Posted on 02/07/2024 12:05:10 PM PST by Red Badger
One in three Australian adults has high blood pressure (hypertension). Excess salt (sodium) increases the risk of high blood pressure so everyone with hypertension is advised to reduce salt in their diet.
But despite decades of strong recommendations we have failed to get Australians to cut their intake. It's hard for people to change the way they cook, season their food differently, pick low-salt foods off the supermarket shelves and accept a less salty taste.
Now there is a simple and effective solution: potassium-enriched salt. It can be used just like regular salt and most people don't notice any important difference in taste.
Switching to potassium-enriched salt is feasible in a way that cutting salt intake is not. Our new research concludes clinical guidelines for hypertension should give patients clear recommendations to switch.
What is potassium-enriched salt?
Potassium-enriched salts replace some of the sodium chloride that makes up regular salt with potassium chloride. They're also called low-sodium salt, potassium salt, heart salt, mineral salt, or sodium-reduced salt.
Potassium chloride looks the same as sodium chloride and tastes very similar.
Potassium-enriched salt works to lower blood pressure not only because it reduces sodium intake but also because it increases potassium intake. Insufficient potassium, which mostly comes from fruit and vegetables, is another big cause of high blood pressure.
What is the evidence?
We have strong evidence from a randomized trial of 20,995 people that switching to potassium-enriched salt lowers blood pressure and reduces the risks of stroke, heart attacks and early death. The participants had a history of stroke or were 60 years of age or older and had high blood pressure.
An overview of 21 other studies suggests much of the world's population could benefit from potassium-enriched salt.
The World Health Organization's 2023 global report on hypertension highlighted potassium-enriched salt as an "affordable strategy" to reduce blood pressure and prevent cardiovascular events such as strokes.
What should clinical guidelines say?
We teamed up with researchers from the United States, Australia, Japan, South Africa and India to review 32 clinical guidelines for managing high blood pressure across the world. Our findings are published today in the American Heart Association's journal, Hypertension.
We found current guidelines don't give clear and consistent advice on using potassium-enriched salt.
While many guidelines recommend increasing dietary potassium intake, and all refer to reducing sodium intake, only two guidelines – the Chinese and European – recommend using potassium-enriched salt.
To help guidelines reflect the latest evidence, we suggested specific wording which could be adopted in Australia and around the world:
Suggested guidelines for salt consumption.
Recommended wording for guidance about the use of potassium-enriched salt in clinical management guidelines.
Why do so few people use it?
Most people are unaware of how much salt they eat or the health issues it can cause. Few people know a simple switch to potassium-enriched salt can help lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of a stroke and heart disease.
Limited availability is another challenge. Several Australian retailers stock potassium-enriched salt but there is usually only one brand available, and it is often on the bottom shelf or in a special food aisle.
Potassium-enriched salts also cost more than regular salt, though it's still low cost compared to most other foods, and not as expensive as many fancy salts now available.
A 2021 review found potassium-enriched salts were marketed in only 47 countries and those were mostly high-income countries. Prices ranged from the same as regular salt to almost 15 times greater.
Even though generally more expensive, potassium-enriched salt has the potential to be highly cost effective for disease prevention.
Preventing harm
A frequently raised concern about using potassium-enriched salt is the risk of high blood potassium levels (hyperkalemia) in the approximately 2% of the population with serious kidney disease.
People with serious kidney disease are already advised to avoid regular salt and to avoid foods high in potassium.
No harm from potassium-enriched salt has been recorded in any trial done to date, but all studies were done in a clinical setting with specific guidance for people with kidney disease.
Our current priority is to get people being managed for hypertension to use potassium-enriched salt because health-care providers can advise against its use in people at risk of hyperkalemia.
In some countries, potassium-enriched salt is recommended to the entire community because the potential benefits are so large. A modelling study showed almost half a million strokes and heart attacks would be averted every year in China if the population switched to potassium-enriched salt.
What will happen next?
In 2022, the health minister launched the National Hypertension Taskforce, which aims to improve blood pressure control rates from 32% to 70% by 2030 in Australia.
Potassium-enriched salt can play a key role in achieving this. We are working with the taskforce to update Australian hypertension management guidelines, and to promote the new guidelines to health professionals.
In parallel, we need potassium-enriched salt to be more accessible. We are engaging stakeholders to increase the availability of these products nationwide.
The world has already changed its salt supply once: from regular salt to iodized salt. Iodization efforts began in the 1920s and took the best part of 100 years to achieve traction. Salt iodization is a key public health achievement of the last century preventing goitre (a condition where your thyroid gland grows larger) and enhancing educational outcomes for millions of the poorest children in the world, as iodine is essential for normal growth and brain development.
The next switch to iodized and potassium-enriched salt offers at least the same potential for global health gains. But we need to make it happen in a fraction of the time.
Xiaoyue Xu (Luna), Scientia Lecturer, UNSW Sydney; Alta Schutte, SHARP Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, UNSW Sydney, and Bruce Neal, Executive Director, George Institute Australia, George Institute for Global Health
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
One easy trick....
Or, ya know, genuine Celtic Sea Salt.
KCl tastes awful. There are mixtures of NaCl and KCl, but they too taste awful.
We’ve had this Potassium salt substitute available for many decades. Morton’s salt has one available. And there was brand called No-Salt at least as far back as the 1970s.
I am not sure, though, how much can be used especially for some people with existing conditions. Some people with CV disease are advised to watch their potassium intake. Me, for one. I get plenty potassium from Bananas and Avocados and carrots and leafy greens. Not sure how much is too much. Was on an RX Potassium tablet for 30 days after a heart attack but the doctor was clear that once my levels returned to normal to stop taking them.
Thanks for posting. I have cut way back on salt intake and this article points to another tool available.
Sodium intake is a far smaller problem than total caloric intake, lack of exercise, and lack of adequate sleep.
Don’t eat fast food. Don’t eat frozen food. Shop the perimeter of your grocery store.
Eat mainly animal, vegetable , and fruit.
Move. Try to have fun while moving.
Sleep 8 hours.
Decades ago, my dad had a heart attack and was advised to get more potassium. He began eating bananas.
Google says......
Are potassium salts healthy?
De Santis explained that “potassium chloride is not an essential part of a healthy diet.” In fact, for people on multiple medications or with poor kidney health, it could have a negative effect on their health.May 23, 2019
I did go on to read other disadvantages as well as benefits.
The bottom line for me and everyone else..... Just reduce your sodium intake.
Why not just reduce sodium intake? It’s not the salt that causes hypertension, its the increased fluid retention in the body. Alternatively, or simultaneously, why not increase your intake of potassium via food or supplements? Finally, if fluid retention is indeed a basis for high blood pressure, why is the health and medical community constantly harping about drinking lots and lots of water through the day?
Well gee. Must be next to the other foods people don't eat much of. If you need to make the switch, you will find it if its on the shelf. I guess what they are trying to do is get an entire society to change based on the results of 3 test subjects. They'll have to do more - and they'll have to carve out some people who should probably avoid it, or avoid both.
As for me, vinegar tastes better and so I use that for most raw foods like salads and avocados and hard boiled eggs and even in my home-made pasta sauce.
Already use it.
As I understand it, the problem ain’t wholly the amount of sodium consumed, but rather the ratios of the electrolytes in your system.
Oh, there’s a relation between potassium levels and sodium levels in the human body? Who knew? Apparently not the morons who call themselves doctors in this country. God help the people out there who lack a curious mind. They’re all being slowly killed.
I’ll add, don’t eat canned or boxed foods. Eat fresh as much as possible. Do your own cooking. Then you know what’s in the meal.
LOL
Sounds like good advice
... which I will reveal to you at the end of this 30 minute video.
bull.
salt does not cause hypertension.
it raises BP when there is an underlying cause, like diet among other things.
Water flushes out the stuff that our bodies don’t need, and also helps a person feel fuller. If you’re overweight because you overeat, that’s one way to feel full without the calories. Though, you may need to relieve yourself more often if you do drink a lot of water.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.