More Potassium Lowers High Blood Pressure

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.

If you eat more potassium every day—like from bananas or potatoes—your blood pressure might drop just a tiny bit, but not enough to matter for your health if you don’t already have high blood pressure.

Most of the studies that looked at whether potassium lowers blood pressure aren’t very reliable—many didn’t properly hide who got the potassium or only reported the results they liked.

If adults with high blood pressure eat more potassium-rich foods—like bananas or spinach—by about 50 mmol per day, their blood pressure numbers go down a bit, which might help lower their risk of heart problems.

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