- Reducing sodium intake may not be the only way to lower blood pressure through your diet, according to new research.
- A recent study found that increasing potassium intake may also lower blood pressure.
- Here, experts break down the findings.
Most people know that reducing your sodium intake can help lower your blood pressure, but it turns out sodium isn’t the only nutrient to consider if you’re managing hypertension. In fact, new research suggests it may be only half of the equation.
That’s the takeaway from a recent report published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, which investigated alternative dietary approaches to managing blood pressure—a worthy goal, as the average daily sodium intake for American adults remains “significantly above” the recommended levels. Ultimately, the researchers found that increasing potassium intake in tandem with decreasing sodium intake may be the best strategy for managing blood pressure.
What does that mean for your meal plan? Ahead, experts break it down.
Meet the experts: Melissa Prest, D.C.N., R.D.N., spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics; Jennifer Wong, M.D., board-certified cardiologist and medical director of Non-Invasive Cardiology at MemorialCare Heart and Vascular Institute at Orange Coast Medical Center.
Why are the findings significant?
Reducing your daily sodium intake is notoriously difficult, both because it’s found in such a wide variety of foods and because it’s often used as a flavor enhancer. So it’s welcome news to learn that while reducing sodium is still a key piece of the puzzle, it isn’t the only manage blood pressure through diet.
“For years, the conversation around blood pressure has focused primarily on reducing sodium. This article highlights that increasing potassium intake may be an equally important part of the equation,” explains Melissa Prest, D.C.N., R.D.N., spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “Potassium-rich foods—such as leafy greens, tomatoes, beans, lentils, potatoes, avocados, bananas, and cantaloupe—help the body regulate sodium balance and support healthy blood pressure. The takeaway isn’t to choose one strategy over the other, but to pair eating more potassium-rich foods with limiting excess sodium for the greatest benefit.”
If you have high blood pressure, it’s critical to find ways to manage it that work for you, as failing to do so can have major consequences for your overall heart health. “Hypertension is one of the most significant modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks, strokes, heart failure, and kidney disease,” says Jennifer Wong, M.D., board-certified cardiologist and medical director of Non-Invasive Cardiology at MemorialCare Heart and Vascular Institute at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California. “These findings are important because they highlight another practical lifestyle strategy for lowering blood pressure.”
Are there other benefits to eating more potassium?
It’s very possible you’re not getting enough potassium at the moment—most Americans don’t meet recommendations for daily intake. But it’s worth trying to change that, and not just for blood pressure management. “Potassium plays an important role in muscle function, nerve signaling, fluid balance, and heart health in addition to helping regulate blood pressure,” Prest says.
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Incorporating more potassium-rich foods into your diet can also help you get your fix of other key nutrients. “The good news is that the same foods that provide potassium also offer fiber, antioxidants, and other nutrients that support overall health,” Prest says. “Filling half your plate with fruits and vegetables, incorporating beans or lentils into meals, and choosing minimally processed foods more often can help increase potassium intake naturally. These habits support healthy blood pressure while also benefiting heart health, gut health, and reducing the risk of several chronic diseases.”
That being said, as with any dietary change, a high-potassium diet won’t be for everyone. Prest warns that people with chronic kidney disease or who are taking certain medications—such as ACE inhibitors, ARBs, potassium-sparing diuretics, or other medications that raise potassium levels—should talk to a doctor before making significant adjustments to their potassium intake.
What does this mean for you?
If high blood pressure is a concern for you and you aren’t seeing results from reducing sodium alone, you may want to pay more attention to your potassium intake. “The major takeaway is that lowering sodium intake remains beneficial, but replacing some dietary sodium with potassium appears to provide additional reductions in blood pressure,” Dr. Wong explains. “Rather than focusing on sodium alone, we should consider the balance between sodium and potassium in the diet.”
For most people looking to manage blood pressure, Dr. Wong suggests “gradually reducing sodium intake while increasing potassium-rich foods.” She adds, “For some people, replacing regular table salt with potassium-enriched salt substitutes may offer additional benefits, but this should be done under medical guidance if there are concerns about kidney function or medications that affect potassium levels.”
And of course, lifestyle changes beyond diet can also have a meaningful impact. In addition to following a heart-healthy eating pattern, like the DASH diet or Mediterranean diet, Dr. Wong recommends “maintaining a healthy weight, engaging in regular aerobic exercise along with resistance and isometric exercises when appropriate, limiting alcohol consumption, avoiding tobacco, managing stress, prioritizing adequate sleep, and taking prescribed medications consistently when lifestyle measures alone are insufficient.”
Prest also notes that paying attention to your overall diet, rather than just one or two nutrients, often helps achieve many of the same positive effects. “Most Americans fall short of the recommended potassium intake because they don’t eat enough fruits, vegetables, legumes, and other minimally processed plant foods,” she explains. “Improving the overall quality of the diet—not just reducing one nutrient—can have meaningful benefits for blood pressure and long-term heart health.”
The bottom line
Dr. Wong points out that since this new research is a preliminary report, more work is needed to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between potassium intake and heart health outcomes.
Still, with more backing, the research could change how we think about managing blood pressure. “One of the biggest takeaways is that we should shift the conversation from simply ‘eat less sodium’ to ‘eat more potassium-rich whole foods while also being mindful of sodium,’” Prest says.
Dr. Wong agrees. “While reducing sodium remains a cornerstone of treatment, increasing dietary potassium may provide additional blood pressure benefits and improve overall cardiovascular health.”
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