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Is Your Ratio of Sodium to Potassium Too High?

Sodium and potassium, may work together to affect blood pressure and heart disease risk, according to a new analysis from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health.

The latest findings suggest that a high sodium/potassium ratio is a stronger indicator of increased risk of cardiovascular disease than high levels of sodium or potassium alone.

In a long-term observational study of the effect of lifestyle changes on blood pressure, there was a 24 percent increase in the risk of cardiovascular disease per unit of increase in the ratio of sodium to potassium.

This finding suggests that lowering sodium intake while increasing potassium consumption may reduce cardiovascular disease, according to the researchers.

They made no mention of what a high ratio of these two nutrients might be. It is interesting to note that levels of sodium or levels of potassium by themselves are not as important as the ratio of the two in regards to heart disease.


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This entry was posted on Monday, January 19th, 2009 at 11:05 am and is filed under Lower Your Cholesterol. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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