Increasing Potassium Intake Linked to Lower BP

A review conducted for the World Health Organization found that increasing potassium intake effectively reduced average blood pressure by 3.49/1.96 mm Hg (systolic/diastolic), although this result was significant only in those with hypertension. Consuming 90-120 mmol of potassium daily (twice the current average) was sufficient to achieve this benefit. This increase lowered the risk of…

Up with Potassium, Down with Sodium

Sodium chloride and potassium chloride are both simple salts but they have profoundly different effects in the body. In the blood stream, sodium is high (135 mg/dl) and potassium is low (4 mg/dl) but the opposite is true inside cells where potassium is high and sodium is low.Both sodium and potassium are diet essentials, but…

Coffee as a Source of Potassium?

Reports are circulating on some blogs that coffee is one of the highest food sources of potassium. Fact is that that we get a lot of it from coffee because we don't eat enough of the foods that are the best sources of this important nutrient. For really potassium-rich foods include foods like cooked greens,…