Graphical summary. Credit score: American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology (2024). DOI: 10.1152/ajprenal.00222.2024
New analysis from the College of Waterloo suggests growing the ratio of dietary potassium to sodium consumption could also be more practical for decreasing blood strain than merely decreasing sodium consumption.
The examine, “Modulation of blood pressure by dietary potassium and sodium: sex differences and modeling analysis”, was revealed within the American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology.
Hypertension impacts over 30% of adults globally. It is the main reason for coronary coronary heart illness and stroke and may result in different afflictions like persistent kidney illness, coronary heart failure, irregular heartbeats, and dementia.
“Usually, when we have high blood pressure, we are advised to eat less salt,” stated Anita Layton, professor of Utilized Arithmetic, Pc Science, Pharmacy and Biology on the College of Waterloo and the Canada 150 Analysis Chair in Mathematical Biology and Drugs.
“Our research suggests that adding more potassium-rich foods to your diet, such as bananas or broccoli, might have a greater positive impact on your blood pressure than just cutting sodium.”
Potassium and sodium are each electrolytes—substances that assist the physique ship electrical alerts to contract muscle tissue, have an effect on the quantity of water in your physique and carry out different important capabilities.
“Early humans ate lots of fruits and vegetables, and as a result, our body’s regulatory systems may have evolved to work best with a high-potassium, low-sodium diet,” stated Melissa Stadt, a Ph.D. candidate in Waterloo’s Division of Utilized Arithmetic and the lead writer of the examine.
“Today, western diets tend to be much higher in sodium and lower in potassium. That may explain why high blood pressure is found mainly in industrialized societies, not in isolated societies.”
Whereas earlier analysis discovered that growing potassium consumption may also help management blood strain, the researchers developed a mathematical mannequin that efficiently identifies how the ratio of potassium to sodium impacts the physique.
The mannequin additionally identifies how intercourse variations have an effect on the connection between potassium and blood strain. The examine discovered that males develop hypertension extra simply than premenopausal ladies, however males are additionally extra prone to reply positively to an elevated ratio of potassium to sodium.
The researchers emphasize that mathematical fashions just like the one used on this examine enable these sorts of experiments to determine how various factors affect the physique shortly, cheaply, and ethically.
Extra info:
Melissa Stadt et al, Modulation of blood strain by dietary potassium and sodium: intercourse variations and modeling evaluation, American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology (2024). DOI: 10.1152/ajprenal.00222.2024
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College of Waterloo
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Mathematical mannequin demonstrates ratio of potassium to sodium consumption key to regulating blood strain (2025, April 14)
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