Auburn, Feb. 13--Many people have assumed reducing table salt intake is the simplest way to control high blood pressure.

Granted, sodium chloride (table salt) is an important factor in hypertension. Some studies even have shown that reducing sodium in processed foods, home cooking and table use could result in a 5- to 10-point decrease in systolic pressure.

"There is a high correlation between higher sodium diets and high blood pressure," says Dr. Robert Keith, an Alabama Cooperative Extension System nutritionist. "Some Asian cultures, for example, have had a higher incidence of hypertension than we do because of their higher levels of dietary sodium.

Even so, controlling hypertension typically involves far more than reducing sodium intake.

Obesity, for example, may be an even bigger contributor to hypertension than sodium intake. Scientists have long stressed the high correlation between obesity and hypertension, especially in instances of high abdominal obesity.

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States, and the enormously high levels of hypertension among the general population appear to be closely following this trend. Roughly 25 percent of the adult American population suffer from high blood pressure – a problem even more widespread among the elderly, of whom 50 percent are sufferers.

Nutrient intake also figures into the picture, Keith says.

Doctors, in fact, have known for a long time that potassium, widely available in fresh fruits and vegetables, is a major player in blood pressure reduction.

"The bottom line: lower your sodium and increase your intake of potassium, Keith says."

"If we can get people to eat fresh fruits and vegetables at least five times a day, they’re getting less sodium and more potassium," he says. "We’ve discovered people with more potassium and relatively less sodium in their diets tend to have lower blood pressure, while people with high blood pressure tend to consume foods higher in sodium and lower in potassium."

In fact, studies have shown that some people who do not reduce sodium intake can reap significant benefits merely by increasing their intake of potassium.

"I can take a person who is consuming relatively high amounts of sodium and increase his potassium intake beyond his sodium," Keith says. "In such cases, blood pressure will not go up and may even come down.

"Potassium is a key player in reducing hypertension, and we want people to ensure their daily intake of this nutrient exceeds sodium."

One important rule of thumb for people trying to increase their potassium intake is to concentrate on fresh vegetables and to avoid canned vegetables.

Canned vegetables, in fact, tend to be high in sodium and low in potassium.

"A cup of fresh peas amounts to several hundred milligrams of potassium and almost no sodium at all," Keith says. "On the other hand, if you use canned peas, you’ll get just the opposite: several hundred milligrams of sodium and very little potassium."

Rounding out the story is calcium, another key ingredient for reducing blood pressure.

Studies have shown that people who fail to consume sufficient dietary levels of calcium face a higher risk of developing hypertension.

In the end, Keith’s dietary recommendations for reducing hypertension can be summed up in the following phrase: Light on the table salt, heavy on fruits and vegetables and nonfat dairy.

This advice, coupled with maintaining an appropriate body weight, appears to be the lifestyle approach best suited for controlling blood pressure.

Source: Dr. Robert Keith, Extension nutritionist, Alabama Cooperative Extension System, (334) 844-3273.