POTASSIUM
Written by Slawomir (“Swavak”) Gromadzki, MPH
Potassium is an essential mineral vital for the proper functioning of all living cells and to maintain fluid and electrolyte balance in the body. Approximately 98% of the body’s total potassium is found within a cell.
Potassium is required for the function of several organs, including the heart, kidneys, brain and muscular tissues.
The major functions of potassium are the maintenance of the cell’s membrane potential and regulation of the fluid within the cell.
Potassium is important for muscle contraction, nerve impulse transmission, heart functioning, prevention of excessive fluid retention, maintenance of proper pH within the body, normal growth and muscle building.
DEFICIENCY
Western diet with more processed foods and low vegetable intake is low in potassium and high in sodium. Potassium deficiency can result in muscle cramps and spasms as well as many other listed below symptoms. For this reason every day eat a big bowl of raw vegetable salad. In your diet, include also potatoes in skin, banana, and 1 cup of raw coconut water per day. In addition, you may take 100-300 mg of Potassium Citrate with one of your meals.
Symptoms of potassium deficiency may include muscle weakness & cramps, tiredness, irritability, abdominal pain, abdominal cramping, bloating, nausea, constipation, depression, confusion, weight gain, blood pressure problems, heart palpitations, cellulite, arthritis, etc.
– Potassium deficiency can also develop as a result of endurance exercise without proper hydration, prolonged vomiting or diarrhoea, kidney dysfunction associated with treatment with diuretics, amphotericin B, cisplatin, theophylline, as well as in Cushing’s syndrome, Conn’s syndrome, and Fanconi syndrome.
– Levels of Potassium drop by eating too much salt, and avoiding foods which are rich in potassium such as raw vegetable salads, baked in skin potatoes, watermelon or bananas.
– Caffeine depletes your supplies of thiamine and other B vitamins, calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron and zinc.
– Conventional treatment for peripheral oedema includes diuretics (such as Lasix) which are prescribed to treat peripheral oedema or heart failure. Unfortunately, their chronic use causes side effects such as potassium deficiency.
– Anti-hypertensives drugs lead to Potassium deficiency. Physicians often prescribe potassium to offset the well-known potassium depletion associated with these drugs. One study found hypokalaemia (low potassium) in people treated with thiazide diuretics and hyponatremia (low sodium). Thiazide diuretics also decrease magnesium in approximately 20 percent of patients (4) and can significantly decrease serum zinc. Loop diuretics deplete potassium, magnesium, calcium, zinc, pyridoxine, thiamine and ascorbic acid. One study showed that thiamine deficiency was found in 98 percent of patients with congestive heart failure who took 80 mg of furosemide daily, and in 57 percent of patients who took just 40 mg daily.
– Because stress leads to imbalance between potassium and sodium which is caused by another stress hormone – adrenalin, you may also be tempted to eat chips and other salty foods which are high in fat too.
– Apple cider vinegar is high in acetic acid which may lead to potassium deficiency over time, if ACV is consumed in large doses.
DIETARY SOURCES
Unlike Nutritional Yeast (high in B Vitamins), Brewer’s Yeast > is much better source of amino acids (protein) and minerals such as whopping 630 milligrams of Potassium and 63 micrograms of Selenium per 2 tablespoons, whereas nutritional yeast contains none!
Other good natural sources of potassium are raw vegetable salads, baked with skin white and sweet potatoes, and bananas. Other food sources containing potassium include coconut water, dried apricots, prunes, dates, avocados, cantaloupe, citrus fruits, dark leafy greens, tomatoes, squash, legumes (especially beans), mushrooms, and nuts.
In order to have enough potassium you need to consume about 7 cups of raw vegetable salad every day!
Karela fruit (bitter) contains twice the potassium of a banana.
One hundred grams of dry Moringa leaf contains 15 times the potassium of bananas, 12 times the vitamin C of oranges, and 25 times the iron of spinach.
BENEFITS
BLOOD PRESSURE
Potassium supplementation helps normalise and lower high blood pressure (>, >).
Potassium may lower high blood pressure in hypertensive patients who consume too much sodium (>, >). However, high potassium intake does not decrease blood pressure when it is normal (>).
Increasing dietary potassium intake from natural foods reduces the need for antihypertensive medication in patients with essential hypertension.
38% of hypertensive patients on the high-potassium diet had well-controlled blood pressure without any need for drug therapy (>).
Blood pressure-lowering effect of potassium may be related to its diuretic activity, and effects on the nervous system, blood vessels, the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, and natriuretic hormone (>).
HEART ATTACK & STROKE
Diet rich in potassium decreased the risk of coronary heart disease by 20% and stroke by 34% (>, >).
Increased potassium intake may protect against stroke (>, >).
An average increase of 1.64 g of potassium per day is associated with a 21% reduced risk of stroke (>).
More than 5 servings of fruit and vegetables per day are associated with a 26% lower rate of stroke compared with 3 or fewer servings (>).
CARDIO-VASCULAR HEALTH
A number of animal studies confirmed that increased potassium intake protects against cardiovascular disease (>).
Patients with congestive heart failure should routinely be given potassium supplementation, a potassium-sparing diuretic, or an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, even if their initial potassium measurement is normal (4.0 mmol/l) (>).
The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III, a study of 12,267 US adults, showed that higher potassium intake was associated with a lower cardiovascular and all-cause risk of dying (>).
High dietary potassium intake in Japanese men and women is associated with a lower risk of dying from coronary heart disease and total cardiovascular disease (>).
DIABETES
Potassium is important for insulin secretion from the pancreatic cells (>, >).
Low potassium intake or blood potassium level is associated with an increased risk for insulin resistance and diabetes (>, >, >, >, >).
Potassium depletion studies show that low serum potassium decreases glucose tolerance associated with reduced insulin secretion (>).
METABOLIC SYNDROME
Studies show that high potassium intake is associated with a 39% reduced risk of metabolic syndrome in both men and women (>).
SUGAR CRAVINGS
Apart from chromium also potassium is important to cope with sugar cravings. In order to have more potassium you need to consume about 7 cups of raw vegetable salad every day.
WATER BALANCE, WATER RETENTION & SWELLING (OEDEMA)
Potassium deficiency may cause oedema. Potassium is critical for maintaining normal water balance in the body. Levels of this mineral drop by eating too much salt, and avoiding foods which are rich in potassium such as raw vegetable salads, baked in skin potatoes, watermelon or bananas.
Potassium reduces water retention by lowering sodium levels in the body.
MUSCLE CRAMPS & SPASMS
Potassium deficiency can result in muscle cramps and spasms. For this reason every day eat big bowl of raw vegetable salad, potatoes in skin, banana, and 1 cup of raw coconut water per day. In addition take 100 mg of Potassium Citrate with one of your meals.
Muscle weakness, muscle aches and muscle cramps are common side effects of low potassium levels for instance in athletes when they become dehydrated and don’t consume enough potassium-rich foods before and after exercise (>).
PMS
Potassium is helpful for cramps related to premenstrual syndrome (PMS) >.
KIDNEY HEALTH
In order to filter toxic waste from blood kidneys need water, nutrients, and mineral electrolytes like potassium and sodium (not sodium from refined salt but Celtic or sea salt).
Studies in hypertensive rats showed that a high potassium intake prevented vascular, glomerular, and tubular damage of kidneys (>, >).
Study of 13,917 participants from NHANES, suggested that higher dietary intake of potassium is associated with lower incidence of chronic kidney disease (>).
Potassium supplementation can reduce kidney inflammation leading to a regression of chronic kidney disease (>).
Chronic potassium depletion causes kidney functional and structural changes, interstitial nephritis (inflammation of the kidney), or cyst formation in animals and humans (>, >, >, >).
Concurrent supplementation with potassium and magnesium protects kidneys from cyclosporine-induced kidney damage (>).
KIDNEY STONES
People taking higher doses of potassium had 50% lower risk of developing kidney stones (>, >).
Increasing dietary or supplemental potassium intake has been found to decrease calcium excretion in urine thus decreasing the risk of developing kidney stones (>, >).
Potassium citrate is effective in reducing the stone size and symptoms of kidney stones in adults and children on a ketogenic diet (>, >, >).
One of the main causes of cellulite build-up is fluid retention caused by excess sodium and deficiency of potassium.
OSTEOPOROSIS
Increased intake potassium improves bone mineral density and prevents osteoporosis (>, >, >, >, >).
In postmenopausal women, potassium bicarbonate (>) and combined treatment with potassium citrate and calcium citrate reduced bone loss, especially in women on a high salt diet (>, >).
LOSS OF MUSCLE MASS
High intake of foods rich in potassium favours preservation of muscle mass in older men and women (>).
In elderly people with potassium deficiency, increased intake had anti-ageing effects (>).
Potassium-rich foods relieve an acidic environment in the body and protect from loss of bone density and muscle wasting (>).
ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY
Dietary potassium protects against oxidative cardiovascular damage through its antioxidant effects (>).
AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES
Potassium supplementation may help prevent the development of autoimmune and inflammatory conditions by blocking effect on interleukin IL-17A production in T lymphocytes (>).
ADVERSE EFFECTS OF LITHIUM
Potassium supplementation protects against nephrogenic diabetes insipidus caused by Lithium used for the treatment of manic-depressive psychosis and other conditions. Potassium prevents kidney damage by decreasing the reabsorption of lithium from the kidneys (>).
Potassium also increases the elimination of excess lithium from the tissues, protecting against its potentially toxic accumulation (>).
ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE
Increased potassium intake helps in the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease (>) as it leads to a beneficial change in the aggregation of the amyloid-beta peptide in brain tissues, improved memory, decreased inflammation and oxidative stress (>).
GUM DISEASE
High consumption of potassium might decrease periodontists (gum disease) severity which effect is probably related to reduced inflammation or oxidative damage (>).
TOOTH SENSITIVITY
An alcohol-free mouth rinse with 1.4% potassium oxalate, significantly reduced tooth sensitivity (>).
RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS PAIN
High-level potassium supplementation helped decrease pain caused by rheumatoid arthritis (>). Nearly half of those who took 6,000 mg of potassium daily for a month experienced a 30% reduction in pain.
It is believed that pain and inflammation were decreased because higher potassium intake elevated blood levels of cortisol which has anti-inflammatory properties (>).
INTERACTIONS
– Potassium encouraging the kidneys to excrete sodium thus promoting healthy blood pressure.
– Potassium enhances calcium reabsorption. Calcium is needed to control levels of magnesium, potassium and phosphorus in the blood, and all these minerals work together to balance one another. This is one of the reasons why it is so important to avoid excess of calcium and at the same time consume mineral- and calcium-rich foods on a regular basis as it helps avoid electrolyte imbalance.
– Magnesium is required for potassium uptake in cells. As an electrolyte, magnesium helps regulate calcium, potassium and sodium and is essential for over 300 different biochemical functions in the body.
RECOMMANDED DAILY INTAKE
Because Potassium is easily excreted by the kidneys rather than stored in the body, we need consume potassium every day.
Recommended daily intake of Potassium is set at only 2,000mg (way too low) in UK & EU countries and 4,700mg in US.
Recommended daily intake of potassium according to the Food and Nutrition Center of the Institute of Medicine:
- Infants 0–12 months: 400–700 mg/day
- Children 1–8 years: 3,000–3,800 mg/day
- Teens 9–18 years: 4,500–4,700 mg/day
- Adults (men and women) 19 and older: 4,700 mg/day
- Pregnant or breastfeeding: 5,100 mg/day
Athletes need even more Potassium, but intakes may vary based on muscle mass, intensity of the training, etc.
SAFE UPPER INTAKE
Safe upper intake from supplements for Potassium is set at 3,700mg (too low) in EU countries and no SUL in US. SUL in EU countries seems to be too low when we take into consideration that in America the recommended daily intake is almost 5000 mg/day.
High doses of supplemental potassium should be administered under medical supervision due to potential toxicity (>, >).
SERUM POTASSIUM
The healthy range for serum potassium 3.5 to 5.5 mmol/L, and only a minor departure from this range (by less than 1.0 mmol/L) is associated with a high risk of disease and even dying (>).
Hypokalaemia (Potassium deficiency) is defined as a serum potassium concentration of less than 3.5 mmol/L.
Hyperkalaemia (excess Potassium) is defined as a serum potassium concentration above 5.5 mmol/L. Serum potassium above 6.5 mEq/L, which occurs in kidney failure, adrenal gland insufficiency, and in the tumour lysis syndrome, is associated with a high risk of death.
Licorice is effective in lowering potassium in hemodialysis patients with hyperkalemia >
CONTRAINDICATIONS
In individuals whose kidney function is impaired, a potassium intake below 4.7 g/day is recommended, because elevated blood potassium levels increase the risk of irregular heart rhythm that.
In patients with chronic kidney failure, potassium supplementation must be considered carefully as kidneys are the main regulator of potassium balance (>, >).
Patients with ulcers and bleeding must be considered carefully for oral potassium supplementation because some potassium salts (such as chloride) can be irritating to the gut lining.
SUPPLEMENTS
Potassium containing supplements are available in the form of citrate, gluconate, chloride, acetate, and bicarbonate. However, the best supplemental Potassium is found in Brewer’s Yeast > (tablets or capsule) as it is natural and very well absorbed.
SIDE EFFECTS OF SUPPLEMENTS
Potassium chloride supplements may irritate upper digestive tract due to delayed stomach emptying.
VIDEO
Barbara O’Neill – The Acid/Alkaline Balance >
SOURCES
– https://selfhacked.com/blog/potassium/
– https://draxe.com/top-10-potassium-rich-foods/
– http://www.greenmedinfo.com/substance/potassium
Any information or product suggested on this website is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any medical condition. Never disregard medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. Consult your primary healthcare physician before using any supplements or making any changes to your regime.