Turn on cookies to sign in
Signing in saves your progress to your Curie account. We can only do that with cookies on — turn them on to continue.
The DASH diet won't spike your potassium levels, even on BP meds. A new study found that Black adults on blood pressure medications who followed the high-potassium DASH diet showed no significant increase in serum potassium levels compared to those on a self-guided diet. The findings held true across a wide range of kidney function levels.
The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet has long been praised for its heart-health benefits, but a lingering concern has been its high potassium content — particularly for people on blood pressure medications that can already raise potassium levels. A new study presented at the American Heart Association's Hypertension Scientific Sessions puts that worry to rest, at least for a broad population.
Researchers analyzed data from the GoFresh and GoFreshRx randomized trials involving 356 Black adults from the Boston area with high blood pressure. Participants either received weekly DASH-patterned groceries (targeting 4,700 mg of daily potassium) or followed a self-guided diet for three months. The result? No significant difference in serum potassium levels between the two groups — regardless of which BP medication they were taking.
Key Takeaways:
Why it matters: Clinicians have often hesitated to recommend the DASH diet to patients on potassium-raising BP medications. This study offers reassuring evidence that high-potassium dietary guidance can be safely extended to a much broader patient population than previously assumed.
