Getting the right amounts of vitamins and minerals can keep individuals healthy; it can also head off numerous preventable diseases. In that vein, researchers have recently suggested that potassium deficiencies may be at least partially to blame for the high rates of type 2 diabetes in certain populations.

Scientists at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Minnesota reviewed the medical data of more than 12,000 adults and determined that many black Americans have low blood-serum levels of potassium. This finding, they suggested in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, may partially explain that group’s high rate of acquired diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes is caused in part by poor diet. Health authorities estimate that 8 percent of Americans have the disorder, which occurs when the pancreas can no longer produce insulin sufficient to handle blood glucose.

Potassium can be found in many healthy fruits and vegetables, including bananas, broccoli and melons, the group added.

For those who have limited access to fresh produce, nutritional supplements may be able to provide the necessary daily dose of the element.