Potassium's Double-Edged Sword on Blood Pressure
Dissociation of sodium-chloride cotransporter expression and blood pressure during chronic high dietary potassium supplementation
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Chronic high potassium raised blood pressure at night despite reducing NCC (a known BP-lowering mechanism)
Prior human studies suggested potassium always lowers BP, but this shows long-term high intake can have the opposite effect in mice, contradicting common dietary advice.
Practical Takeaways
Get potassium from whole foods (bananas, spinach) instead of supplements, and avoid excessive intake beyond dietary guidelines.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Chronic high potassium raised blood pressure at night despite reducing NCC (a known BP-lowering mechanism)
Prior human studies suggested potassium always lowers BP, but this shows long-term high intake can have the opposite effect in mice, contradicting common dietary advice.
Practical Takeaways
Get potassium from whole foods (bananas, spinach) instead of supplements, and avoid excessive intake beyond dietary guidelines.
Publication
Journal
JCI Insight
Year
2023
Authors
Robert Little, S. Murali, S. Poulsen, P. Grimm, A. Assmus, Lei Cheng, Jessica R. Ivy, E. Hoorn, V. Matchkov, P. Welling, R. Fenton
Related Content
Claims (10)
Processed foods contain engineered combinations of high sodium and refined carbohydrates, which together cause acute plasma volume expansion and chronic hormonal sodium retention, leading to sustained hypertension.
When mice eat a lot of potassium for three weeks, their blood pressure goes up mostly at night, no matter how much salt they eat or what form of potassium they consume.
For a few days, extra potassium lowers mice's blood pressure, but after three weeks, it starts to raise it again.
Long-term high potassium makes a kidney channel more active, and blocking that channel with a drug lowers blood pressure in mice.
Even though high potassium lowers a kidney transporter in mice, this doesn't explain the blood pressure changes, suggesting other mechanisms are at play.