Potassium

— Diet Wiki Selected excerpts from the best websites –

(healthline.com)

Potassium is a mineral found in the foods you eat. It’s also an electrolyte. Electrolytes conduct electrical impulses throughout the body. They assist in a range of essential body functions, including:

• blood pressure
• normal water balance
• muscle contractions
• nerve impulses
• digestion
• heart rhythm
• pH balance (acidity and alkalinity)

Your body doesn’t produce potassium naturally. So, it’s important to consume the right balance of potassium-rich foods and beverages.

(weightloss.com.au)

Because Potassium helps us to build muscles, helps our muscles work properly and helps us convert the food we eat into energy, it is particularly important to those of us who have weight loss goals.

Bigger muscles burn more calories, so by helping us to build slightly bigger and stronger muscles, Potassium has a direct impact in helping us to turn our bodies into calorie burning machines.

(verywellfit.com)

Like calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, chloride, and sulfur, potassium is a “macromineral,” so-called because it’s needed in large quantities—adults are encouraged to consume at least 4,700 mg a day. Potassium is widely available in food (fruits and vegetables are particularly good sources), yet most people consume less than half the recommended daily amount. Even when food and dietary supplements are combined, total potassium intakes for most people are below recommended amounts, according to the National Institutes of Health.1

(advancedmolecularlabs.com)

A new study that was published in the journal Nutrients on June 2, 2019, shows that decreased body mass index (BMI) could be obtained by increasing dietary potassium to help encourage weight loss. The researchers in the study acknowledged that, “It is notable that the increase in dietary potassium was a stronger predictor of weight loss in this study than such well-established factors as a reduction in sugar consumption and in overall caloric intake.”

The researchers stated, “Dietary consumption of potassium in the general population in Western countries appears to be substantially lower than the Dietary Recommended Intake (DRI) of ≥4.7 g.”

There is evidence that low dietary potassium intake may negatively be linked to obesity. A meta-analysis and epidemiological data reported that, “studies concluded that high potassium intake was associated with a decreased odds ratio for having obesity and the MS” (Nutrients, 2016)

The researchers acknowledge, “The mechanisms through which higher dietary potassium may facilitate weight loss remain elusive. Putative effects might involve a reduction in inflammation and improvement in insulin sensitivity, subtle effects on serum potassium which modulate energy balance or neural routes which depend on gut sensing of potassium with beneficial effects on fat deposition/mobilization or energy balance.” (Nutrients, June 2, 2019; Nutrients, 2016; Am J Clinical Nutrition, 2014; Semin Nephrol, 2013)

(lindora.com)

When losing weight, it is especially important to take supplemental potassium. Weight loss can reduce the enzyme activity that controls the flow of potassium and sodium by 20 percent. Dieting postmenopausal women lose about half a pound of muscle per year if not taking potassium; those taking it would gain about one pound of muscle every three months. (Frassetto, L. American Journal of Physiology, 1996; 271:1,114-1,122)

Symptoms of low potassium levels include muscle weakness and/or muscle cramps, fatigue, or lack of energy. The most common cause of muscle cramps during weight loss is inadequate potassium intake. (Conversely, inadequate fluid intake, which may cause a slight dehydration, can also cause these symptoms, so be sure to drink at least 80 ounces of water or other calorie-free fluids each day during weight loss.) Symptoms that are strongly suggestive of a potassium deficiency merit prompt attention to prevent further depletion and such potentially serious consequences as irregularities in heart rhythm.

(nutraingredients.com)

When losing weight, it is especially important to take supplemental potassium. Weight loss can reduce the enzyme activity that controls the flow of potassium and sodium by 20 percent. Dieting postmenopausal women lose about half a pound of muscle per year if not taking potassium; those taking it would gain about one pound of muscle every three months. (Frassetto, L. American Journal of Physiology, 1996; 271:1,114-1,122)

Symptoms of low potassium levels include muscle weakness and/or muscle cramps, fatigue, or lack of energy. The most common cause of muscle cramps during weight loss is inadequate potassium intake. (Conversely, inadequate fluid intake, which may cause a slight dehydration, can also cause these symptoms, so be sure to drink at least 80 ounces of water or other calorie-free fluids each day during weight loss.) Symptoms that are strongly suggestive of a potassium deficiency merit prompt attention to prevent further depletion and such potentially serious consequences as irregularities in heart rhythm.

(draxe.com)

Fluid retention is one of the major potential causes of cellulite. Unfortunately, most people consume far too much sodium and not nearly enough potassium. Sodium brings nutrients into your cells whereas potassium helps flush excess waste out of your cells.

For this reason, if you reduce sodium intake and start consuming potassium-rich foods, you could potentially help reduce the appearance of cellulite.

(medicalnewstoday.com)

Potassium-rich foods maintain an alkaline environment in the body, unlike in acidosis. Metabolic acidosis is triggered by a diet full of acidifying foods like meat, dairy products, and processed cereal grains. Acidosis is a common outcome of the typically acidic Western diet.

Acidosis can cause nitrogen excretion, loss in bone mineral density, and muscle wasting. A diet high in potassium can help preserve muscle mass in older people, as well as during conditions that tend to lead to muscle wasting, such as diabetic ketosis. However, a sufficient potassium intake can help prevent this.

One study found that participants that took in 5,266 milligrams of potassium per day maintained an average of 3.6 more pounds of lean tissue mass than those with a potassium intake 50 percent lower. Some studies also show an increase in bone density with high potassium intake.

(healthline.com)

Water retention happens when excess fluid builds up inside the body.

Historically, potassium has been used to treat water retention (32Trusted Source).

Studies suggest that a high potassium intake can help reduce water retention by increasing urine production and reducing sodium levels (4Trusted Source, 33Trusted Source, 34Trusted Source).

(selfhacked.com)

There are no reports of adverse effects associated with potassium naturally occurring in food in healthy individuals [79].

Abdominal discomfort has been reported with slow-release and wax matrix formulations as well as oral solutions of potassium salts, but not with potassium from the diet [80].

Potassium chloride irritates upper digestive tract especially in association with delayed stomach emptying. Lesions and ulcerations of the gut lining have been seen [81, 82].

In patients with impaired kidney function or those who take potassium-sparing diuretics, angiotensin receptor blockers, or angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, high potassium intakes from diet and potassium-containing salt substitutes may lead to high potassium in the blood and life-threatening abnormal heart rhythms [83].

(verywellfit.com)

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