What Happens to Your Body When You Eat Enough Potassium

Potassium is an electrolyte (electrically charged mineral) that works with sodium, another electrolyte, to help your body maintain adequate fluid balance and blood volume, among other functions.

Most people get enough, or even too much, sodium from their diet. But if you don’t get enough potassium, it can disrupt the balance of these electrolytes. Keeping them balanced with enough potassium is important to prevent some of the negative effects of sodium.. Potassium also has other benefits.

Because potassium plays many different roles in the body, low levels can increase the risk of certain diseases. Taking enough potassium can help prevent certain conditions.

The link between hypertension (high blood pressure) and low potassium intake is well established. Getting enough potassium can also help prevent conditions associated with high blood pressure, such as:

Researchers have also explored the potential role of potassium in other conditions, although the evidence is not as clear. For example, a higher potassium intake may lower your risk of:

In the United States, most people consume less potassium than recommended in their diet and more sodium than recommended.

For many people, it makes sense to both decrease sodium intake and steadily increase potassium intake. High sodium and low potassium increase the risk of high blood pressure and related problems, such as heart attacks and strokes. The ratio of the two minerals may be more important than the level of either aloneso you will get the best effect if you target both mineral levels.

If you have recently lost fluids, perhaps from vomiting, diarrhea, or heavy sweating from exercise, you may need to take it. more potassium And sodium to replenish what you have lost.

Replacing sodium and potassium may be especially important in children, older adults, adults with weakened immune systems, or anyone with severe signs of dehydration or significant fluid loss.

A doctor may recommend that you take sodium and potassium together via supplements or an electrolyte drink. This can treat dehydration while preventing problems related to electrolyte imbalances.

If you want to increase your potassium intake, try eating more potassium-rich foods. These include:

• Potatoes
• Bananas
• Leafy vegetables
• Lawyer
• Carrot juice
• orange juice
• Dried apricots, raisins and prunes
• Lentils and beans
• Milk
• Spinach

Potassium supplements are also an option. However, most manufacturers only sell supplements containing 99 milligrams of potassium or less, which is far below the recommended daily amounts.

At such low doses, it may be more effective for most people to try to get extra potassium from your diet instead of potassium supplements. For example, a banana contains more than four times the amount of potassium found in most over-the-counter supplements.

It is possible to have too much potassium. Excessive potassium consumption could be a factor in hyperkalemia (high levels of potassium in the blood). Hyperkalemia can cause shortness of breath and sometimes life-threatening heart rhythm problems.

Most people can take potassium supplements safely, but some people, including people with advanced kidney diseaseyou need to be more careful with potassium intake. This includes not only taking supplements, but also foods rich in potassium.

Many people consume less potassium than recommendedHowever. Adults and children 4 years or older should consume about 4,700 milligrams of potassium per day. An adequate daily intake of potassium is 3,400 milligrams for men and 2,600 milligrams for women.