Eating more potassium-rich foods won’t hurt your heart health by messing with your cholesterol, stress hormones, or kidney function — so it’s probably safe if you’re trying to lower your risk of heart problems.

Eating more potassium-rich foods like bananas and spinach can help lower your blood pressure and make it less likely you'll have a stroke or heart problem—especially if you're eating a lot of salty foods.

For people who already have heart disease, the more potassium their body gets rid of in urine, the more likely they are to have a heart attack, stroke, or die — which is the opposite of what most people think potassium does.

If you have high blood pressure, eating more potassium might lower it more than it does for someone with normal blood pressure.

Eating more potassium-rich foods doesn't change how much salt is passed in urine or body weight for people with high blood pressure over a year.

If you eat a little more potassium-rich food each day—like bananas or spinach—you might lower your risk of stroke and reduce your blood pressure a bit, even if you don’t change how much salt you eat.