Potassium Supplements

An essential macro-mineral and vital to human nutrition, potassium plays a key role in both the physiologic and biochemical processes in your body. Potassium is important to the contraction of smooth, skeletal, and cardiac muscles. It is also essential to the synthesis of nucleic acids, the transmission of nerve impulses, the maintenance of normal blood pressure, and the preservation of intracellular tonicity. Ideas suggesting high consumption of potassium can cause an anti-hypertensive effect first surfaced in 1928. However, in the years since, mounting evidence now indicates that a diet high in potassium may actually protect you, not only against hypertension, but against cardiovascular disease, strokes, and other degenerative diseases as well.

It has been suggested that “primitive” diets provide much higher levels of potassium than the contemporary diets consumed today, which possibly supply too little. Nevertheless, except in cases where “potassium-depleting” diuretic drugs are used, or when an individual experiences excessive diarrhea or vomiting, gross deficiencies are unlikely to occur. If any of these conditions do arise, a doctor may advise potassium supplementation. The amount of potassium sold in a prescription preparation is greater than the amount sold over the counter; however, even prescription potassium supplements do not contain levels higher than those present in several pieces of fruit.

Eating several pieces of fruit and an ample amount of vegetables each day provides the greatest source of added potassium. Generally, dietary amounts of potassium range from approximately 2.5 – 5.8 grams per day. Just one banana can contain 500 mg of potassium. All things considered, the allowable amount of potassium in supplement form is extremely low.