What is potassium?
Potassium is a mineral which appears in abundance in all living plant and animal cells. The human body uses it to promote regular heartbeat, help build muscles, help contract muscles, regulate blood pressure, and control the water balance in body tissues and cells.
In what foods is it found?
Potassium is found in highest amounts in fresh, unprocessed food. Although bananas have a reputation as good potassium sources, they contain only 400 mg of potassium each. In comparison, 1 cup of lima beans has 1,000 mg of potassium, and 1 baked potato has 900 mg. Even a glass of fresh orange juice has more potassium than a banana, coming in at 500 mg of potassium per cup.
If you don’t eat enough potassium, what happens?
Nutritionists say you should eat at least 2,000 mg of potassium daily; the average American diet easily provides between 2,000 and 6,000 mg of potassium each day. If for some reason you weren’t getting enough potassium, your skin would become dry, and you’d experience depression, fatigue, and slow reflexes. Extreme potassium deficiency leads to hypertension and congestive heart failure.
However, most people have no trouble eating adequate amounts of potassium. People with chronic diseases such as diabetes, and people on diuretics or laxatives, may suffer from potassium deficiency, as may people with renal disease.
Is it possible to consume too much potassium?
People with renal failure may retain too much potassium in their blood; this disorder, known as hyperkalemia, is treatable.
However, for most people, if you only eat potassium in food, you cannot get too much of it. Even taking potassium supplements won’t kill you; taking too many will only cause nausea and vomiting. However, large amounts of potassium injections, which bypass the stomach and intestines, may trigger irregular heartbeat and cardiac arrest, and can lead to death.
And this is even eating bananas. Trust me, if you do circuit training you need the pills.