Potassium helps build bone

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Created on 12-03-2012

Researchers at the University of Basel in Switzerland have found that elderly men and women who take potassium citrate daily have significant increases in areal and volumetric bone mineral density (BMD) after two years. Those individuals taking potassium citrate had a 1.7% increase in lumbar spine density.

Potassium plays a vital role in maintaining bone health. Certain potassium salts neutralize the acids produced during the body's metabolic processes. These acids deplete bone "much like acid rain eats away at a limestone statue."

The current US RDA is 4,700 mg/day, or about 6½ cups of fruit and vegetables. The average daily intake of potassium in the U.S. is too low-about 2,200 mg in women and 3,200 mg in men.

SOURCES OF POTASSIUM: Avocados, bamboo shoots, beans, cereals, orange juice, and scallops.

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