Lower Blood Pressure with Potassium
The effectiveness of potassium to lower blood pressure is directly related to sodium. Potassium works to balance out the sodium in your diet. An adequate potassium intake can lower systolic pressure ~4.4 mm Hg and diastolic pressure ~2.5 mm Hg.
If you want to prevent or lower blood pressure it’s very important you balance your intake of sodium and potassium. The more potassium in your diet and the lower the sodium, the better your blood pressure will be.
Sodium Recommendations
The typical American diet contains 3.6 grams of sodium daily. It’s recommended that sodium intake be limited to 2.3 grams or less daily (~1 teaspoon). If you already have high blood pressure you’ll want to restrict your sodium intake even further – less than 1500 mg/day.
How Much Potassium?
