Increasing levels of potassium in the diet may lower a person & risk of developing high blood pressure and may decrease blood pressure in people who already have high blood pressure said Padma Shri Awardee Dr KK Aggarwal.
A healthy intake of potassium is one reason why vegetarians and isolated populations have a verylow incidence of heart disease. In isolated societies consuming diets low in sodium and high in fruits and vegetables, and which
therefore have high levels of potassium, hypertension affects only 1 percent of the population. In contrast, in industrialized societies, where people consume diets high in processed foods and large amounts of dietary sodium, 1 in 3 persons have hypertension.
The typical urban Indian diet contains about double the sodium and half the potassium that is currently recommended in dietary guidelines. The American Heart Association recommends intake of 4.7 grams per day of potassium. An increase in potassium with a decrease in sodium is probably the most important dietary choice (after weight loss) that should be implemented to reduce cardiovascular disease.
Diets containing at least 500 to 1,000 milligrams magnesium daily and more than 800 milligrams of calcium daily may help lower blood pressure and the risk of developing high blood pressure, reports a study in Journal of Clinical Hypertension.