Effect of banana intake on serum potassium level in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis: A randomized controlled trial.
Zilin Quan, Caixia Li, Liyan Zhao and 7 others
PMID 38707694WHAT IT FOUND
In patients eating 250 g banana at start of hemodialysis, serum potassium was higher at 2 and 4 hours than in no-food controls, with no hyperkalemia.
Hypokalemia at 4 hours and arrhythmias were less frequent in the banana group.
Key findings
01Serum potassium was higher in the banana group than in the no-food group at 2 h and at 4 h of hemodialysis.
02No hyperkalemia was observed during dialysis in either group.
03At 4 h, hypokalemia was less frequent with banana (52.5% vs 80.3%), and arrhythmias were less frequent (8.2% vs 29.5%).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The trial was open-label and single-center, so participants and staff knew group assignment. 126 patients were randomized, but 122 completed follow-up. The sample size was based on a pilot study of 10 patients in each group. Most patients were from southern China, so results may not apply to other populations. Only bananas were tested, not other fruits. The study did not assess long-term nutritional or psychological outcomes. The study did not evaluate the effects of medications used by patients. Patients had to be on maintenance hemodialysis for more than one year, able to eat, and free of oral or gastrointestinal disease or dietary contraindications.
Declared interests
The study was supported by Guangdong Provincial Medical Science and Technology Research Fund Project and Guangzhou Science and Technology Plan Project. The funding sources had no role in study design, data collection, analysis, writing, or submission. The authors declared no competing interests.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that bananas are a safe or effective treatment for all hemodialysis patients. This trial tested a fixed 250 g banana amount in selected patients without dietary contraindications, was open-label and single-center, and the authors state banana cannot replace drug potassium supplementation.