Potassium plays crucial role in keeping your body function normally: heart, muscles and digestive system need potassium to function, also kidneys require potassium, smooth muscle, skeletal muscle and cardiac muscle need potassium for contraction purposes.
Potassium is needed in your colon walls to insure that peristaltic action occurs. Without potassium, colon walls are weak and unable to respond and contract properly when fecal matter needs to be move.
Potassium brings in more oxygen into tissues, which is required for good cell function and elimination of toxins. In addition, potassium creates an alkaline environment inside and outside the cell, which help protect cell walls from bacteria, fungus, and other pathogens. Potassium, also, draws water out of the body.
Therefore a well-balanced and potassium rich diet is a must to make sure the perfect health and well being. However, as with everything, overdoing with potassium consumption will not help in keeping a proper balance and required potassium levels in the body.
When blood levels of potassium is too high the condition is known as hyperkalemia, and on the other hand having to low of levels is called hypokalemia.
To ensure a proper balance of potassium in the body normal sodium and magnesium levels are required. Just like potassium, too much sodium will move the potassium out of the cells and deplete the body’s supply of potassium. But the problem doesn’t stop there and there are other factors such as diarrhea, malnutrition, vomiting, excessive sweating and the use of diuretics, can also lower potassium levels in the body lower than normal.
And well known factors that in limited amounts benefit the body health but when overdoing can badly hurt, are: too much alcohol and too much coffee – they both may raise potassium levels in the body.
For the majority of people, fortifying their diets with plenty of fruits and vegetables will supply all the potassium that the body needs. An elderly people though are at an increased risk of developing hyperkalemia — due to aging process kidneys tend to not function properly. Additionally, the medications they take, such as ACE inhibitors and NSAIDs, can impact their potassium levels also.
There are only a handful of people who need potassium supplement. When necessary it should only be taken under close medical supervision.
Hypokalemia, when potassium blood levels are too low, cause to experience symptoms of weakness, low energy, stomach disturbances, muscle cramps, irregular heart rate and an abnormal EKG.
Osteoporosis – diet high in potassium helps keep bones strong and potassium helps to maintain bone mass.
High Blood Pressure – The direct link to potassium levels and high blood pressure is well known fact. The best thing to do is consume diet that provides adequate amounts of potassium, calcium and magnesium. As always, proper weight management is necessary to help prevent the development of high blood pressure.
Stroke – the risk of stroke is significantly reduced when a diet is high in potassium content.
Anxiety and depression — Potassium is necessary for reducing anxiety and depression.
There are the dietary recommendations for potassium content based on age to know to how much potassium we need:
* Infants birth to 6 months: 500 mg or 13 mEq
* Infants 7 months to 12 months: 700 mg or 18 mEq
* Children 1 year: 1000 mg or 26 mEq
* Children 2 to 5 years: 1400 mg or 36 mEq
* Children 6 to 9 years: 1600 mg or 41 mEq
* Children over 10 years: 2000 mg or 51 mEq
* Adult — recommended Potassium dose is 1000 – 3000 mg each day taken with meals, or 51 Meq, including for pregnant and nursing women.
So, what is a “diet high in potassium”?
Knowing what the best sources of potassium are can help build well balanced and healthy diet.
There is nothing revolutionary in reminding that opting for foods that are fresh and not processed such as fish, meats, vegetables, fruits, citrus juices, whole grains and dairy products always should be the favorite option that will help getting enough potassium.
A balanced diet with a variety of fruits, veggies, cereals, milk and meats will meet the potassium needs for most people.
The foods to eat that are high in potassium are:
Kale, cabbage, yellow tomatoes, spinach, carrots, broccoli, cucumbers, cauliflower, alfalfa sprouts, goat milk, sesame seeds, wheat germ brewers yeast, flax seed, grapes, green peppers, pineapple, beets, potatoes with skin Blackstrap-molasses.