Potassium: Health Benefits, Sources, Deficiency, Dosage and Side Effects

 

A potassium-rich diet is linked to many powerful health benefits. It may help reduce blood pressure and water retention, protect against stroke, and help prevent osteoporosis and kidney stones. The importance of potassium is highly underestimated. This mineral is classified as an electrolyte because it’s highly reactive in water. When dissolved in water, it produces positively charged ions. This special property allows it to conduct electricity, which is important for many processes throughout the body.

Potassium is an essential mineral that is critical to many body functions, including the delivery of nerve signals, contraction of muscles, regulation of heartbeats and blood pressure, movement of nutrients into cells, and removal of cellular waste.  You can usually get enough potassium from your diet but may need to take supplements if you have malnutrition or have lost too much potassium due to illness or certain medications (like diuretics). Fruits, vegetables, legumes, and seeds are rich sources of potassium. Potassium deficiency is rare.

What is Potassium?

The mineral potassium is the third most prevalent in the human body.

It supports the body's ability to control fluid, transmit nerve messages, and control muscle contractions.

Your cells contain about 98% of the potassium in your body. Your muscle cells contain 80% of this, and your bones, liver, and red blood cells contain the remaining 20%.

It performs an electrolyte function once within your body.

An electrolyte dissolves into positive or negative ions that can conduct electricity when it is in contact with water. Ions of potassium have a positive charge.

An essential mineral that serves as an electrolyte is potassium. It assists in controlling fluid balance, nerve transmissions, and muscle contractions.

Health Benefits:

1-Might Lower Blood Pressure:

It raises the risk of developing heart disease, the world's leading killer.

A diet high in potassium may lower blood pressure by assisting the body in excreting extra sodium.

Some study has concentrated on potassium's capacity to reduce blood pressure and the risk of stroke because of its link to sodium, which controls fluid and plasma volume.

Researchers examined whether a diet high in fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy products, and reduced saturated and total fat may lower blood pressure in the more venerable yet notable Dietary Approaches to Reduce Hypertension (DASH) clinical trial, which was conducted in 2006. The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"The average American diet delivers too much sodium and too little potassium," according to a recently revised Harvard Medical School paper, which is very counterproductive when it comes to preventing high blood pressure. This is so that fluid does not accumulate in cells, which is prevented by potassium working in conjunction with other minerals like calcium and magnesium. Blood pressure is raised by an accumulation of fluid within cells, which can also cause heart palpitations, artery narrowing, scarring, and poor circulation.

According to studies, a potassium-rich diet, particularly one that includes fruits and vegetables, can help decrease blood pressure. This is particularly true if foods high in potassium do not also rise in salt content.

 2-Decreases Stroke Risk:

A potassium-rich diet may help prevent strokes.

Researchers found that persons who ate the most potassium had a 24% lower risk of stroke than those who ate the least after analyzing 33 studies with 128,644 participants.

The potential of potassium to improve heart health and lower the risk of stroke is one of its main advantages. Many observational studies have shown that those with high potassium levels have a lower risk of stroke. High potassium eaters in particular have a lower risk of ischemic stroke.

Interestingly, a study that appeared in the Journal of the American Heart Association even suggested a link between a lower risk of stroke and daily potassium intake of at least 3,500 milligrams.

3-Osteoporosis Prevention:

The condition osteoporosis is characterized by porous and hollow bones.

It's interesting to note that research suggests a diet high in potassium may help prevent osteoporosis by lowering the amount of calcium the body loses through urine.

Researchers discovered that persons who consumed the most potassium had the highest overall bone mass in a study of 62 healthy women between the ages of 45 and 55.

Researchers discovered that those who consumed the most potassium had higher bone mass in their lower back and hip bones in a different study with 994 healthy premenopausal women.

According to research, consuming more dietary potassium has been linked directly to greater bone density. For instance, potassium citrate and bicarbonate, two potassium salts that are naturally present in meals high in potassium, have been shown in a recent study to truly promote bone health and prevent osteoporosis.

This indicates that eating more potassium-rich foods may help maintain your bones and fend off serious bone-related illnesses like osteoporosis.

 4-Supports Healthy Growth and Development:

Your body requires potassium to process and utilize the carbohydrates you consume. As a child or an adult, you also require potassium to build protein and muscle. If you’re younger and your body is still growing, then potassium helps ensure that your growth continues at a normal, healthy rate.

5-Promotes a Healthy Digestive System:

One of potassium's lesser-known but incredibly fascinating advantages is its capacity to support a healthy digestive tract. This is accomplished by aiding in the stimulation of hydrochloric acid secretion, which is essential for digestion and nutrient breakdown. For the appropriate digestion of proteins and other more difficult-to-digest micronutrients like minerals, hydrochloric acid is especially crucial. These nutrients may not be completely broken down when there is inadequate hydrochloric acid in the stomach, which may compromise their absorption in the small intestine and eventually result in shortages.

Additionally, keeping the right fluid balance is necessary for wholesome digestion, vitamin absorption, and transportation throughout the body. To maintain proper excretion and elimination activities carried out by the kidneys and large intestine, as well as to transport digested nutrients through the bloodstream, adequate quantities of potassium ions are necessary.

 6-Prevents Cramps:

Reduced muscle cramping and increased muscle strength are two of the key advantages of eating meals high in potassium and drinking electrolyte beverages. Low potassium levels frequently cause muscle weakness, pains, and cramps.

Athletes who become dehydrated and who don't eat enough potassium-rich foods before and after exercise are particularly prone to this. Additionally, potassium is particularly helpful in the management of PMS pains.

7-May Help in Preventing Kidney Stones:

Kidney stones are material aggregates that can develop in concentrated urine.

Numerous studies have demonstrated that potassium citrate reduces the amount of calcium in urine, which is a prevalent mineral in kidney stones.

Thus, potassium may aid in the prevention of kidney stones.

Potassium citrate is simple to include in your diet because it is present in many fruits and vegetables.

Researchers discovered that males who ingested the most potassium daily had a 51% decreased incidence of kidney stones in a four-year trial involving 45,619 men.

Similar findings showed that individuals who drank the most potassium daily had a 35% lower risk of kidney stones in a 12-year trial of 91,731 women.

8-Enhance Heart Health:

Your lifespan and quality of life are directly correlated with your cardiovascular health. A potassium-rich diet helps boost heart health, according to several medically vetted research. People who drank more potassium had stronger cardiovascular health than those who ate less potassium, according to a review of 33 research with 128,644 individuals.

Potassium is vitally necessary for heart health and regulates your heartbeat to make sure that your heart is functioning properly. A potassium deficit may be a contributing factor to your irregular heartbeat.

According to studies, even slight variations in potassium levels may be linked to a higher risk of experiencing a slow or fast heartbeat, which may increase the risk of developing even more severe cardiac problems.

9-Reduces Stress and Anxiety:

For those experiencing unfavorable mental states like stress and worry, potassium is crucial. It is regarded as a potent stress reliever and ensures effective mental performance. If you experience chronic stress, it is recommended that you take advantage of any health benefits from items like potassium. Anxiety and stress are very bad for other areas of the body. Your body's hormones, especially stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, which are harmful in excess, can be regulated by this mineral. 

10-It May Reduce Water Retention:

When the body retains too much fluid, water retention results.

Potassium has been used to treat water retention in the past.

High potassium intake may assist in decreasing water retention by boosting urine output and lowering sodium levels, according to studies.

Maintaining a healthy fluid balance in the human body is another important function of potassium. Different cell types depend on a healthy water balance to function effectively, and potassium helps these cells maintain the balance. All of our organ systems depend on fluid balance to function properly, which is why many people advise eating bananas to rehydrate and maintain fluid balance after strenuous physical activity.

11-Helps Stabilize Healthy Blood Sugar Levels: 

 Potassium is essential for the creation and release of insulin in your body. If you’re not getting the right potassium intake, your body might not be making enough insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is released from the pancreas. This hormone helps manage several metabolic pathways in the body, but the most important and well-known nutrient is glucose (also known as sugar). Insulin manages where glucose travels to, how it is stored, and how your cells absorb the sugars from your foods after digestion.

Potassium Sources:

Many whole foods, including fruits, vegetables, and seafood, are high in potassium.

The majority of medical professionals concur that consuming 3,500–4,700 mg of potassium daily seems to be the ideal dosage.

The amount of potassium you can consume from a 3.5-ounce (100-gram) serving of foods high in this mineral is listed below.

• Beet greens cooked: 909 mg
• Baked yams: 670 mg
• cooked pinto beans: 646 mg
• Baked white potatoes contain 544 mg.
• Grilled portobello mushrooms contain 521 mg.
• Avocado: 485 mg
• Baked sweet potato: 475 mg
• Cooked spinach has 466 mg.
• Kale 447 mg.
• Cooked salmon has 414 mg.
• Banana  358 mg
• Cooked peas: 271 mg
• Cooked broccoli contains 458 milligrams per cup.
• Grapefruit 1 whole contains 354 milligrams.
• Apricot half cup of dried 1,101 mg.
• Lentils cooked lentils in a cup, 731 mg.
• Kidney beans  1 cup of kidney  607 mg.
• Orange juice, 1 cup, 496 mg.
• Boiling half a cup of soybeans 443 mg 9%
• Milk in a cup, 366 mg.

The use of over-the-counter supplements, on the other hand, is not a recommended strategy for increasing potassium intake.

In many nations, the potassium content of over-the-counter supplements is capped at 99 mg, which is a significant reduction from the amount you can obtain from just one serving of the potassium-rich whole foods mentioned above.

This 99-mg limit is most likely in place since numerous studies have shown that high potassium supplement doses can harm the intestines and even result in fatal cardiac arrhythmias.

However, a higher-dose supplement may be prescribed by a doctor for patients who have a potassium shortage.

What Leads to a Deficiency in Potassium?

Potassium insufficiency could come from consuming less than is advised. When intakes are less than what your body requires, it can cause health issues like raised blood pressure and a higher chance of getting kidney stones.

Low dietary intakes are only one factor that may lead to potassium shortage; others include:

• Diarrhea
• Vomiting 
• Using a diuretic
• Overuse of laxatives
• Pica (eating inedible items, such as clay),
• heavy perspiration
• Dialysis is a medical therapy used when the kidneys are unable to cycle blood.
• IBD, or inflammatory bowel disease
• Irritability, constipation, and fatigue
• Muscle pain
• Gaining weight
• High blood pressure issues
• Heart flutters
• Accumulates cellulite
• Nausea
• Arthritis
• Stomach pain
• Bloating
• Abnormal psychological activity, such as hallucinations, depression, or confusion.

A potassium deficit can be particularly dangerous for some persons, including:

• Persons with IBD
• Those who use laxatives or diuretics
• People that who have pica

Also Read: ESSENTIAL NUTRIENT OF LIFE

Recommendations for Supplementation and Dosage:

So, to benefit from the numerous potential potassium benefits available, should you take a potassium supplement?

Typically, normal, healthy persons are not advised to take potassium supplements. Those with diseases that prevent them from absorbing potassium efficiently may be given them under specific circumstances, but normally it is advisable to receive this important mineral via foods high in potassium first.

There can occasionally be such a thing as "too much of a good thing," and both high and low potassium levels can result in difficulties. Potassium supplements are occasionally viewed as harmful since potassium homeostasis depends on healthy kidney function, although many people have some degree of renal function impairment as they age.

To be safe, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has set a limit of fewer than 100 milligrams for over-the-counter potassium supplements, which includes multivitamin/mineral pills. This is a significant reduction from the daily dose for the majority of age groups. If you do want to take a potassium supplement, it is advisable to coordinate the amount with your physician based on your unique requirements and medical background.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's expert committee recently updated their guidelines for potassium consumption, which might change depending on a person's age and gender.

For healthy adult males, a daily potassium consumption of 3,400 milligrams (mg) is recommended, and for healthy adult females, 2,600 mg.

The following table lists certain suggestions. a reliable source for many age groups.

The most recent recommendations for potassium are as follows:

• 0 to 6 months: 400 mg/day
• 7 to 12 months: 860 mg daily
• 2,000 mg every day for 1-3 years
• 4 to 8 years: 2,300 mg daily
• 9 to 13 years: 2,300 milligrams for women and 2,500 milligrams for men per day.
• Ages 14 to 18: 3,000 milligrams for men and 2,300 milligrams for women each day.
• Over the age of 19: 3,400 milligrams for men and 2,600 milligrams for women per day
• Women who are expecting or nursing should take 2,800–2,900 mg per day.

Depending on their level of activity, muscle mass, and other factors, athletes who regularly work out for more than an hour may require even more potassium than average.

Side Effects:

Your doctor could advise you to take potassium to make up for a deficit or to reduce your risk of developing certain illnesses, like kidney stones. However, taking a supplement like potassium could come with unwanted effects. These negative effects could be mild or frequent. 

Increased consumption of fruits and vegetables will result in increased fiber and potassium intake. To avoid gas and bloating, it's imperative to gradually increase fiber intake. Additionally, be sure to get enough fluids in your system. Constipation can occur if proper hydration is neglected.

Common Side Effects:

Supplementing with potassium frequently has negative effects, such as:

• Diarrhea
• Nausea
• Stomach discomfort, soreness, or slight gas
• Vomiting

Unfavorable Effects:

• Potassium supplementation can occasionally cause serious negative effects. People with high intakes, impaired renal function, or those on particular drugs, such as ACE inhibitors and potassium-sparing diuretics, are more likely to experience these.

These are some severe negative effects:

• Confusion
• Skin that is gray, pallid, or cold
• Stomach pain or swollen
• Stools in black
• Tingling or numbness in the lips, feet, or hands
• Unaccounted-for anxiety
• Unusual weakness or fatigue
• Leg heaviness or sluggishness

If you notice any serious side effects, get in touch with your healthcare professional right away.