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Potassium and Heart Health

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Key to Remaining Strong and Healthy

Making small changes in your eating habits is a great first step towards a healthy heart. For example, moving toward a diet low in sodium and high in potassium may help to reduce the risk of high blood pressure and stroke. High blood pressure, or hypertension, is one of the significant risk factors for heart disease. Approximately 50 million individuals in the US, and 1 billion worldwide, have high blood pressure, and a third of them don't even know it!(1) So, have your blood pressure checked and increase the amount of potassium in your diet for a heart healthy start.

What is potassium?

Potassium is an essential mineral that helps maintain blood pressure in part by counteracting the negative effects of sodium. A diet rich in potassium plays such an important role in health that the Institute of Medicine's Dietary Reference Intakes Report for potassium(2) increased the recommended levels of potassium by 35%, from 3,500 milligrams/day to 4,700 milligrams/day.

Where do I find potassium?

Potassium is found in many foods, but usually in relatively small amounts. So, it is important to incorporate many potassium-containing foods into your diet. An easy way to increase the potassium in your diet is by drinking orange juice. Tropicana Pure Premium® orange juice contains about as much potassium as a banana (450 milligrams/serving). So, go ahead, drink to your health!

Check out the chart below for more examples of potassium-containing foods to incorporate into your diet.(3)

If you are looking for other foods that contain potassium, try some of these: 1 baked potato (610mg), 3-ounces cooked halibut (490mg), 1/8 medium honeydew (365mg).

1. Chobanian AV, et al. The Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure: The JNC 7 Report. JAMA, 2003; 289: 2560-2572.
2. Institute of Medicine, Food and Nutrition Board, 2004. Dietary Reference Intakes for Water, Potassium, Sodium, Chloride, and Sulfate. National Academy Press. Washington, D.C.
3. 2005 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Report.