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I've struggled to lower my blood pressure consistently, and I've been told by doctors and always thought that reducing sodium is the most important thing to low

I've struggled to lower my blood pressure consistently, and I've been told by doctors and always thought that reducing sodium is the most important thing to lower blood pressure. I was unaware of the role potassium plays in tandem with sodium, and will be trying to raise the amount of potassium in my. I also did not know that 1 banana a day is not enough potassium, you should eat more than that! I eat a banana almost everyday and always thought that covered my potassium. I am now trying to eat more leafy greens that are also a good source of potassium.

nabla9 2y ago
You can make your own electrolyte drinks. Typically sport drinks have carbs, salt, potassium chloride, and magnesium. Mineral waters have salts, potassium and magnesium. You can buy potassium chloride, and magnesium citrate powder and leave sugars and salts out or reduce them. I haven't looked, but there might be already products that suit you.
- giantg2 2y ago
  Boom, magnesium is another important factor in balancing electrolytes for cardiovascular health. I would check out magnesium taurate instead of or in addition to the citrate. It seems to have a stronger association with managing blood pressure. Ideally one would get the minerals from a good diet, but I agree supplements are better than sports drinks.
- will-burner 2y ago
  This is a cool idea, thank you! I have not experimented with using magnesium specifically in any way, but have heard that it's a useful supplement to take.
giantg2 2y ago
Have you tried the grip strength or stress ball exercises (recommend adjustable grip strength machine)? Isometric exercises focused on the hands can reduce BP. Could be worth a look if you want to avoid drugs.
- will-burner 2y ago
  I've never heard of that, sounds pretty cool. It's surprising to me. I will check it out, thanks!
- voisin 2y ago
  I have heard about isometric exercises helping reduce BP (there was a study posted on HN in the last 4 months or so), but I haven’t seen that they have to be hand exercises - are you sure of this?
  - giantg2 2y ago
    There is debate about what is necessary. However, the vast majority of the studies in this area specifically looked at grip strength and grip strengthening exercises. Other isometric exercises (and exercise in general) have support for lowering blood pressure, but perhaps with less impact. Highest chance for success seems to be grip strength exercises. It's also something you can easily do while watching TV, which might improve adherence.
    - johnrob 2y ago
      Is grip strength really a proxy for doing resistance training in general (people who do full workouts having stronger grip)? Just speculation on my part due to forearms not really being a major muscle group.
      - giantg2 2y ago
        Some of the studies seem to control for this. Some have looked specifically at isometric vs eccentric, etc and found the isometric grip strength exercises to be more correlated. On a side note, there have been studies about grip strength and lifespan, including on small children who have never strength trained at all. Higher grip strength had a fairly strong correlation with longer lifespan.
  - 5555624 2y ago
    I don't know that it will lower your blood pressure by 10% -- The Washington Post article (below) -- but, there is evidence it helps some. https://www.adityabirlacapital.com/healthinsurance/active-together/2022/06/08/how-can-handgrip-exercises-lower-your-blood-pressure/ https://www.adityabirlacapital.com/healthinsurance/active-to... https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/this-simple-hand-grip-exercise-can-lower-your-blood-pressure/2016/07/07/106bf462-420d-11e6-88d0-6adee48be8bc_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/this-...
zingababba 2y ago
Just FYI you can kill yourself pretty easily with potassium.
- will-burner 2y ago
  I'm not planning on taking any supplements, just trying to eat more foods with potassium in them to get up to 3,400 mg per day. I've probably been hitting like 1,000 mg per day if I had to guess.
- adrian_b 2y ago
  You can kill easily only by injection in the blood, not by eating. Eating even very large quantities will have little effects. They may cause diarrhea, but there is no chance of death.
  - blue_dragon 2y ago
    I doubt this is true in all cases. I wouldn't recommend trying this and certainly would not trust my life to this advice.
    - adrian_b 2y ago
      I agree that if you take at once a quantity significantly greater than the recommended daily intake, for instance ten grams of potassium, there may exist some people with a combination of health problems, where instead of causing diarrhea such a dose would be absorbed in the blood instantaneously and some kidney disease will prevent the immediate elimination from the blood of that potassium, which would cause hyperkalemia. On the other hand, if the dose does not exceed the recommended daily intake and it is taken after a meal, then it is pretty certain that it cannot have any bad effects in anyone who is not already dying. There is absolutely no difference between the potassium contained naturally in food and the potassium added by a supplement. Therefore anyone who would be affected by the recommended daily intake would be equally affected by natural food or by a potassium supplement. The main reason why potassium supplements are necessary is because potassium is lost very easily from food as a result of the methods used for preparation. Any kind of soaking or washing or boiling where the water is disposed is guaranteed to remove a part of the potassium (and of the magnesium), possibly most of it.
cgh 2y ago
Potatoes with the skin on are probably the best vegetable source. Nutritious in other ways as well. And cheap too.
- brnt 2y ago
  Unfortunately also one of the dirty dozen, and of course the pesticides and predominantly present on and in the skin.
adrian_b 2y ago
The best potassium supplement is pure potassium citrate powder, which can be dissolved in drinking water. Potassium chloride is cheaper, but it has the very undesirable effect of introducing in the body an excessive amount of chloride. Chloride is required in an amount very close to the amount of sodium and preferably somewhat less than sodium, while taking potassium chloride will ensure much more chloride than sodium (because the table salt already provides as much chloride as sodium), which will stress the kidneys, because they will need to restore the ionic balance. It is preferable to also add in the water with potassium citrate a smaller quantity of a water-soluble magnesium supplement, e.g. pure magnesium bisglycinate powder (magnesium citrate is insoluble in water, so it is not useful).
- will-burner 2y ago
  This is great, I will check it out, thank you! I'm going to try and get the recommended daily amount of potassium from changing my diet initially. If I still struggle to get enough in my diet I'm going to try some supplements.
TillE 2y ago
> reducing sodium is the most important thing That's good to do, but by far the #1 thing for high blood pressure is exercise. A consistent schedule of intense cardio is probably the best single thing you can do for your health in general, and definitely for hypertension.
- Loughla 2y ago
  I was diagnosed with hypertension when I was 30. So I started cardio and diet change and all that. No difference in my BP. So Fuck all that running nonsense. Granted, n=1.
- tomtheelder 2y ago
  Exercise is a fantastic idea, and the cardioprotective benefits are doubly important for those of us with hypertension, but it’s probably not going to lower your BP by more than a few points.
- pirate787 2y ago
  It's amazing I started running 3x a week and my blood pressure dropped 25 points (I also lost about 10 lbs)
- moderation 2y ago
  Interesting recent blog suggesting that salt consumption and blood pressure are uncorrelated [0]. 0. https://scottlocklin.wordpress.com/2024/08/23/crazy-but-likely-health-ideas-to-consider/ https://scottlocklin.wordpress.com/2024/08/23/crazy-but-like...
stevenwoo 2y ago
This comes up on reddit's /r/nutrition frequently. It's hard to get without supplements but there are a lot of ideas on there, some dried fruits like apricots have a surprisingly high amount for the calories.
ratg13 2y ago
One thing many people don’t think about is just giving blood regularly. Easy, effective, and saves lives
nradov 2y ago
The issue with sodium is not so much the total quantity but rather the osmolality. If you consume more sodium then you also need more water to prevent hypertension. https://doi.org/10.1111/jch.13374 https://doi.org/10.1111/jch.13374

nabla9 2y ago

You can make your own electrolyte drinks. Typically sport drinks have carbs, salt, potassium chloride, and magnesium. Mineral waters have salts, potassium and magnesium. You can buy potassium chloride, and magnesium citrate powder and leave sugars and salts out or reduce them. I haven't looked, but there might be already products that suit you.

giantg2 2y ago
Boom, magnesium is another important factor in balancing electrolytes for cardiovascular health. I would check out magnesium taurate instead of or in addition to the citrate. It seems to have a stronger association with managing blood pressure. Ideally one would get the minerals from a good diet, but I agree supplements are better than sports drinks.
will-burner 2y ago
This is a cool idea, thank you! I have not experimented with using magnesium specifically in any way, but have heard that it's a useful supplement to take.

giantg2 2y ago

Have you tried the grip strength or stress ball exercises (recommend adjustable grip strength machine)? Isometric exercises focused on the hands can reduce BP. Could be worth a look if you want to avoid drugs.

will-burner 2y ago
I've never heard of that, sounds pretty cool. It's surprising to me. I will check it out, thanks!
voisin 2y ago
I have heard about isometric exercises helping reduce BP (there was a study posted on HN in the last 4 months or so), but I haven’t seen that they have to be hand exercises - are you sure of this?
- giantg2 2y ago
  There is debate about what is necessary. However, the vast majority of the studies in this area specifically looked at grip strength and grip strengthening exercises. Other isometric exercises (and exercise in general) have support for lowering blood pressure, but perhaps with less impact. Highest chance for success seems to be grip strength exercises. It's also something you can easily do while watching TV, which might improve adherence.
  - johnrob 2y ago
    Is grip strength really a proxy for doing resistance training in general (people who do full workouts having stronger grip)? Just speculation on my part due to forearms not really being a major muscle group.
    - giantg2 2y ago
      Some of the studies seem to control for this. Some have looked specifically at isometric vs eccentric, etc and found the isometric grip strength exercises to be more correlated. On a side note, there have been studies about grip strength and lifespan, including on small children who have never strength trained at all. Higher grip strength had a fairly strong correlation with longer lifespan.
- 5555624 2y ago
  I don't know that it will lower your blood pressure by 10% -- The Washington Post article (below) -- but, there is evidence it helps some. https://www.adityabirlacapital.com/healthinsurance/active-together/2022/06/08/how-can-handgrip-exercises-lower-your-blood-pressure/ https://www.adityabirlacapital.com/healthinsurance/active-to... https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/this-simple-hand-grip-exercise-can-lower-your-blood-pressure/2016/07/07/106bf462-420d-11e6-88d0-6adee48be8bc_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/this-...

zingababba 2y ago

Just FYI you can kill yourself pretty easily with potassium.

will-burner 2y ago
I'm not planning on taking any supplements, just trying to eat more foods with potassium in them to get up to 3,400 mg per day. I've probably been hitting like 1,000 mg per day if I had to guess.
adrian_b 2y ago
You can kill easily only by injection in the blood, not by eating. Eating even very large quantities will have little effects. They may cause diarrhea, but there is no chance of death.
- blue_dragon 2y ago
  I doubt this is true in all cases. I wouldn't recommend trying this and certainly would not trust my life to this advice.
  - adrian_b 2y ago
    I agree that if you take at once a quantity significantly greater than the recommended daily intake, for instance ten grams of potassium, there may exist some people with a combination of health problems, where instead of causing diarrhea such a dose would be absorbed in the blood instantaneously and some kidney disease will prevent the immediate elimination from the blood of that potassium, which would cause hyperkalemia. On the other hand, if the dose does not exceed the recommended daily intake and it is taken after a meal, then it is pretty certain that it cannot have any bad effects in anyone who is not already dying. There is absolutely no difference between the potassium contained naturally in food and the potassium added by a supplement. Therefore anyone who would be affected by the recommended daily intake would be equally affected by natural food or by a potassium supplement. The main reason why potassium supplements are necessary is because potassium is lost very easily from food as a result of the methods used for preparation. Any kind of soaking or washing or boiling where the water is disposed is guaranteed to remove a part of the potassium (and of the magnesium), possibly most of it.

cgh 2y ago

Potatoes with the skin on are probably the best vegetable source. Nutritious in other ways as well. And cheap too.

brnt 2y ago
Unfortunately also one of the dirty dozen, and of course the pesticides and predominantly present on and in the skin.

adrian_b 2y ago

The best potassium supplement is pure potassium citrate powder, which can be dissolved in drinking water. Potassium chloride is cheaper, but it has the very undesirable effect of introducing in the body an excessive amount of chloride. Chloride is required in an amount very close to the amount of sodium and preferably somewhat less than sodium, while taking potassium chloride will ensure much more chloride than sodium (because the table salt already provides as much chloride as sodium), which will stress the kidneys, because they will need to restore the ionic balance. It is preferable to also add in the water with potassium citrate a smaller quantity of a water-soluble magnesium supplement, e.g. pure magnesium bisglycinate powder (magnesium citrate is insoluble in water, so it is not useful).

will-burner 2y ago
This is great, I will check it out, thank you! I'm going to try and get the recommended daily amount of potassium from changing my diet initially. If I still struggle to get enough in my diet I'm going to try some supplements.

TillE 2y ago

> reducing sodium is the most important thing That's good to do, but by far the #1 thing for high blood pressure is exercise. A consistent schedule of intense cardio is probably the best single thing you can do for your health in general, and definitely for hypertension.

Loughla 2y ago
I was diagnosed with hypertension when I was 30. So I started cardio and diet change and all that. No difference in my BP. So Fuck all that running nonsense. Granted, n=1.
tomtheelder 2y ago
Exercise is a fantastic idea, and the cardioprotective benefits are doubly important for those of us with hypertension, but it’s probably not going to lower your BP by more than a few points.
pirate787 2y ago
It's amazing I started running 3x a week and my blood pressure dropped 25 points (I also lost about 10 lbs)
moderation 2y ago
Interesting recent blog suggesting that salt consumption and blood pressure are uncorrelated [0]. 0. https://scottlocklin.wordpress.com/2024/08/23/crazy-but-likely-health-ideas-to-consider/ https://scottlocklin.wordpress.com/2024/08/23/crazy-but-like...

stevenwoo 2y ago

This comes up on reddit's /r/nutrition frequently. It's hard to get without supplements but there are a lot of ideas on there, some dried fruits like apricots have a surprisingly high amount for the calories.

ratg13 2y ago

One thing many people don’t think about is just giving blood regularly. Easy, effective, and saves lives

nradov 2y ago

The issue with sodium is not so much the total quantity but rather the osmolality. If you consume more sodium then you also need more water to prevent hypertension. https://doi.org/10.1111/jch.13374 https://doi.org/10.1111/jch.13374