Health benefits of potassium and various source fruit

Potassium is an essential mineral that plays a crucial role in various bodily functions. Here are some key health benefits of potassium:

A potassium-rich diet is linked to many powerful health benefits. It may help reduce blood pressure and water retention, help prevent osteoporosis, and protect against stroke

How your body uses potassium

Roughly 98% of the potassium in your body is found in your cells. Of this, 80% is found in your muscle cells, while the other 20% can be found in your bones, liver, and red blood cells.

Once inside your body, potassium functions as an electrolyte. When in water, an electrolyte dissolves into positive or negative ions that can conduct electricity. Potassium ions carry a positive charge.

Your body uses this electricity to manage a variety of processes, including:

• maintaining fluid balance
• sending nerve signals
• regulating muscle contraction
• How potassium helps regulate fluid balance
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What Potassium Does for Your Body: A Detailed Review

Medically reviewed by Jerlyn Jones, MS MPA RDN LD CLT, Nutrition — Written by The Healthline Editorial Team — Updated on October 28, 2024

Uses

Health benefits

Daily recommended intake

Food sources

Takeaway

A potassium-rich diet is linked to many powerful health benefits. It may help reduce blood pressure and water retention, help prevent osteoporosis, and protect against stroke.

People often underestimate the importance of potassium. It’s classified as an electrolyte because it’s highly reactive in water.

When dissolved in water, potassium produces positively charged ions. This special property allows it to conduct electricity, which is important for many processes throughout your body.

This article provides a detailed review of potassium, how your body uses it, and how it may benefit your health.

How your body uses potassium

Roughly 98% of the potassium in your body is found in your cells. Of this, 80% is found in your muscle cells, while the other 20% can be found in your bones, liver, and red blood cells.

Once inside your body, potassium functions as an electrolyte .When in water, an electrolyte dissolves into positive or negative ions that can conduct electricity. Potassium ions carry a positive charge.

Your body uses this electricity to manage a variety of processes including:

maintaining fluid balance

sending nerve signals

regulating muscle contraction

How potassium helps regulate fluid balance

The body is made of about 60% water. Roughly 40% of this waterTrusted Source is found inside your cells in a substance called intracellular fluid (ICF). The rest is found outside your cells in areas such as your blood and spinal fluid and between your cells. This fluid is called extracellular fluid (ECF).

Interestingly, the amount of water in the ICF and ECF is affected by their concentration of electrolytes, especially potassium and sodium.

Potassium is the main electrolyte in the ICF, and it determines the amount of water inside your cells. Conversely, sodium is the main electrolyte in the ECF, and it determines the amount of water outside your cells.

The amount of electrolytes relative to the amount of fluid is called osmolality. Under normal conditions, the osmolality is the same inside and outside your cells. Simply put, there’s an equal balance of electrolytes outside and inside your cells.

But when osmolality is unequal, water from the side with fewer electrolytes will move into the side with more electrolytes to equalize the electrolyte concentrations. This may cause cells to shrink as water moves out of them or swell up and burst as water moves into them.

That’s why it’s important to make sure you consume the right electrolytes, including potassium. Maintaining good fluid balance is important for optimal health. Inadequate fluid balance can lead to dehydration, which in turn affects your heart and kidneys.

Eating a potassium-rich diet and staying hydrated can help you maintain good fluid balance.

How potassium helps maintain healthy nerve function

Your nervous system relays messages between your brain and your body. These messages are delivered in the form of nerve impulses, which help regulate several functions, including.

muscle contractions

heartbeat

reflexes

kidney function

Interestingly, nerve impulses are generated by sodium ions moving into cells and potassium ions moving out of cells. The movement of ions changes the voltage of the cell, which activates a nerve impulse. A drop in potassium levels can affect your body’s ability to generate a nerve impulse.

Getting enough potassium from your diet can help you maintain healthy nerve function.

Health benefits of potassium

A potassium-rich diet may help:

lower blood pressure

reduce water retention

protect against stroke

prevent osteoporosis

possibly prevent the formation of kidney stones

Potassium helps lower blood pressure

High blood pressure affects almost half of adults in the United States. It’s a risk factor for heart disease and stroke.

High sodium levels can increase blood pressure, especially in people whose blood pressure is already high.

A potassium-rich diet may reduce blood pressure by helping your body remove excess sodium

Potassium may help protect against stroke

A stroke happens when there’s a lack of blood flow to your brain. In 2022, 1 in 6 deathsTrusted Source from cardiovascular disease in the United States were due to stroke.

Several studies have found that eating a potassium-rich diet may be associated with a lower risk of stroke.

In an older analysis of 33 studies that included a total of 128,644 participants, scientists found that people who ate the most potassium had a 24% lower risk of stroke than people who ate the least.

Additionally, the authors of a 2011 analysis of 11 studies with 247,510 participants found that people who ate the most potassium had a 21% lower risk of stroke. They also found that eating a diet rich in this mineral was linked to a reduced risk of heart disease.

Potassium may help prevent osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a condition involving hollow and porous bones. It’s often linked to low levels of calciumTrusted Source, an important mineral for bone health.

Interestingly, studies show that a potassium-rich diet may help prevent osteoporosis by reducing the amount of calcium your body loses through urine.

Potassium may help prevent kidney stones

Kidney stones are clumps of material that may form in concentrated urine.

Calcium is a common mineral in kidney stones. Research, such as this 2015 review, suggests that potassium citrate lowers calcium levels in urine. In this way, potassium may help fight kidney stones.

However, a small 2018 study suggests that potassium citrate lowers urine calcium levels and raises the pH levels of urine. This increases calcium phosphate formation, canceling out protection against kidney stones. But this study had only 13 participants.

Further studies are recommended to learn how potassium may help prevent kidney stones.

Many fruits and vegetables contain potassium citrate, so it’s easy to add to your diet.

Potassium may help reduce water retention

Water retention happens when excess fluid builds up in your body. Historically, potassium has been used to treat water retention.

Research from 2017 suggests that a high potassium intake can help reduce water retention by increasing urine production and reducing sodium levels.