Sex-specific link between potassium intake, cardiovascular outcomes, and blood pressure

Association between potassium consumption, systolic blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease events is sex-specific.

A potassium replete diet is related to decreased blood pressure and minimized risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). This study aimed to check whether these relationships differ between women and men and whether they depend on daily intake of sodium.

The EPIC-Norfolk cohort's 11 267 males and 13 696 women were subjected to analysis. Using the Kawasaki formula, sodium and potassium concentrations in spot urine samples were used to estimate 24-hour potassium and sodium elimination, which reflects ingestion. The connection between potassium consumption, systolic blood pressure (SBP), and CVD events (characterized as hospitalization or mortality due to CVD) was assessed using linear and Cox regression.

The connection between potassium consumption and SBP was shown to be sex-specific after controlling for covariates. In females, but not in males, those in the highest tertile of sodium consumption had a sharper inverse slope between potassium consumption and SBP than those in the lowest tertile.

Higher potassium consumption was related to a lower risk of CVD events in both women and men. However, in women, the hazard ratio (HR) was lower when compared to men [highest vs. lowest potassium consumption tertile: males: HR 0.93; women: HR 0.89].

In terms of systolic blood pressure, women who consume a lot of sodium particularly benefit from consuming more potassium.