Evidence brief · Supplement
Potassium for Hypertension
Evidence grade B — Via sodium-potassium balance
- Overall grade
- Grade B
- Last revised
- 1
- graded outcome
- 0
- references listed
Assembled by the app from other entries in this library. It adds no evidence of its own — follow the links to the entries it draws on.
1 at grade B — 1 graded row
What is known
Each outcome with its grade (how strong the evidence is, A to D), the size of the effect where the entry records one, and how often studies agree.
- HypertensionEvidence grade B
Via sodium-potassium balance
Unclearmixed
What is uncertain
Read off the same rows as above. Nothing here is added that the entry does not itself record.
- Studies disagree: Hypertension (mixed agreement).
The evidence in words
The verdict
For hypertension, Potassium earns evidence grade B (unclear effect, mixed consistency) — there is real evidence here. Via sodium-potassium balance
How it might work
Potassium promotes sodium excretion, relaxes blood-vessel walls, and sets resting membrane potential in nerve and muscle. Raising dietary potassium counteracts sodium's pressor effect.
How to use it
Get it from fruits, vegetables, legumes, and potatoes; potassium salt substitutes are an evidence-backed swap for table salt. Supplement pills are limited to ~99 mg in many markets and are not the main lever.
Safety & cautions
Dangerous in excess for people with kidney disease or on potassium-sparing diuretics, ACE inhibitors, or ARBs — it can cause life-threatening hyperkalemia. Food-based increases are safe for healthy kidneys.
Bottom line
Eat more plants and consider a potassium salt substitute — that's the blood-pressure win. Skip high-dose potassium pills unless a clinician directs, and never combine salt substitutes with potassium-raising drugs unmonitored.
How it is used
As the entry records it, from the studies it summarises. Not a recommendation for you — doses that suit a trial population may not suit you.
- Food-first
- Fruits, vegetables, legumes; potassium salt substitute.
Goes with
- PotassiumRead the full Potassium monographEvidence grade B
Related reading
Entries that share this one's tags or conditions.
- Potassium for Blood pressureEvidence grade B — Especially salt-sensitive/hypertensiveEvidence grade B
- Potassium for Stroke (salt substitute)Evidence grade B — Reduced in large trialEvidence grade B
- Magnesium for Blood pressureEvidence grade B — ~2–3 mmHg in meta-analysisEvidence grade B
- Magnesium for HypertensionEvidence grade B — Small additive loweringEvidence grade B
Sources
This entry lists no references of its own — it is assembled from the entries it links to, whose sources are on their pages.
Last revised . A grade is this entry's reading of the evidence, not medical advice.