1 in 3 people Adults in Australia have hypertension. Excess salt (sodium) increases the risk of high blood pressure, so people with hypertension are encouraged to reduce salt in their diets.
But despite decades of strong recommendations, we We’re screwed The idea is to get Australians to reduce their intake. It can be difficult for people to change the way they cook, season their food differently, choose less salty foods from the supermarket shelves, and embrace less salty tastes.
Now there is a simple and effective solution: potassium-rich salt. It can be used just like regular salt, and most people won’t notice any significant difference in taste.
Switching to potassium-rich salt is achievable, unlike reducing salt intake.our New study draws conclusions Clinical guidelines for hypertension should clearly recommend switching for patients.
What is potassium-rich salt?
Potassium-rich salt replaces some of the sodium chloride that makes up regular salt with potassium chloride. Also called low sodium salts, potassium salts, heart salts, mineral salts, or reduced sodium salts.
Potassium chloride looks and tastes similar to sodium chloride.
Potassium-rich salt not only reduces sodium intake, but also lowers blood pressure. To increase Potassium intake. Lack of potassium, which comes mainly from fruits and vegetables, is also a major cause of high blood pressure.
What is the evidence?
We have strong evidence for something. randomized trial Of 20,995 people, they found that switching to potassium-rich salt lowered blood pressure and reduced the risk of stroke, heart attack, and premature death. Participants had a history of stroke or were over 60 years old and had high blood pressure.
overview Another 21 studies suggest that much of the world’s population could benefit from potassium-rich salts.
World Health Organization 2023 Global report on hypertension highlighted potassium-rich salts as an “affordable strategy” to lower blood pressure and prevent cardiovascular events such as stroke.
What should clinical guidelines include?
We collaborated with researchers from the United States, Australia, Japan, South Africa, and India to review 32 clinical guidelines for hypertension management from around the world. Our findings are: Published today Published in the American Heart Association’s journal “Hypertension.”
We found that current guidelines do not provide clear and consistent advice on the use of potassium-rich salts.
Although many guidelines recommend increasing dietary potassium intake and all mention reducing sodium intake, only two in China and Europe recommend the use of potassium-rich salt. Only one.
To ensure the latest evidence is reflected in the guidelines, we have proposed specific language that can be adopted in Australia and around the world.
Why are there so few people using it?
Most people don’t know how much salt they’re consuming or the health problems it causes. Few people know that simply switching to potassium-rich salt can lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of stroke and heart disease.
Limited availability is also a challenge. Some Australian retailers stock potassium-fortified salt, but there is usually only one brand available and it is often found on the bottom shelf or in special food aisles. .
Potassium-rich salt is also more expensive than regular salt, but it is still a low cost compared to most other foods, and not as expensive as many of the premium salts available today.
A 2021 review found that potassium-rich salt is only sold in the following countries: 47 countries And those were mainly high-income countries. Prices ranged from the same as regular salt to nearly 15 times more.
Although generally expensive, potassium-rich salts are cost effective For disease prevention.
Prevention of harm
A frequently raised concern regarding the use of potassium-rich salts is the risk of high blood potassium levels (hyperkalemia). Approximately 2% of the population Suffering from severe kidney disease.
It is already recommended that people with severe kidney disease avoid regular salt and avoid foods high in potassium.
Although no harm from potassium-rich salts has been documented in trials conducted to date, all studies were conducted in a clinical setting with special guidance for patients with kidney disease.
Our current priority is to encourage people receiving hypertension management to use potassium-rich salts. Health care providers can advise people at risk for hyperkalemia not to use potassium-rich salts.
In some countries, potassium-rich salt is recommended throughout the community because the potential benefits are so great. modeling research Nearly 500,000 strokes and heart attacks in China could be avoided each year if the population switched to salt, which is rich in potassium, researchers have shown.
What will happen next?
In 2022, the Minister of Health will National Hypertension Countermeasures Committeeaims to improve blood pressure control rates in Australia from 32% to 70% by 2030.
Potassium-rich salts can play an important role in achieving this. We are working with a taskforce to update Australia’s hypertension management guidelines and promote the new guidelines to health professionals.
At the same time, we need to make potassium-rich salts more readily available. We are calling on stakeholders to take the following actions: Increase availability Deliver these products nationwide.
The world has already changed its salt supply from regular salt to iodized salt once. His work on iodization began in the 1920s and took most of the next 100 years to become popular. Iodination of salt This is an important public health achievement of the last century. goiter (a symptom of an enlarged thyroid gland) and, like iodine, improves educational outcomes for millions of the world’s poorest children. essential to Normal growth and brain development.
The upcoming switch to iodized and potassium-rich salts offers at least as much global health-promoting potential. But you need to make it happen in a very short amount of time.
Xiaoyue Xu (Luna)Scientia Lecturer, Sydney, New South Wales; Alta SchütteSharp Professor of Cardiology, Sydney, New South Walesand bruce neilExecutive Director of the George Institute Australia, George Global Health Institute
This article is republished from conversation Under Creative Commons License.read Original work.