Potassium? You may have heard of it, but you cannot put your finger on it. Physicians advise taking 3,500 to 4,700 mg of potassium daily. The World Health Organization (WHO), too, recommends an intake of 3,510 mg per day. Hang on, this does not mean you pop a potassium pill into your mouth every day! Plenty of foods are rich in this mineral compound to help you meet your daily requirements.
For our bodies to function correctly, we need a diverse range of nutrients, including carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and water. They are essential for the growth of our bones, flesh, and organs, and for maintaining body metabolism. Moreover, we need them to keep diseases at bay and maintain overall good health. Potassium, as a macro-mineral, fulfills one of those essential nutrients.
Mineral electrolyte
Electrolytes are essential minerals found in blood, sweat, and urine. Minerals such as sodium, chloride, calcium, magnesium, phosphate, and potassium form the electrolytes our body needs.
An electrolyte imbalance in the body occurs when we lose fluids due to persistent vomiting, diarrhea, excessive sweating, or fever. Other causes include: Medications such as steroids, diuretics, and laxatives.
Surprisingly, the fluids in your body—such as blood, sweat, and plasma—account for nearly 80 percent of your body's potassium requirement, while your bones and liver store the rest.
Biomedical scientists explain that Potassium, as an agent, regulates fluid balance in our bodies and controls the electrical activity of the heart and body muscles. In short, it helps the cellular and electrical functions of our body. Potassium helps our nerves function, our muscles contract, maintain a regular heartbeat, and pump nutrients into our body cells while removing waste products.
As a mineral electrolyte, this wonderful compound helps reduce the high sodium content in our bodies. It is said to minimize the risk of stroke, high blood pressure, and the formation of kidney stones. It supports cardiovascular health, safeguards muscle mass, and preserves bone mineral density.
Potassium deficiency
Surprisingly, the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, USA), in a survey called NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey), revealed a mind-boggling fact: in the United States alone, a whopping 98 percent of people fail to meet the daily requirement of 3,500 to 4,700 mg of Potassium.
Catherine Collins, a dietician at St George's Hospital, Tooting, London, sheds light on Potassium by saying, “We use it to help generate an electrical charge which helps the cell function properly. It helps keep your heart rate steady, it helps trigger insulin release from the pancreas to help control blood sugars, and more importantly, keeps blood pressure in check.”
When the potassium level in our blood is low, it's called hypokalemia. The common symptoms of hypokalemia are fatigue, malaise, muscle aches/cramps, digestive disorders, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, irregular palpitation, numbness of body parts, and breathing problems, among others.
Severe potassium deficiency occurs when an adult's potassium level falls below 3.6 millimoles per liter (mmol/L). In such cases, apart from the symptoms mentioned above, other symptoms may include low blood pressure, paralysis (resulting from muscle weakness), and respiratory failure. A simple blood test can give you your exact potassium level.
Lima beans
The role of the kidneys. Rabin Nepali: While researching this write-up, I met Dr Rabin Nepali, who kindly explained the role of the kidneys in potassium regulation. To quote Dr Rabin: “The dietary intake of potassium ranges from less than 35 to more than 110 mmol/day in US adults.” “Despite this widespread variation in intake, homeostatic mechanisms serve to maintain plasma potassium precisely between 3.5 and 5.0 mmol/L. In a healthy individual at steady state, the entire daily intake of Potassium is excreted, approximately 90 percent in the urine and 10 percent in the stool.”
“More than 98 percent of total body potassium is intracellular, chiefly in muscle. The rapid exchange of intracellular Potassium with extracellular Potassium plays a crucial role in maintaining plasma potassium within such a narrow range; this is accomplished by overlapping and synergistic regulation of a number of renal and extra-renal transport pathways.”
“So, kidneys play a crucial role in maintaining a steady state in potassium metabolism, by excreting excess potassium or reabsorbing it as required by the body.” (Dr Rabin Nepali, DM Nephrology, Asst. Professor, Teaching Hospital, Maharajgunj, Kathmandu).
Food and not supplements
Yes, do not get taken in by supplements, even when they sound tempting. There are one too many that you can buy over the counter. Go for dietary sources instead. There is an abundance of food rich in Potassium. Not processed food, though, as they are high in sodium.
Doctors of medicine argue that natural diets rich in Potassium are key to a lower risk of hypertension (high blood pressure), kidney stones, and osteoporosis. Our daily foods, such as meat, poultry, fish, fruits, nuts, and vegetables, not only provide various nutrients but also serve as excellent sources of Potassium.
Avocado
Beverages such as milk, coffee, and other nonalcoholic drinks also contain a liberal amount of Potassium. Let’s take a look at the following chart:
Among the foods highest in Potassium are beet greens, white beans, soybeans, and Lima beans. The benefits of Potassium include:
Blood pressure and cardiovascular health
Today, hypertension or high blood pressure has become a commonplace health problem among old and young alike. If not addressed on time, it can lead to grave complications like stroke and heart disease.
Sodium, also known as salt, is closely linked to high blood pressure, and doctors recommend reducing salt intake. Now, Potassium is said to neutralize to a great extent the adverse effects of sodium. Our kidneys play a crucial role in regulating our blood pressure. They regulate the amount of fluid stored in our bodies to maintain a steady state. High blood pressure is associated with increased fluid volume in our bodies. Eating a potassium-rich diet helps counteract the effects of sodium and enables the kidneys to restore balance, ultimately lowering blood pressure to a healthy level.
Clinicians believe a diet high in Potassium can help cut systolic blood pressure by more than 10 points in people with high blood pressure. Talking about heart health, according to the WHO, 17.9m people worldwide die of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), which include coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, rheumatic heart disease, and others. Four out of five CVD deaths fall under heart attacks and strokes.
WHO recommends increasing potassium intake from foods (not refined foods) to reduce blood pressure and lower the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and coronary heart disease. Potassium helps reduce vascular calcification, which is the formation of mineral deposits on the walls of our arteries and veins. These mineral deposits form plaques, thereby increasing the risk of stroke and blood clots.
A scientific study carried out by medical experts found that “those who consumed 4,069 mg of potassium per day had a 49 percent lower risk of death from ischemic heart disease compared with those who consumed about 1,000 mg per day.”
Diabetes
Diabetes has turned into a global problem. The soaring prevalence of diabetes has burgeoned as “the epidemic of the century.” Once considered most common among older people, it now affects younger adults as well, owing to sedentary lifestyles and poor diets. According to the IDF (International Diabetes Federation), in 2017, the global number of adults with diabetes remained approximately 425m (20-79 years). IDF further stated that by 2045, the figure could reach a staggering 629m.
Studies made by health care professionals have come to new findings that lower levels of Potassium in the body are also associated with a higher risk of diabetes. Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus are at a high risk of ESRD (kidney failure or end-stage renal disease) and CVD (cardiovascular disease), both of which can result in life-threatening complications.
A study by Dr Shin-ichi Araki and several of his co-researchers in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology found that diets rich in Potassium may help protect heart and kidney health in patients with type 2 diabetes. The experiment included 623 Japanese people with type 2 diabetes. The trial ran from 1996 to 2003 with a median follow-up period of 11 years. The results showed that higher levels of Potassium in participants' urine were associated with a lower risk of renal dysfunction and cardiovascular problems.
Bone and muscle maintenance
A diet high in Potassium is closely related to bone health. Potassium-rich foods generate alkali in the body to maintain acid-base balance. A high intake of protein-rich or acidifying foods, such as meat, dairy products, and processed cereals, can lead to acidosis, which can have adverse effects on our bones and muscles.
Metabolic acidosis leads to increased nitrogen excretion, resulting in loss of bone mineral density and muscle wasting. On the other hand, potassium-rich foods like vegetables and fruits help neutralize the adverse effects of acidosis buildup in our bodies. Older people, too, benefit from eating potassium-rich foods like fruits and vegetables, which preserve their muscle mass and enhance bone density as well.
Caveat
The intake of Potassium, as prescribed by a health care professional, is very beneficial to our overall health. Care should be taken, however, not to exceed the recommended daily dose of 4,700mg. Individuals with no health problems can easily eliminate excess amounts through their urine with no adverse effects. Food-related potassium toxicity is considered a rarity, but excessive consumption can lead to a complication called hyperkalemia. Our body cannot do without Potassium. However, it does not need to be in excess. The kidneys come to the rescue and reject the unwanted Potassium from the blood.
In kidney disease, excess Potassium can be dangerous because the kidneys fail to remove it, leaving it in the blood. Following this can have grave results, even life-threatening ones, and the condition is called hyperkalemia. All health care providers always advise against a high intake of Potassium, especially in patients who have dysfunctional kidney problems and are on supplements. Potassium levels between 5.1 and 6.0 mmol/L are considered high and need immediate consultation. Levels higher than 6.0 mmol/L are dangerous.
Beetroots
Bottom line
Diet, not supplements, is the best source of Potassium to meet your body’s requirements. “Let food be thy medicine, and let medicine be thy food.” Those words were said by the ancient Greek founder of Western medicine, Hippocrates of Kos, during the Classical Greek period in the 5th century BC. No further words sound true right to this day. Eat right, stay healthy!
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the above text are solely research-based, and the dietary information cited does not constitute any medical advice. The author solicits the reader’s discretion and cross-references or consultations with a healthcare practitioner for further substantiation.
