Sodium-Potassium Ratio May Be More Important Than Total Sodium Intake.

The New York Times  (12/26, D7, Brody, Subscription Publication) reported in "Personal Health" that research published in the Archives of Internal Medicine "found that while a diet high in sodium -- salt is the main source -- increases your risk" of heart disease, "even more important is the ratio of sodium (harmful) to potassium (protective) in one's diet." One of the study's authors, Dr. Elena V. Kuklina, a nutritional epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said, "We controlled for all the major cardiovascular risk factors and still found an association between the sodium-potassium ratio and deaths from heart disease." The Times points out that, "according to an Institute of Medicine report on sodium released last year, 'No one is immune to the adverse health effects of excessive sodium intake.'"