sodium and lower in potassium. That may explain why high blood pressure is found mainly in in-dustrialized societies, not in isolated societies.”
High blood pressure affects over 30 per cent of adults globally. It’s the leading cause of coronary heart disease and stroke and may also lead to other afflictions like chronic kidney disease, heart failure, irregular heartbeats, and dementia. And you wondered why the first thing the doctor does when you go in for a checkup is strap the inflatable cuff on your arm!
What they found
Now, researchers say simply consuming more potassium may help us control blood pressure. But it may not be as easy as giving an old saying a ‘newstalgic update’: Will a banana a day really help keep the doctor away?
No fear! They’ve actually developed a mathematical model that successfully demonstrates HOW the ratio of potassium to sodium impacts the body.
The model also identifies how sex differences affect the relationship between potassium and blood pressure. Among other, related issues, the model helps explain why post-menopausal women often suffer more-serious potassium deficits – and their inevitable effects – than younger women and men.
My take
Overall, the new research suggests we may have had the sodium-blood pressure relationship wrong all along, until now. Which may, in turn, suggest that our understanding of many of the related issues may be flawed, as well…
~ Maggie J.