In California, University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine researchers reported that eating potassium-rich foods like sweet potatoes, avocados, spinach, beans, bananas and coffee could be key to lowering blood pressure. Several population studies demonstrated that higher dietary potassium was associated with lower blood pressure, regardless of sodium intake. Interventional studies with potassium supplementation also suggested that potassium provides a direct benefit.
Alicia McDonough, PhD, professor of cell and neurobiology at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California said, “Decreasing sodium intake is a well-established way to lower blood pressure,” McDonough says, “but evidence suggests that increasing dietary potassium may have an equally important effect on hypertension.”
McDonough explains that our early ancestors ate diets that were high in fruits, roots, vegetables, beans and grains – all higher in potassium and very low in sodium. As a result, humans evolved to crave sodium, but not potassium.