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Several prior studies assessing the hypotensive effects of potassium supplementation on African-Americans have given conflicting results, possibly because they did not control dietary potassium intake. This randomized trial from Johns Hopkins assessed the effects of potassium supplementation in normotensive African-Americans on a controlled, low-potassium diet.
Researchers evaluated 74 healthy African-Americans (aged 27 to 65) with initial systolic blood pressure ranging from 100 to 159 mm Hg and diastolic BP from 70 to 94 mm Hg. During a 21-day intervention, all subjects consumed a low- potassium diet (32 to 35 mmol/d) and randomly received either potassium supplementation (80 mmol/d) or placebo. To assess adherence to the diet and tablets,…