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Last Updated: Oct 6, 2008 - 12:00:27 PM |
MONDAY JULY 14, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- Increased intake of minerals such as potassium and possibly magnesium and calcium through a diet may reduce the risk of high blood pressure and lower blood pressure in people with hypertension, a new study suggests.
Additionally, increased intake of these minerals in the diet may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke, according to the study published in a supplement appearing with the July issue of The Journal of Clinical Hypertension.
Vegetarians and people consuming primitive diets have low cardiovascular disease rates, due probably to high intake of dietary potassium and low sodium. These people consume large amounts of fruit and vegetables and only one percent of them have hypertension.
In comparison, in the industrialized countries where people consumed high amounts of processed foods and dietary sodium, one in every three persons has hypertension. In the U.S., people eat double the recommended amount of sodium, but only half the recommended amount of potassium.
Increasing intake of potassium could reduce the rate of hypertension in the U.S. adults by more than 10 percent and life expectancy will also increase, according to the study report.
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