While we’ve heard a lot about cutting down on sodium, the research on other minerals hasn’t received as much publicity. Reduced potassium intake may be associated with high blood pressure. By increasing your potassium intake, you might be able to decrease your hypertension. That means consuming more foods such as bananas, oranges and potatoes. Talk about this with your doctor. And ask whether the drugs he may have prescribed for you will, in and of themselves, affect potassium levels in your blood.
The other mineral in the blood pressure equation is calcium. When Dr David McCarron of Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland first suggested that calcium deficiencies in the diet might be correlated with hypertension, many were sceptical. Today additional studies appear to corroborate his initial beliefs.
One cardiovascular benefit derived from calcium is a lessening of high blood pressure. Another study demonstrated a 23 per cent decrease in hypertension in women getting an 800-milligram calcium supplement.
Dr McCarron does not advocate unlimited sodium intake to be negated by calcium supplements or extra glasses of milk. Rather, he says, there appears to be a threshold at which if one has a very low dietary calcium intake there is more likely to be an incidence of hypertension. Rather than limiting sodium in such patients, the better approach may be to increase calcium.
How much calcium do you need? The recommendation here is the same as for all healthy adults, 800 milligrams per day. That’s about what you’d get from two 225 ml glasses of milk and 30 g of cheese or a cup of yoghurt. Of course you’ll want to make those the low-fat or non-fat types. Other foods including salmon and sardines with bones intact, leafy green vegetables, and sesame seeds are also calcium sources. For those not getting enough in the diet, calcium supplements should be considered.
While magnesium has been mentioned as another mineral to be considered in hypertension control, data do not appear to bear out the hypothesis. In one study at Wayne State University, patients with mild hypertension received 480 milligrams of magnesium for three months. At Harvard, subjects got 360 milligrams for two months. At the conclusion of the studies, blood pressure was no lower for those getting the magnesium than for those getting a placebo.
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Cardio & Blood/ Cholesterol
