Potassium and Magnesium Lower Blood Pressure and Heart Disease Risk

Potassium and magnesium are two essential minerals that provide a powerful shield against age-related arterial stiffness and elevated blood pressure readings. Despite our best dietary efforts to eat plenty of fresh vegetables, nuts and fruits, some may still be deficient in circulating levels of this super duo.

Due to over farming practices, magnesium levels are less than half compared to a century ago. Many people shun potassium from salt based on the unfounded notion that sodium increases the incidence of heart disease. The result of research presented to the American Society of Nephrology concludes that reduced intake of potassium is a significant risk factor in higher blood pressure readings and incidence of coronary artery disease.

Critical Minerals Have Been Eliminated From Our Modern Diet

Researchers found that the present American consumes less than one-third the amount of potassium compared to our evolutionary counterparts. This is largely due to a diet high in processed foods and lowered consumption of fruits and vegetables. Study results demonstrated that increased dietary potassium both lowered blood pressure as well as most pharmaceuticals and improved cardiovascular health by promoting renal fitness and improved elimination of plaque-forming calcium from the blood.

Studies conducted at the University of Pennsylvania and published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine found that patients with chronically elevated pulmonary blood pressure and the lowest sodium and potassium levels had a ten-fold increased risk of death from cardiac complications. The heart requires a proper balance of the two minerals to handle increased workloads, and low potassium levels make the heart unable to meet this demand.

Lack of Dietary Magnesium Leads to Arterial Hardening

New medical research now shows that low levels of magnesium is an independent risk factor for arterial hardening that is a leading cause of congestive heart failure and heart attack. It`s estimated that 70% of all adults are deficient in this mineral as a result of poor dietary balance and reduced absorption from healthy sources such as vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds. Contributing to the journal Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation, researchers determined that magnesium supplementation “could have a major impact on cardiovascular health and help to correct the source of problems such as high blood pressure.”

Magnesium and potassium exert multiple critical influences on arterial health that result in improved vascular tone. The mineral duo is shown to lower levels of systemic inflammation, improve vasodilatation and support the production of friendly nitric oxide necessary for proper elasticity of the vascular system. Health-minded individuals will want to ensure a daily magnesium intake between 400 and 600 mg. Ensure proper potassium levels by eating a diet filled with fresh vegetables to maintain normal blood pressure readings and lower risk from cardiovascular disease and stroke.