HOW TO LOWER YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE NATURALLY

Part 4 : Potassium

Everyone has heard of salt in relation to lowering blood pressure but potassium is rarely talked about in the popular press yet it is the main substance which helps deal with an excess of sodium.

Potassium helps flush excess sodium out of your body through your kidneys and regulates the water balance in the body. While sodium acts as a water retainer, potassium counterbalances it by flushing water out.

In studies potassium has been shown to aid the reduction of high blood pressure, especially when the blood pressure has been raised due to sodium intake. So many food scientists believe that foods high in potassium and low in sodium are the way to go to help control blood pressure. It seems that the more salt (sodium) we consume in our food, the more potassium we need.

Most of us get too little potassium in our diet and as it is easily lost from the body daily supplies are needed. Some diuretics (water pills) have a tendency to create a potassium deficiency when excess water is excreted through the kidneys. Alcohol, sugar and coffee all make us lose potassium too.

We should be aiming for about 3,500mg a day. An average intake is about 3,200mg but many people get less than half that amount.

As you can also have too much potassium – as usual everything is about balance – it's best to obtain this mineral by eating foods rich in it rather than taking supplements.

As usual, high blood pressure or not, fresh whole foods are the way to go for health. Processed foods are generally very low in potassium while being high in sodium.

Foods rich in potassium are

• Seafood
• Fresh fruit (good amounts in bananas, dried apricots, tomatoes, watermelon and peaches)
• Fruit and vegetable juices
• Fresh vegetables (good amounts in potatoes, aubergines (eggplant), mushrooms, peppers, squash, avocado and spinach)
• Pulses (peas and beans)
• Meat (choose unprocessed to avoid high sodium content)
• Wholegrain cereals (watch for sodium content on the label)

Potassium is virtually the only mineral which can be lost from food through cooking. It is best to steam vegetables lightly or make into soups rather than boiling. With boiling some potassium end up in the cooking water rather than the vegetable – although you can use this cooking water to make gravy or sauce if appropriate to the meal.

You can see the importance of preparation with the following example.

Potatoes are a good source of potassium and in their raw form they have very little sodium. But if you boil the potatoes about half the potassium disappears into the cooking water and then if you add salt to the water half the sodium in the water is absorbed into the potato completely changing the potassium/sodium balance.

Salt substitutes which are often recommended for people with high blood pressure, usually contain potassium chloride but some people find them to taste bitter and again it's better to get adequate potassium supplies from eating good fresh food – which will boost your overall health in other ways too.

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