Potassium-rich diet to lower high blood pressure

People with high blood pressure should hold back on salt. That's well known. Less well known but just as important is another mineral: sodium's counterpart → potassium. The balance between potassium and sodium should be even. With a typical Western diet, however, sodium (table salt) predominates. The important potassium is usually under-supplied.

The role of potassium and sodium in the body

Both minerals play important roles in the body. Potassium is the main mineral inside the body's cells. Sodium is found mainly in the tissue fluids and blood. Special pumps in the cell walls keep this balance. This is especially important for nerve and muscle cells, but all other cells also use the energy from these concentration differences.

Sodium also holds water in the body. That's why too much table salt is linked to high blood pressure. Potassium, on the other hand, can lower blood pressure and is considered especially important for heart cells. It stabilizes them and is essential for creating the electrical impulses needed for heart conduction, and thus for a regular heart rhythm. It also helps regulate water and electrolytes and causes the kidneys to excrete more sodium. People with kidney disease should therefore not take in too much potassium.

So it's not just sodium in the diet that matters, but the ratio of sodium to potassium. With a daily sodium intake of up to 2 g about 5 g of table salt the WHO recommends getting 3.5 g of potassium from food. The U.S. and Canadian Food and Nutrition Board goes further and recommends 4.7 g of potassium per day from the diet.

While a largely natural diet would once have provided people with 10 g or more of potassium, today we get only one-fifth to one-tenth of that on average from food each day. At the same time, the sodium content in our mostly processed foods has risen sharply → we now take in three to six times as much sodium as potassium. To keep the balance, potassium intake should be increased when sodium intake is high.

A study published in July 2022 showed that especially women who consume a lot of sodium benefit from increased potassium intake.

The European Society of Hypertension adopted the recommendation in 2023 to consume 3.5 g of potassium daily, preferably from food, into its guidelines.

It is best achieved by adjusting your eating habits. Potassium is found mainly in plant foods. Especially beans and other legumes, avocados, potatoes, nuts and similar foods and also dried fruits like raisins, apricots, dates, etc. supply potassium. Using herbs to season food instead of table salt reduces sodium and gives your body an extra boost of potassium. Table salt can also be replaced by a product often sold as a "low-sodium salt" or "potassium salt." This salt is reduced in sodium; part of the sodium is replaced with potassium chloride.

Dietary supplements like effervescent tablets are usually unnecessary. You should always consult your doctor before using them.

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This article comes from BloodPressureDB – the leading app since 2011 that helps hundreds of thousands monitor their blood pressure every day. Our content is based on carefully researched, evidence-based data and is continuously updated (as of 12/2025).

Author Sabine Croci is a qualified medical assistant with many years of experience in internal medicine and cardiology practices as well as in outpatient care, and has led BloodPressureDB's specialist editorial team since 2015. Thanks to her extensive additional qualifications as a paramedic, first responder and in various therapy and emergency areas, she provides solid, practical and reliably reviewed information.

Potassium-rich diet to lower high blood pressure

The role of potassium and sodium in the body

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