Consuming an appropriate amount of potassium within our diet permits us to capitalize on its many benefits that include controlling the supply of nutrients in our body, i.e., assimilation of nutrients into our cells, and transporting waste materials out of our cells, assisting in the proper function of the heart, playing a crucial role around healthy muscle tissue and nerve activity, lessening the potential risk of hypertension, assisting with the storage of carbohydrates used by the body as energy, and slowing calcium loss that may end up in diminished bone density.
There have also been claims that a diet regimen abundant in potassium and low in sodium can help revive the natural activity of human cells and may even result in the arrest or reversal of cancerous tumors.
Lower concentrations of potassium in our blood leads to a condition called hypokalemia, sometimes called hypopotassemia, and might result in several health issues such as abnormal heart rhythm, muscular fatigue leading to muscle cramps, elevate in hypertension levels, nausea and vomiting, and stomach cramping.
Extreme hypokalemia could cause significant disruptions towards the functions of skeletal muscle tissue and nerves and can trigger respiratory depression.
The advocated dose of potassium is anywhere between 4g and 5g per day. That being said, it is very difficult to overdose on potassium. A 150 lbs. (68 Kg) person would have to consume 170g of potassium from a single sitting to reach this lethal quantity. That's the equivalent of consuming 170 avocados (or 400 bananas, or 180 baked potatoes) in just one meal!
Potassium can be found in a large number of foods which includes everything from vegetables and fruits, to legumes, dairy, and even meat. Some common sources of potassium are salmon, bananas, tomatoes, dates, and beets. This makes it uncomplicated to acquire the recommended 5g of potassium each day if you keep a healthy and balanced diet.
Potassium fun facts: Physicians can recommend substituting regular table salt, which contains sodium chloride with potassium chloride for those who need to reduce their intake of sodium. Other living things need potassium to thrive too. For example, a lack of potassium in plants can leave them looking gray and with turned out edges. Potassium has a great many applications. Besides being an important nutrient, potassium is used in various medicines, in explosives and fireworks, to make soap and glass, and to develop photographs (potassium bromide).By Rob Mann.