Want to Lower Your Sodium Intake? Consider Potassium Chloride Instead of Salt

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Reducing your sodium intake and lowering your blood pressure may be easier if you check your food labels for potassium chloride.

The mineral salt compound is used by the food industry as an alternative to common table salt (sodium chloride).

Experts note that potassium chloride offers consumers flavor without increasing their daily sodium intake.

It also boasts the added benefit of increasing potassium consumption, which can improve blood pressure regulation.

Officials at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an advisoryTrusted Source last week that they hope will encourage food manufacturers to use the mineral.

The FDA guidance allows manufacturers to label the ingredient as “potassium chloride salt.”

“The addition of the term ‘salt’ to ‘potassium chloride’ may encourage manufacturers to use this sodium alternative and help consumers to understand that potassium chloride can replace sodium chloride in foods,” the advisory stated.

“This may help to reduce the intake of sodium, which is over-consumed by the U.S. population, while increasing potassium, which is under-consumed.”

Foods with potassium chloride

According to Caroline West Passerrello, MS, RDN, LDN, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, potassium chloride can be found not only in salt substitutes, but also in these foods:

  • snack bars
  • soups
  • potato chips
  • cereals
  • frozen entrees

Kristin Kirkpatrick, nutritionist and author of “Skinny Liver: A Proven Program to Prevent and Reverse the New Silent Epidemic-Fatty Liver Disease,” said that potassium chloride salt is also commonly found in:

  • electrolyte replacement drinks
  • condiments
  • meat products

But the amount of potassium chloride in each product tends to be small.

“It’s quite bitter, so usually it’s not in large amounts, but can achieve that ‘salty’ taste in small amounts,” Kirkpatrick told Healthline.

Health benefits

According to FDA spokesperson Nathan Arnold, choosing potassium chloride salt as a replacement for table salt has several associated health benefits, namely that it reduces sodium intake and increases potassium intake.

“Current average sodium consumption in the U.S. is 3,400 mg/day, compared to the recommended limit of 2,300 mg/day. Increased sodium consumption is associated with increased risk for hypertension, and hypertension is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease,” Arnold told Healthline.

On the other hand, explained Arnold, “potassium consumption in the U.S. is generally low in comparison to federal recommendations. Adequate potassium intake can help improve blood pressure regulation.”

Both Passerrello and Kirkpatrick agree.

Kirkpatrick says she recommends people watching their sodium intake seek out foods with potassium chloride salt strictly because it doesn’t add to their daily sodium intake.

“The typical Western diet is too high in sodium, and there are plenty of studies that show that even small reductions in sodium content in the diet can help protect against heart attack and stroke — both considered leading killers,” Kirkpatrick said.

However, Andy De Santis, a registered dietitian and weight loss specialist, isn’t entirely convinced.

“I wouldn’t associate potassium chloride with health benefits per se,” he told Healthline.

“It’s true that many North Americans consume too much sodium, but conventional table salt is rarely the main contributor of sodium to a person’s diet, so switching to a salt substitute containing potassium chloride may or may not drastically affect intake levels.”

Processed and restaurant foods are the main contributors of sodium in a person’s diet, De Santis said.

Limiting these is a better route for reducing overall sodium intake.

Moreover, just because a food contains potassium chloride doesn’t necessarily mean it’s entirely sodium-free.

“They’re not necessarily mutually exclusive, and it wouldn’t be unusual to find a number of products that use both,” he said.

Some health concerns

De Santis explained that “potassium chloride is not an essential part of a healthy diet.”

In fact, for people on multiple medications or with poor kidney health, it could have a negative effect on their health.

“These people must be very careful about using potassium chloride from salt substitutes because they may not be aware how much potassium they’re taking in, and should check with their doctor before proceeding,” De Santis said.

Passerrello agrees.

“Individuals with certain medical conditions that impair urinary excretion of potassium (i.e., renal failure, diabetes, etc.) need to consult with a doctor about their recommended levels of potassium and may need to limit or avoid foods with potassium chloride,” she said.

But for healthy individuals, potassium chloride isn’t likely to do any harm, she added.

How to check food labels

If you haven’t seen potassium chloride salt listed on your favorite food labels, rest assured it’s likely coming.

The recent FDA guidance is an effort to encourage potassium chloride salt listings.

“This change may increase consumer recognition that potassium chloride is an ingredient similar to sodium-based salt — with the added benefit that it contains potassium,” Arnold said.

For now, potassium chloride on labels refers to the sodium-free salt substitute.

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