How Does Potassium Affect Your Health

How mineral potassium does have a possible affect on your health on a day to day basis has been thoroughly studied. Potassium is a very important mineral for the body and the systemic regulation of healthy potassium levels is thought to be very important for our wellbeing. We need to consume a decent levels of this mineral everyday because of implications in core nervous system functions.

The main role of potassium within the body is as an electrolyte and potassium is needed for healthy muscular functioning. When the body is deficient in potassium we can feel fatigued or experience muscle cramping. This naturally may affect athletic performance. Research supports healthy levels of potassium as being very important for heart muscle functioning during exercise.

While there is not a standardised RDA for potassium the research clearly shows that this mineral is very important. Higher levels of blood potassium are obtainable from either supplements or potassium rich foods such as leafy greens.

Research suggests that individuals with high potassium levels could have a 20% lowered risk of mortality than those on low potassium diets. Other studies have shown that potassium could massively lower blood pressure in the right amounts. This could therefore reduce risks of cardiovascular disease. While an increase in sodium or salt may cause increases in blood pressure an increase in potassium intake is thought to have the opposing effect.

Here the ways in which potassium does have a possible affect on your day to day health and wellbeing will be considered.

How Much Potassium Do We Need

While potassium is an essential mineral which we use every day there is no official potassium RDA. Sources such as The National Academy Of Medicine support consuming about 2300mg to 3000mg at the very least per day. Studies indicates that consuming slightly more than this amount of potassium is safe. Toxicity could occur at levels much higher than this.

Finding foods rich in potassium is not so difficult. Foods such as leafy greens or nuts are on the whole very rich in potassium. Examples include white beans, avocado, sun dried tomatoes, spirulina and cocoa powder.

There is some reason to believe that levels of potassium are lower in the foods we eat today compared to in the past. This could be because of lower total levels of potassium in the soil as a result of recent changes to our agricultural systems. Lower soil potassium concentrations are quite concerning considering how important the affect of this nutrient is on the development or health of both plants and animals. This further emphasises how essential managing your potassium intake is.

Potassium And Our Health

Potassium is an electrolyte which the body uses to support healthy neuromuscular signalling to support normal muscle movement. As you can imagine this mineral is very important for athletes to be consuming regularly. Potassium is just as important for the everyday person though. This is because our bodies use vast amounts of potassium every day.

Most of our consumed potassium is used by our nervous system in specifically developed potassium channels. These help to produce electric signals which activate muscle movement. They are thought to be very important in heart muscle functioning with potassium being considered to be crucial for optimal exercise performance in addition to optimal blood pressure management.

Potassium And Exercise

When you exercise intensively you will naturally lose electrolytes such as potassium in your sweat. This is in addition to using potassium for neuromuscular signalling during exercise. This further emphasises the importance of maintaining a high intake of potassium and could especially apply to intensive athletes or regular exercisers.

Mild potassium deficiency can occur through excessive sweating from exercise and has various symptoms from fatigue to muscle cramping. Estimated daily losses of mineral potassium range from 400mg to 800mg a day.

Various studies suggest that unhealthy potassium levels could contribute massively to muscle or whole body fatigue and impair exercise performance. Other studies show that potassium sufficiency is really important for maintaining optimal heart muscle and respiratory functioning which is especially important during exercise. Reductions in available potassium increases the risks of severe heart muscle issues in addition to heart muscle failure. One study suggests that under certain conditions people with a high potassium diet also had a 20% lower risk of death compared to those on a low potassium diet.

Interestingly our body is also thought to be able to use magnesium in the kidneys to preserve potassium levels. Magnesium sufficiency is therefore also considered to be important for the reabsorption of potassium and maintenance of healthy levels of potassium within the body.

Studies also suggest that higher intakes of potassium or supplements containing potassium citrate could support a reduction in urine losses of calcium and kidney stone formation. Because of this potassium is also linked with a reduction in osteoporosis risk. Higher calcium levels within the body will naturally influence bone density. Bone density is also an influencing factor on athletic or exercise performance in some high impact sports. This is therefore an indirect means as to how higher levels of potassium could influence exercise.

Potassium And Blood Pressure

One of the most interesting ways in which potassium could possibly affect your health is through blood pressure regulation. Both sodium or salt and potassium are thought to be able to influence blood pressure. Potassium is associated with a blood pressure lowering affect.

Research has consistently found that potassium is associated with a reduced risk of stroke. This is because potassium may be able to lower your total blood pressure. Individuals eating or supplementing with high levels of potassium experienced a 20% drop in risk of stroke. Other studies suggest that a dietary intake of about 3500mg of potassium is needed for this. This figure is a bit higher than the suggested RDA range of around 2300mg to 3000mg per day.

Research also suggests that higher potassium levels could also influence the risks of cardiovascular disease or CVD. This could be related to the blood pressure lowering influences of potassium within the blood vessels. One study found that stepping up potassium intake by just 1000mg had an 18% reduced risk of CVD on average.

Including a small amount of potassium rich foods in your diet could therefore affect your wellbeing and health through possible reductions in CVD risk. Many diets in the west are very rich in sodium salt and relatively lower in potassium. This again emphasizes how important improving levels of potassium could be for your wellbeing.

Overall the research shows there is a strong relationship between increased potassium intake and lower blood pressure. This is one of the ways as to how potassium could affect our health and wellness through reduced risks of certain heart issues. Potassium is also needed for healthy muscle and nervous system functioning on a day to day basis.

Summary

How potassium does possibly affect your health on an everyday basis has been the subject of many nutritional research studies.

There is not currently an agreed RDA for potassium but studies show that this mineral is very important as an electrolyte within the body. Healthy levels of potassium in the body also ensure optimal neuromuscular signalling and functioning. This is very important for high intensity exercisers to be aware of because of losses of important electrolytes in our sweat.

Research indicates that we may naturally lose up to 400mg to 800mg of potassium a day and the body uses a very significant amount of potassium every day. Some shared symptoms of potassium deficiency may include muscle cramps and fatigue.

Healthy potassium levels are thought to be especially important during exercise because of effects on respiratory and heart muscle functioning. Low potassium levels are linked with increases in risks of heart muscle issues or heart failure.

The suggested RDA range of potassium is around 2300mg to 3000mg per day which is readily obtainable via our diet or supplements. Foods such as white beans, avocado, cacao powder and spirulina contain higher amounts of potassium relative to other foods.

Current research shows that potassium may have the opposite effect to sodium on blood pressure. Sodium or table salt tends to increase blood pressure while potassium seems to lower total blood pressure. Various studies have shown this. High potassium diets are thought to reduce risks of stroke by 20% and CVD by up to 18% per 1000mg of potassium.

Overall the research consistently shows that potassium is very important for proper neuromuscular signalling and may also lower blood pressure which would affect stroke or CVD risks.

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