Potassium (chloride vs citrate vs gluconate) and heart
What 3 graded rows on potassium (chloride vs citrate vs gluconate) agree on for heart, and where they differ. Counted side by side, never averaged.
Consensus finder Rows from the Potassium (chloride vs citrate vs gluconate) page, reviewed Oct 21, 2026 How it decides
What the rows agree on
Each block and row is one graded row from the Potassium (chloride vs citrate vs gluconate) page, with its PubMed record.
Your question
Potassium (chloride vs citrate vs gluconate) and heart
3 rows · 22,395 peopleMostly an improvement: 2 of 3 rows, and most of the people. 1 had mixed results.
- AGrade A× 1
- BGrade B× 1
- CGrade C× 1
- Rows
- 3
- Trials
- 3
- At least: a review without a trial count
- People
- 22,395
- Pooled reviews may count some twice
What the rows share
From the rowsThe best-graded row, grade A, is a meta-analysis of 917 people (2015) and found an improvement.
The rows run from 483 to 20,995 people, published from 2006 to 2021: 2 pooled reviews and 1 single study.
The rows
2 improved · 1 mixed- AGrade ABlood pressure in adults not on blood-pressure medicines · Improved
Meta-analysis · n 917 · 2015 · Patients without antihypertensive medication in 15 randomized trials; normal or high blood pressure
Varied; the effect tracked a rise in urinary potassium from 60 to 100 mmol/day · Varied across trials
Systolic blood pressure fell by 4.7 mmHg and diastolic by 3.5 mmHg overall; in hypertensive patients by 6.8 and 4.6 mmHg.
Row on the Potassium (chloride vs citrate vs gluconate) page · PubMed 26039623 (opens PubMed)
- BGrade BMajor heart and blood-vessel events with a potassium-enriched salt substitute · Improved
RCT · n 20,995 · 2021 · Adults in 600 rural Chinese villages with a history of stroke, or aged 60+ with high blood pressure
Used in place of regular salt · Mean follow-up 4.74 years
Stroke (rate ratio 0.86; 95% CI 0.77 to 0.96), major cardiovascular events (0.87) and death (0.88) were lower than with regular salt. Serious adverse events from high potassium were not significantly increased.
Row on the Potassium (chloride vs citrate vs gluconate) page · PubMed 34459569 (opens PubMed)
- CGrade CBlood pressure in a review of 6 small trials · Mixed
Systematic review · n 483 · 2006 · Adults with primary hypertension in 6 randomized trials
Varied across trials · 8 to 16 weeks
Reductions in systolic (-11.2 mmHg) and diastolic (-5.0 mmHg) blood pressure were large but not statistically significant, with substantial unexplained heterogeneity.
Row on the Potassium (chloride vs citrate vs gluconate) page · PubMed 16856053 (opens PubMed)