A quick look at the benefits of potassium

By Robert Mann


One's body requires a wide variety of vitamins and minerals in order to function appropriately and potassium is among one of those critical minerals since our system needs to allow our muscles, cells, and organs to function properly. Potassium is also one of three minerals that make up the electrolyte family of minerals (the other two are sodium and chloride). Potassium is considered an electrolyte since it helps conduct electricity when it is dissolved in water.

Obtaining an adequate amount of potassium in our diet regimen permits us to exploit its many benefits including assisting in the proper function of the heart, aiding with intestinal function and digestion, playing a vital role around healthy muscle tissue and nerve activity, decreasing the potential for high blood pressure levels, mitigating the adverse effects of sodium, and controlling the circulation of nutrients in our body, i.e., assimilation of nutrients into our cells, and transporting waste matter out of our cells.

They've also been claims that eating food rich in potassium and limiting sodium intake can aid in restoring the natural function of human cells and can cause the arrest or reversal of cancerous tumors.

Reduced concentrations of potassium in our blood causes hypokalemia and can result in several health concerns like muscular fatigue which can lead to muscle cramping, irregular bowel motions and/or constipation, unnatural heart rhythm, elevated blood pressure levels, and abdominal cramps.

Intense hypokalemia can lead to serious problems with the performance of skeletal muscle tissue and nerves resulting in respiratory depression.

The advised dose of potassium is anywhere between 4g and 5g each day. That being said, it is really quite difficult to overdose on potassium. A 150 lbs. (68 Kg) individual would have to ingest 170g of potassium in just one sitting in to reach a fatal amount. That's the same as ingesting 400 bananas (or 170 avocados, or 180 baked potatoes) in one sitting!

Potassium is available in an assorted variety of foods which includes everything from fruits and vegetables, to legumes and even meat. Some widely found sources of potassium include bananas, sweet potatoes, mangoes, clams, and tomatoes. This makes it simple to acquire the proposed 5g of potassium a day if you sustain a healthy nutritious diet.

Potassium fun facts: Physicians can recommend substituting regular table salt, which contains sodium chloride with potassium chloride for those who need to reduce their intake of sodium. Other living things need potassium to thrive too. For example, a lack of potassium in plants can leave them looking gray and with turned out edges. Potassium has a great many applications. Besides being an important nutrient, potassium is used in various medicines, in explosives and fireworks, to make soap and glass, and to develop photographs (potassium bromide).




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