Elderly women who eat a diet high in potassium are less likely to have a stroke.

A new study out of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine spent 11 years following 90,137 women between the ages of 50 to 79 to monitor their health and potassium intake. All women were postmenopausal and had not had a stroke prior to the study’s start.

Those who ingested the largest amount of potassium daily saw a decrease in their risk of all types of stroke by an average of 12 percent. They were, on average, 16 percent less likely to experience an ischemic stroke as well.

Women who consumed the most potassium and who did not have a history of high blood pressure saw their risk go down 21 percent for all stroke types and 27 percent for ischemic stroke.

Potassium has long been associated with lowering blood pressure, but these new findings highlight a need for women to focus on getting more potassium into their diets, researchers say. According to their data, less than three percent of women get the recommended amount of potassium in a given day.

The suggested daily intake of potassium is 4,700 milligrams. On average, the women in the study only consumed about 2,611 milligrams each day, a little over half the recommended amount.

Women also face a greater risk for stroke than men do, regardless of age.

Potassium can be found in fruits, vegetables and dairy products. The Department of Agriculture and Health and Human Services states in its federal guidelines that potassium can also serve to reduce the effects of sodium on blood pressure as well as reduce the occurrence of kidney stones.