The negative effects of excessive salt consumption on our health have been revealed many times by the scientific world. Sodium chloride in our tables causes our diets to be high in sodium and low in potassium. According to a new study, the risks posed by this situation can be eliminated with salt alternatives.
Scientists applied a research done in China to the global. New research, published today, shows that the rise in blood pressure in diets high in sodium and low in potassium can be reversed with potassium-heavy alternatives. Health data of 30 thousand people from a total of 21 international clinical studies were used in the study.
Blood pressure dropped regardless of age, weight, or any other factor:
Consuming a potassium-rich alternative to sodium chloride helped lower blood pressure, according to the study, which included people from Europe, the Western Pacific Region, the Americas, and Southeast Asia. Moreover, this decrease was observed at almost the same level regardless of the person’s age, geography, gender, blood pressure history and weight. With the drop in blood pressure, the scientists found that the risks of health problems such as heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular disease also decrease.
Scientists stated that their research also has some limitations. One of them was that there was very little data on people without high blood pressure. Although this means that the results of the findings may not be completely accurate, it was reported that these results overlap with the results obtained in the study conducted in China.
Potassium-heavy salts can be harmful to some people:
Although new research revealed that potassium-based salts pose a lower risk of heart attack than sodium-weighted table salt, it has also been revealed that potassium salt is especially dangerous for some people. In May of last year, Internal Medicine and Nephrology Specialist Prof. Dr. Gülçin Kantarcı had the following to say about potassium-based salts:
“The table salt we buy from the market is sodium salt. However, most of the salt bought from the pharmacy is potassium salt. Potassium salts are the type of salt that should definitely not be used by people with dialysis, organ transplant patients and advanced kidney failure. Because they cause heart disease and results that can go up to sudden cardiac arrest. For this reason, people with high blood pressure, diabetes and kidney failure should cook their meals without salt.”
However, the scientists behind the study also explained that the findings cannot yet support the adoption of salt alternatives in reducing dietary sodium intake, increasing potassium intake, in clinical practice and in public health policy.
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