Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: A high salt diet is known to increase the risk of hypertension. A recent review concludes that consuming adequate potassium levels might be just as important for maintaining a healthy blood pressure.

Potassium, an electrolyte, is necessary for nerves to transport messages and for muscles to contract. It keeps the heart beating and helps to ship nutrients into cells and remove cellular waste. Potassium also assists in the maintenance of healthy bones and reduces the risk of kidney stones.

The author of the current review, Alicia McDonough, PhD, professor of cell and neurobiology at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, sums up her findings: “Decreasing sodium intake is a well-established way to lower blood pressure, but evidence suggests that increasing dietary potassium may have an equally important effect on hypertension.”

Her review explores the links between potassium, sodium, and the sodium-potassium ratio, delving into a range of studies in the field and drawing conclusions about potassium’s benefits.

The investigation included interventional and population studies, as well as research into the molecular mechanisms involved.

McDonough found a number of population studies demonstrating that higher dietary potassium, as rated by urinary excretion or dietary recall, was generally associated with lower blood pressure, regardless of the level of sodium intake.

Other studies looking specifically at potassium supplements gave similar findings.

Beyond population studies, McDonough looked at sodium-potassium research in rodent models to help explain the potential mechanisms behind this interaction. It seems that the body uses sodium to keep a check on potassium blood levels.

Alicia McDonough said: “When dietary potassium is high, kidneys excrete more salt and water, which increases potassium excretion. Eating a high potassium diet is like taking a diuretic.” Her conclusion, in a nutshell, is that potassium is vital for keeping blood pressure within a normal range. Sodium is still a key player, but simply reducing salt intake alone may not be enough to control hypertension. McDonough explains that raising potassium levels in the diet will require a conscious effort. As humans evolved, they ate a great deal of fruits, vegetables, roots, beans, and grains, all of which provide an ample supply of potassium. However, sodium was less easy to come by and, therefore, we evolved to crave salt. Our natural desire for salt has since been satisfied by the food industry, who mix more than we require into processed foods.

At the same time, potassium levels in our diets have steadily dropped as we move away from fresh fruit and vegetables.

As McDonough says: “If you eat a typical Western diet, your sodium intake is high, and your potassium intake is low. This significantly increases your chances of developing high blood pressure.”

The authors of the paper explain that, because our bodies evolved to deal with a low sodium, high potassium diet, “consuming a surfeit of dietary potassium” is a “good strategy”.

McDonough recommends that potassium content be added to food labels to help the public to make better-informed decisions about their potassium consumption.

Because the review takes into account a range of studies, the findings are compelling. Further research will, no doubt, draw a clearer picture of how sodium and potassium interact to keep blood pressure at healthy levels. However, the findings of the paper make familiar conclusions, as the authors write: “Medical communities, [former] First Lady Michelle Obama, and common sense tell us to eat more fruits and vegetables and to get regular exercise to optimize our health.”

Regular fish intake: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis might want to increase their fish intake; a new study suggests that regular fish consumption may help to alleviate symptoms of the condition.

Researchers found that eating fish at least twice weekly led to a reduction in disease activity among people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), compared with eating fish less than once per month.

Study leader Dr Sara Tedeschi, of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, both in Boston, MA, and colleagues recently reported their findings in the journal Arthritis Care and Research.

RA is a chronic, progressive condition in which the immune system mistakingly attacks the joints, causing inflammation, swelling, and pain. RA can affect any joint, but it most commonly occurs in the joints of the wrists and hands.

The DAS28-CRP scoring system, which measures welling, tenderness, pain, and blood markers of inflammation among patients with RA, was used to assess disease activity among participants. Compared with participants who never ate fish or ate it less than once every month, the researchers found that subjects who consumed fish more than twice each week showed significantly lower disease activity, as represented by a DAS28-CRP score that was 0.49 points lower.

Based on their findings, the team suggests that people with RA might benefit from including more fish in their diets. Dr Sara Tedeschi said: “If our finding holds up in other studies, it suggests that fish consumption may lower inflammation related to rheumatoid arthritis disease activity.”

Published in Daily Times, June 26th, 2017.