A need for bananas? Dietary potassium regulates calcification of arteries

(University of Alabama at Birmingham) Researchers have shown, for the first time, that reduced dietary potassium promotes elevated aortic stiffness in a mouse model. Such arterial stiffness in humans is predictive of heart disease and death from heart disease, and it represents an important health problem for the nation. The UAB researchers also found that increased dietary potassium levels lessened vascular calcification and aortic stiffness. Furthermore, they unraveled the molecular mechanism underlying the effects of low or high dietary potassium.

from EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science http://ift.tt/2yq0Pf6