Pass the potassium salt: Is this the next population health revolution?

Dr Kathy Trieu (PhD) hopes seven million Australians with high blood pressure will make the switch over the next two years.

There is too much sodium in our diets and not enough potassium — an obvious problem to anyone who learnt about the sodium-potassium pump in biology class.

This is why Dr Kathy Trieu (PhD), a nutrition expert at the George Institute for Global Health, is leading a campaign to shift to potassium-enriched salt.

The logic is simple: the average global sodium consumption has not decreased over the past decade despite a widespread understanding of the health harms.

Several studies have shown that trying to correct the imbalance of the two electrolytes by switching to a substitution salt of 25% potassium chloride and 75% sodium chloride can reduce blood pressure and prevent cardiovascular events.