Overview
Potassium is an electrolyte, one of the essential minerals that
your body requires for proper metabolism and energy use. The
transfer of energy and electricity between neurons and other
cells depends on a proper balance of potassium on both sides of
the cell wall. In practical terms, potassium is needed to help
your body regulate blood pressure, convert glucose to glycogen
and maintain healthy kidneys, heart and liver, as well as
helping to lower the risk of stroke.
What
Potassium Does:
Potassium helps
regulate muscle contractions – including heart contractions –
through a series of complex chemical and electrical
interactions. Because it helps the body to handle sodium, helps
maintain blood pressure within acceptable ranges. It also is a
catalyst in numerous metabolic processes that keep the body
working properly. Potassium citrate helps to dissolve calcium,
preventing kidney stones and calcification of the soft tissues,
as well as promoting proper bone health.
Where
Potassium Comes From:
Potassium is found
in numerous food sources, including bananas, orange juice,
potatoes, dried apricots, whole grains, meat, fish and dairy
products.
Health
Benefits of Potassium:
Potassium’s many health benefits include lowering blood
pressure, reducing the risk of stroke and heart attack,
regulating smooth muscle contraction and preventing the
formation of calcified kidney stones and other soft tissue
calcification. Specifically, research has shown that:
In the
Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension study, one of the most
well known studies of the affect of diet on high blood pressure,
researchers found that increasing the daily intake of potassium
by 800 mgs resulted in significantly lower blood pressure. In
another study, the Third National Health and Nutritional
Examination Survey, researchers concluded that those whose diets
included more potassium had lower blood pressure than those with
lower intakes of potassium.
Many
population based studies have shown that a diet rich in
potassium helps reduce the risk of stroke by as much as 40%.
Eating a
diet rich in potassium can help preserve bone mass, and reduce
the risk of bone loss and breakage due to osteoporosis.
Several
studies have suggested a connection between low potassium levels
and poor lung functioning. Including more potassium in the diet
may help enhance lung function in people with asthma.
In one
study of over 45,000 men, those whose daily intake of potassium
was more than 4.3 grams per day were 50% less likely to develop
kidney stones than those with potassium intakes of less than 3
grams per day. A similar study of over 90,000 women showed that
those whose intake of calcium averaged 3.5 grams per day were
65% less likely to develop kidney stones than those whose diets
provided 2.7 grams per day.
Recommended Daily Intake of Potassium:
The Food
and Nutrition Board of the National Institutes of Medicine does
not give a recommended daily intake of potassium. Instead, in
2004 it established an Adequate Intake index based on amounts of
potassium that have been shown to lower blood pressure and
reduce the incidence of kidney stones.
-
Children 1 to 3 years: 3 g
-
Children 4 to 8 years: 3.8 g
-
Boys 9 to 13 years: 4.5 g
-
Teenage boys 14 to 18 years: 4.7 g
-
Girls 9 to 13 years: 4.5 g
-
Teenage girls 14 to 18 years: 4.7 g
-
Pregnant teenagers 14 to 18 years: 4.7 g
-
Breastfeeding teenagers 14 to 18 years: 5.1
g
Adult
Symptoms of Potassium Deficiency:
Hypokalemia, or potassium deficiency, is fairly rare, but can
occur when diarrhea is accompanied by dehydration. In that case,
doctors may administer intravenous fluids that include potassium
and other salts and electrolytes. In most cases, potassium
deficiency caused by vomiting and diarrhea or excessive
overexertion and perspiration are easily corrected. The symptoms
of severe potassium deficiency include muscle fatigue, muscle
twitching, paralysis and heart arrhythmia.
Doctors
now recognize, however, that a diet that is chronically low in
potassium can have other, more subtle effects. People with low
potassium intakes are more likely to have high blood pressure,
suffer from strokes and develop kidney stones. Their bone
density is generally less than those who have adequate and high
levels of potassium intake, and they may be more subject to
muscle twitching and cramping that disturbs sleep. In fact,
midwives have traditionally advised their pregnant patients to
eat a banana a day to help stave off leg cramps during the
night.
Potassium Toxicity:
Abnormally high intakes of potassium carry potentially harmful
effects, including tissue damage, the rupture of blood cells,
kidney damage and heart arrhythmia that can lead to cardiac
arrest. Intakes greater than 18 grams at once can result in
hyperkalemia (too much potassium in the bodily fluids) with
serious and even fatal results.
People
who are taking potassium-sparing diuretics should consult their
doctor or other health professional before starting potassium
supplements, as should women who are pregnant or nursing, and
those with impaired kidney function.
Supplementing with Potassium:
Because there are such a variety of foods that provide
potassium, high doses of potassium in health supplements are
generally unnecessary. In fact, because of the dangers of
excessive potassium intake, nutritional supplements sold in the
United States may not contain any more than 99 mgs of potassium
per tablet. Even so, surveys have shown that most people do not
get adequate potassium in their diets. Because potassium is such
a vital nutrient, its inclusion in a good multivitamin health
supplement can help ensure adequate intakes. This is especially
true in a whole health supplement like
Total Balance from
Xtend-Life Natural Products. Xtend-Life uses a
synergistically balanced formula for its multi-nutritional
product
Total Balance, so that each ingredient boosts and enhances
the effects of every other ingredient. This strategy ensures an
optimal balance of all needed nutrients without any fear of
overdosing on any one.
