PHILADELPHIA—New research suggests consuming too little potassium may be as big a risk factor for high blood pressure as eating too much sodium, especially for blacks. The study, presented last week at the American Society of Nephrology’s annual meeting, also suggests that the WNK1 gene may be responsible for potassium's effects on blood pressure.
The findings, based on a Texas heart study conducted on the urine samples of 3,300 people, support previous studies that made similar conclusions about potassium and blood pressure.
"The lower the potassium in the urine, hence the lower the potassium in the diet, the higher the blood pressure," lead study author Susan Hedayati, MD, of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, said. "This effect was even stronger than the effect of sodium on blood pressure."
The link between high blood pressure and low potassium was strong even when age, race, and other cardiovascular risk factors such as high cholesterol, diabetes and smoking, were factored in. About half the study participants were black and tended to consume the least amount of potassium in their diet, she said.
More research is being done to test how fixed levels of potassium in a diet affect blood pressure and the gene's activity. Meanwhile, the researchers urged people to consume more potassium and less sodium.
