Daily Health News Blog

Q. You have often written about the benefits of potassium, yet you advise against potassium supplements. Why? A.  While there’s no doubt that a diet rich in potassium provides cardiovascular benefits (notably for blood pressure control and stroke prevention), that may not be true of supplements—which can actually be dangerous for many people. High-potassium foods—vegetables and fruits, along with beans, dairy products, fish, and nuts—contain many nutrients and other compounds that help account for the health benefits. Another plus for blood pressure is the fact that these foods also tend to be low in sodium. So it’s hard to say how much the benefits come from the potassium itself. In large part, the mineral may simply be a marker for a healthy diet. That may be why studies testing the effect of potassium supplements on blood pressure, for instance, have had inconsistent or unclear results. Blood levels of potassium are tightly regulated by the body, mostly by the kidney...