对于亚洲数百万人而言，高血压不仅仅是一个临床指标——它直接融入了该地区丰富的饮食文化之中。从酱油、鱼露到点心汤底和咸蛋饼，高钠调味品和腌制食材构成了日常风味的核心。
For millions across Asia, high blood pressure is more than just a clinical metric – it is baked directly into the region’s rich culinary spread. From soy sauce and fish sauce to dim sum broths and salted egg patties, high-sodium condiments and preserved ingredients are at the core of daily flavour.
虽然公共卫生团体长期以来一直敦促人们减少盐的摄入，但最新研究表明，我们忽略了方程式的另一半：在大幅增加膳食钾摄入的同时平衡钠的摄入。
While public health groups have long urged people to cut back on salt, fresh research suggests we have been missing half the equation: balancing sodium by significantly increasing dietary potassium at the same time.
食盐——即氯化钠——少量摄入对身体机能至关重要，但标准的现代饮食中含量远超所需。根据世界卫生组织（WHO）的数据，过量钠摄入推动了全球高血压危机，并导致2023年估计170万人死亡。
Salt – or sodium chloride – is essential to bodily functions in small amounts, but standard modern diets contain far too much of it. Excess sodium drives the global hypertension crisis, and contributed to an estimated 1.7 million deaths in 2023, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
虽然世卫组织建议每日钠摄入量控制在2000毫克（0.07盎司）以下——不到一茶匙盐的量——但该地区大多数人的摄入量高达这一标准的两倍。
While WHO recommends keeping daily sodium intake under 2,000mg (0.07 oz) – less than a teaspoon of salt – most people in the region consume up to double that amount.
而且，大部分钠的超量摄入并非来自餐桌上的盐罐——它隐藏在加工食品、餐馆菜肴和烹饪主料中。减少摄入通常意味着改变购买什么和怎么烹饪，而不仅仅是减少餐桌上撒多少盐。通常也意味着改变你的口味偏好。
Most of the excess does not come from the salt shaker, either – it is locked into processed foods, restaurant meals and cooking staples. Cutting back usually means changing what you buy and how you cook, as much as how much you sprinkle on at the table. It also means, usually, changing your tastes.
香港整体营养治疗诊所Nutrition Point的创始人兼首席营养师Jim Lau表示，亚洲面临的挑战更大，因为盐“深深植根于菜肴的风味架构之中”。
The challenge is harder here in Asia because salt is “deeply embedded in the cuisine’s flavour architecture”, says Jim Lau, founder and head dietitian of Hong Kong-based holistic nutritional therapy clinic Nutrition Point.
常见调味品是钠的特别浓缩来源。一汤匙鱼露就贡献约1000毫克钠——占一天摄入量的一半——一汤匙鸡粉增加约620毫克，蚝油约390毫克。
Common condiments are particularly concentrated sources of sodium. A single tablespoon of fish sauce contributes around 1,000mg – half a day’s allowance – in one spoonful, a tablespoon of chicken powder adds about 620mg, and oyster sauce around 390mg.
许多传统菜肴的钠含量也相当高：每100克海蜇皮含钠约780毫克，豆豉蒸凤爪约620毫克，咸蛋蒸肉饼高达730毫克。即使只是在白灼蔬菜中淋上酱汁，也能使其钠含量增加300%至540%。
Many traditional dishes add up fast, too: marinated jellyfish contains around 780mg of sodium per 100 grams, steamed chicken feet with black bean sauce about 620mg per 100 grams, and steamed minced pork patty with salted egg up to 730mg per 100 grams. Even something as simple as adding sauce to boiled vegetables can increase their sodium content by 300 to 540 per cent.
刘医生表示，单纯被告知“少吃盐”很少奏效，“因为鲜味和咸鲜风味是我们饮食文化的核心”。
Simply being told to “cut salt” rarely works, Lau says, “because umami and savoury flavours are central to our cuisine”.
佛蒙特大学医学系医生和研究人员的一份最新报告提供了一条切实可行的前进道路。报告建议，与其单纯专注于去盐，不如调整全天饮食中钠钾比例，这能在不牺牲风味的前提下，提供一种更可持续的血压管理方式。
A fresh report from doctors and researchers at the University of Vermont’s Department of Medicine offers a realistic path forward. Rather than focusing solely on eliminating salt, it suggests that shifting the ratio of sodium to potassium across your total diet offers a more sustainable way to manage blood pressure without sacrificing flavour.
刘医生说：“这方面的证据是可靠的。”世界卫生组织建议成年人每天摄入至少3510毫克钾，这基于有力证据表明食物中的钾能降低血压和心血管风险。
“The evidence for this is robust,” Lau says. The WHO recommends adults get at least 3,510mg of potassium a day, based on strong evidence that potassium from food lowers blood pressure and cardiovascular risk.
钠和钾协同作用：钠是细胞外的主要矿物质，钾是细胞内的主要矿物质。二者共同调节体液平衡、神经信号和肌肉收缩——包括心跳。刘医生描述了报告的核心发现：关键似乎在于钠钾比，而非单一矿物质。钠摄入过多会升高血压；钾摄入过少会加剧这一影响。
Sodium and potassium work as a team: sodium is the main mineral outside your cells, potassium the main one inside them. Together they regulate fluid balance, nerve signals and muscle contractions – including your heartbeat. Lau describes the report’s core finding: it is the ratio of sodium to potassium that seems to matter more than either mineral alone. Too much sodium raises blood pressure; too little potassium can make that effect worse.
其他研究已证实这一点。“盐替代品与卒中研究”（SSaSS）追踪了2万多名有卒中史或患有高血压、年龄在60岁以上的中国成年人，发现用富钾盐替代普通食盐，可将卒中发生率降低14%，并减少重大心血管事件。
This has been proven in other studies. The Salt Substitute and Stroke Study (SSaSS), which followed more than 20,000 Chinese adults with a history of stroke or with high blood pressure and aged 60-plus, found that replacing regular salt with a potassium-enriched salt cut stroke rates by 14 per cent, along with major cardiovascular events.
如果大多数人摄入过多盐分，同时通常也会摄入过少的钾，尽管钾广泛存在于食物中。香蕉和牛油果是众所周知的钾来源，但刘指出有许多本地选择同样优秀：菠菜、番薯叶、空心菜（蕹菜）、苋菜叶（苋菜）和西兰花都是高钾蔬菜。莲藕每份提供约191毫克至230毫克钾，而绿豆和毛豆则是富含钾的豆类。
If most people eat too much salt, at the same time they usually eat too little potassium, even though it is widely available. Bananas and avocados are well-known sources, but Lau points to plenty of local options that are just as good: spinach, sweet potato leaves, water spinach (ong choy), amaranth leaves (Chinese spinach) and broccoli are all high-potassium vegetables. Lotus root provides roughly 191mg to 230mg per serving, and mung beans and edamame are potassium-rich legumes.
不过，并非所有绿叶菜都一样——钾含量很大程度上取决于食用分量和烹饪方式。例如，芥兰（中国西兰花）每标准份量的钾含量低于大多数其他绿叶蔬菜。刘以此提醒人们，不要假设所有绿色蔬菜都可以互换——针对具体食物的指导比笼统的经验法则更重要。
Not all greens are equal, though – potassium content depends heavily on serving size and cooking method. Gai lan (Chinese broccoli), for instance, is lower in potassium than most other leafy greens per standard serving. Lau uses this as a reminder not to assume all green vegetables are interchangeable – food-specific guidance matters more than broad rules of thumb.
需注意：更多钾并非对所有人都自动安全。如果从全食物中摄入，对大多数人有益。但对慢性肾病患者、老年人以及服用某些降压药物的人（包括ACE抑制剂和ARB——这些药物会导致血液中钾积聚——以及保钾利尿剂，即已减少身体排出钾量的“利尿剂”）来说，可能有风险。
A caveat: more potassium is not automatically safe for everyone. If consumed from whole foods, it is beneficial for most people. It can be risky for people with chronic kidney disease, older adults and anyone on certain blood pressure medications, including ACE inhibitors and ARBs – that can cause potassium to build up in the blood – and potassium-sparing diuretics, “water pills” that already reduce how much potassium the body excretes.
刘表示，上述高风险人群在增加钾摄入量前（即使来自全食物）都应咨询医生。
Anyone in the high-risk categories above should check with a doctor before boosting their potassium intake, even from whole foods, Lau says.
一种更简单的方法是替换为富含钾的食材，在保留风味的同时调整钠钾比例——即减少或用番茄、蘑菇和绿叶蔬菜（它们自带天然鲜味）替代高盐腌料，并依靠姜、葱、蒜和香菜等鲜香料调味，而非食盐。
A simpler approach is to swap in potassium-rich ingredients that preserve flavour while shifting the sodium-to-potassium balance – so reduce or replace salt-heavy marinades with tomatoes, mushrooms and leafy greens (which bring their own natural umami), and rely on fresh aromatics like ginger, spring onion, garlic and coriander to season instead of salt.
与SSaSS研究一致的目标是，用富钾盐替代不超过25%至30%的普通食盐。这足以显著增加钾摄入量，同时保持口感可口——钾含量过高会使食物尝起来发苦或有金属味。
A target that is consistent with the SSaSS study is to replace no more than 25 to 30 per cent of regular salt with potassium-enriched salt. That is enough to meaningfully raise potassium intake while staying palatable – potassium in larger amounts can make foods taste bitter or metallic.
对于酱料，应减少用量而非完全戒除。将酱料单独盛放而非拌入菜中，并将高钠菜肴搭配高钾配菜——例如红烧豆制品搭配仅淋少许酱汁的清蒸绿叶菜。采纳这种做法将帮助您可持续地养成健康习惯，而非试图戒除某些食物、因讨厌口感而放弃。
For sauces, reduce the quantity rather than cutting them out entirely. Serve sauces on the side rather than mixing them in, and pair high-sodium dishes with high-potassium sides – a soy-based braised dish alongside steamed leafy greens with minimal sauce, for example. Adopting this practice will help you develop a healthy habit sustainably rather than trying to cut foods out, hating the taste of something as a result and giving up.
核心不在于放弃您喜爱的风味，而在于调整整餐中钠钾的整体平衡，而非完全去除食盐。
The takeaway is not to abandon the flavours you enjoy. It is to shift the overall balance of sodium to potassium across the meal, not eliminate salt from it.
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