Study Shows Minerals Improve Cardiovascular Health

Email this article to a friend

Printable Version

Articles Related to This Article: • Blaming dietary sodium for high blood pressure is too simplistic; the real problem may be mineral deficiencies • Poor Sleep and Lack of Sleep Can Cause Elevated Blood Pressure in Adolescents • Use Niacin to Treat Hypertension NaturalNews Store Specials: • Astaxanthin and Hawaiian spirulina at 50% off • Raw organic Vanilla powder at 40% off • Revolutionary new Hurom Slow Juicer at the lowest price on the 'net + FREE shipping! • Certified Organic Nutiva Hemp Seeds at a huge discount (+ FREE bottle of hemp oil) See more at the NN store...

(NaturalNews) Increased intake of mineral nutrients can decrease the risk of high blood pressure (hypertension) and cardiovascular disease, according to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Hypertension.

"If we were to achieve the correct potassium/sodium ratio through dietary means, there would be less hypertension and cardiovascular disease in the population as a whole," study author Mark C. Houston said.

The researchers estimated that an increase in dietary potassium intake in the United States would decrease the prevalence of high blood pressure by 10 percent. Prior research has also suggested that consuming 500 to 1,000 milligrams per day of magnesium and 800 milligrams per day of calcium also helps maintain a healthy blood pressure.

High blood pressure is the most common cause of cardiovascular disease, and affects nearly one in six people worldwide. In the United States, almost 33 percent of all people (70 million) suffer from hypertension, while an estimated 90 percent will develop it by the age of 65. Another 70 million have higher-than-desirable blood pressure levels that are considered pre-hypertensive.

Houston noted that human populations that eat so-called "primitive" diets - the kind of diets most people ate before industrialization and all people ate before agriculture - have hypertension rates of only one percent. These diets are known to be high in fruits and vegetables, and consequently contain high levels of potassium and low levels of sodium.

Fewer than 50 percent of hypertension patients are ever able to achieve blood pressure control. In addition to cardiovascular disease, hypertension also exacerbates the symptoms of diabetes and chronic kidney disease.

Eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables has been recommended as a way to prevent or control cardiovascular disease by a wide variety of respected health organizations, including the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure; the American Heart Association; the European Society of Hypertension, the World Health Organization and the British Hypertension Society.

Sources for this story include: www.upi.com; www.hindu.com.

Share

Get articles like this delivered to you FREE in our popular email newsletter

Related CounterThink Cartoons:

Related Articles: • Blaming dietary sodium for high blood pressure is too simplistic; the real problem may be mineral deficiencies • Poor Sleep and Lack of Sleep Can Cause Elevated Blood Pressure in Adolescents • Use Niacin to Treat Hypertension	Take Action: Support NaturalNews.com Email this article to a friend Share this article on: NewsVine | digg | del.icio.us Permalink to this article: http://www.NaturalNews.com/024984_hypertension_blood_blood_pressure.html Reprinting this article: Non-commercial use OK, cite NaturalNews.com with clickable link. Embed article link: (copy HTML code below): <a href = "http://www.NaturalNews.com/024984_hypertension_blood_blood_pressure.html">Study Shows Minerals Improve Cardiovascular Health</a>