With three studies to back it up, the World Health Organization says increasing potassium intake while cutting down on salt consumption could offer major public health and cost benefits around the world.

RSDAY, April 4, 2013 — Put down the salt shaker and reach for the fruit bowl: Reducing sodium and increasing potassium in our diets would offer major health and cost benefits, according to one World Health Organization study on potassium and two on salt, all three published in the British Medical Journal today.There have been numerous studies on the dangers of a too-salty diet, but risks of lower potassium consumption haven’t made as many headlines.
The WHO potassium study analyzed data on potassium intake and health from 33 trials involving more than 128,000 healthy participants. The researchers found that increased potassium intake reduced blood pressure in adults without adversely affecting blood cholesterol levels, hormone levels or kidney function. They found a 24 percent lower risk of stroke in adults with higher potassium levels. Potassium may also have a beneficial effect on blood pressure in children, they wrote in a press release, but more data is needed.
Potassium is an essential nutrient that helps maintain total body fluid volume, acid and electrolyte balance, and normal cell function, according to the study.
High levels of potassium are found in vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes, and seafood like bass and halibut.
From the study findings, WHO developed its first set of guidelines on potassium intake, which state that healthy adults and children should increase their potassium intake from food, and that adults should consume more than 90 moles of potassium per day — about 3.5 grams, or a little less than a teaspoon — to reap the heart-health effects and lower the risk of related cardiovascular diseases.
Reduce Sodium, Reduce Stroke Risk

Many studies have shown that reducing salt intake lowers blood pressure, therefore dropping the risk of stroke and heart disease. Because of salt's alleged health risks, WHO has set a global goal to reduce dietary salt intake to 5 to 6 grams per day per person, which is about 1 teaspoon, by 2025. Many people around the world consume much more sodium.
The first of the two WHO salt studies published in BMJ looked at the effects of slight salt reduction on blood pressure, hormones, and blood fats from 34 trials involving more than 3,000 adults. They found reducing salt by 4.4 grams per day for at least four weeks led to significant reduction in blood pressure in people with high and normal blood pressure.
The effect was seen in white and black men and women, and researchers assume that reducing blood pressure this way also reduces risk of strokes, heart attacks, and heart failure across populations, according to the press release.
The second salt study analysis by WHO, which involved 56 studies, found that reduced salt intake reduced blood pressure and had no adverse effect on blood cholesterol levels, hormone levels, or kidney function. A reduction in sodium intake also reduced blood pressure in children.
Another recent, unrelated study by researchers at the Global Burden of Diseases Nutrition and Chronic Disease Group found that eating too much salt contributed to 2.3 million deaths from heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases, representing 15 percent of all deaths from these causes.