16 Apr Dietary Potassium May Affect Salt Excretion in Men and Women Differently
Editor’s note: Not everyone should eat a potassium-enriched diet. Too much potassium can be toxic and cause serious side effects including cardiac arrhythmias. Hyperkalemia, or elevated potassium levels, is a particular concern for patients with impaired kidney function or on certain medications, including some blood pressure medications and diuretics (water pills). Do not start a higher potassium diet without the approval of your health care provider.
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Layton
Anita T. Layton PhD
Canada 150 Research Chair in Mathematical Biology and Medicine
Professor of Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, Pharmacy and Biology
University of Waterloo
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Why did you decide to examine a potential link between potassium intake and lowering blood pressure?
Response: Our diet is so very different from our long-ago ancestors, especially in terms of sodium-to-potassium ratio. We eat so much sodium and so little potassium, that ratio is reversed in our ancestors as well as people in isolated tribes, where high blood pressure is very rare. So, let’s figure out why and thus this stud
MedicalResearch.com: In layman’s terms, how the ratio of potassium to sodium can both negatively and positively impact the body?
Response: Having more potassium in your body would encourage the kidneys to pee out more sodium (and water), which lowers blood pressure.
MedicalResearch.com: During your study, you found that increasing the ratio of dietary potassium and lowering sodium intake helps to lower blood pressure. What’s the significance of this finding?
Response: If you tell someone they have high blood pressure, they immediately think, oh I need to eat less salt. Which would help, but we would like the public to understand that you should also eat more potassium-rich foods.
MedicalResearch.com: During your study, you found that men develop high blood pressure more easily than premenopausal women, but men are also more likely to respond positively to an increased ratio of potassium to sodium. Why might that be?
Response: These two are not contradictory. The reason has to do with the sex differences in the molecular structure of the kidneys. When potassium levels rise, men’s kidneys excrete more sodium compared to women.
MedicalResearch.com: What is the main takeaway you would like readers to learn from your study?
Response: Usually, when we have high blood pressure, we are advised to eat less salt. But our research suggests that adding more potassium-rich foods to your diet, such as bananas or broccoli, might have a greater positive impact on your blood pressure than just cutting sodium.
MedicalResearch.com: What do you plan as next steps for this research?
Response: The models used in this study simulate young men and women. I’d like to “age” the models (not an easy task, since there are so many age-related changes in our physiology and not all are well characterized) and study these questions in older men and women, who are the ones developing high blood pressure.
Remember to discuss your intake of higher potassium foods or pills with your health care provider due to a potential risk of side effects.
Citation:
Modulation of blood pressure by dietary potassium and sodium: sex differences and modeling analysis
Melissa Stadt and Anita T. Layton
American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology
2025 328:3, F406-F417
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Last Updated on April 16, 2025 by Marie Benz MD FAAD
