Increased Blood Pressure during Potassium Depletion in Normotensive Men

Abstract

Epidemiologic studies suggest an inverse relation between potassium intake and the prevalence of hypertension. To investigate the effect of dietary potassium restriction on blood pressure, we used a randomized crossover design to study 10 healthy, normotensive men randomly assigned to isocaloric diets (each lasting nine days) providing either low (10 mmol per day) or normal (90 mmol per day) amounts of potassium, while sodium intake was maintained at the subjects' usual levels (120 to 200 mmol per day).