| I doubt that the there is any way in which a higher potassium intake could reduce the sodium concentration in the blood. All the living cells in the body pump inside them all the potassium that exists in their environment. When more potassium is ingested, there is more potassium inside the cells. That draws more water inside the cells, to restore the intracellular concentrations, i.e. the equilibrium between the intracellular and extracellular osmotic pressures. This leaves less extracellular water, but the same amount of sodium, so the sodium concentration in the blood increases, which causes thirst. After drinking water, both the extracellular sodium concentration and the intracellular potassium concentration are back to normal. It does not matter whether one eats more sodium or more potassium. The final effect is the same, more water retained in the body, after initially having both a higher extracellular sodium concentration and a higher intracellular potassium concentration. The difference between sodium and potassium is that when eating more potassium there is more water inside the cells and less outside, while when eating more sodium the reverse relation is true (but the deviations from normal will be corrected when sodium and potassium will be excreted). |