(HealthScoutNews) -- Add another potential health benefit to diets rich in bananas, melons, potatoes and other potassium-packed foods: They could help women stave off osteoporosis, especially if they love to sprinkle on the salt.

Potassium appears to counteract the bad effects of high-salt diets by preventing bones from decaying at a fast rate, says study author Dr. Deborah Sellmeyer, an assistant adjunct professor of endocrinology and metabolism at the University of California at San Francisco.

Sellmeyer isn't prepared to say women take potassium supplements, which are now available only by prescription. However, the findings of her study, which appear in the May issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, do provide more evidence of the importance of a balanced and proper diet, she says.

In a relating finding, Sellmeyer's research confirmed that diets high in salt can cause bone loss, she says.

"Typically, we think worrying about dietary salt is for people with high blood pressure or stroke. This brings in another group of people who are at risk," Sellmeyer says.

An estimated 44 million Americans over the age of 50 suffer from osteoporosis -- weak bones that increase the risk of fracture -- or have low bone mass, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation.

Women are at special risk, but the bones of men can also decay as they become older.

It's no secret that calcium and vitamin D are important to strong bones, and experts frequently recommend that women make sure they consume enough calcium.

Researchers had also suspected that potassium plays some role in osteoporosis, "but we don't know very much" about it, says Dr. Robert P. Heaney, a professor of medicine at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb.

Sellmeyer recruited 60 post-menopausal women to participate in her study. For three weeks, she put them on low-salt diets -- only 2 grams of salt a day, less than the 6 grams, or 1.5 teaspoons -- recommended by federal health officials.

The researchers measured two things -- how much calcium the women's bodies lost through urination and how much of a protein called NTX they lost that's created when bones decay.

Then, the women all went on a high-salt diet -- 9 grams of salt a day -- for a month. That amount of salt is on the high end of what Americans typically consume, Sellmeyer says.

Half of the women took potassium supplements, while half took a placebo.

The potassium appeared to protect the bones of the women who took it, Sellmeyer says. They lost less calcium than they did on the low-salt diets, and the amount of lost protein was only slightly higher.

The women who didn't take potassium on the high-salt diet suffered from higher rates of loss of potassium (33 percent more) and the protein (23 percent more). That indicates that more salt consumption quickens bone decay, Sellmeyer says.

It appears that a diet high in salt pulls calcium out of bones, but potassium limits the damage, she says.

The women who took potassium consumed amounts found in seven to eight servings of fruits and vegetables, Sellmeyer says.

Heaney says it may be easier to convince women to eat more fruits and vegetables than to lower their salt intake.

"In general, it's easier to get people to eat things that taste good than to subtract things that make food taste good," he says.

What To Do

To learn more about potassium, go here.

The University of Illinois has some tips on how to lower your salt intake.

Reference Source 101

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