What Is The Main Function Of Potassium – The periodic symbol for potassium is “K”. Why might this happen? Were the chart’s inventors too busy with their fascinating discovery to do a simple spell check?

It turns out that, starting centuries ago, the British had a habit of scattering wood ash on garden beds and seeing plants grow faster and healthier as a result.

What Is The Main Function Of Potassium

Over time, they learned that by soaking wood ash in iron pots, they could create what was called “potash.”

Causes Of Hypokalemia

Then in 1807, an English chemist named Sir Humphry Davy isolated potassium from potassium. He called the result “kalium”, the Latin word for potassium, and the letter “K” of the periodic table.

Although the British later named potassium after potassium, which led to its discovery, the letter “K” stuck, and that turned out to be a very good thing for phosphorus fans, who to this day claim sole rights to the letter “” in the periodic table. P.”

In this article, we will examine the role of potassium in the body, how much you need and its benefits to human health. We’ll also look at the best sources of potassium, so you can be sure to include them in your diet.

Plants require significant amounts of potassium to perform critical biological functions. That’s why we often find plenty of this important and healthy mineral in fresh, plant-based foods.

An Integrated View Of Potassium Homeostasis

In addition to being critical for the growth of healthy plants, potassium also plays an extremely important role in the human body. It is one of several vital nutrients that make up the electrolyte family, which includes sodium, magnesium, calcium and others. Potassium, like all electrolytes, plays an important role in maintaining your body’s fluid balance and facilitating nerve signals due to its extraordinary ionic charge capacity.

Potassium plays a vital role in many critical functions in the body, especially the heart and kidneys.

Considering the number of basic functions of potassium, it is no surprise that it is considered an essential nutrient. So what are the specific health benefits of potassium? Here are a few reasons why optimizing your intake is valuable.

When you eat too much sodium (usually from table salt or salty foods), your body releases more water to dilute the excess sodium in your blood. The increased fluid puts pressure on your blood vessels, increasing the pressure, just like too much water flowing through a garden hose. High blood pressure is also called hypertension and is a major factor in the development of cardiovascular disease, stroke and kidney disease.

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But it turns out that potassium may help alleviate some of this effect; This is good news for your heart. In fact, a 2016 study in the journal Nutrients found that high potassium levels reduce the overall risk of hypertension. In the Framingham Offspring Study published in 2021, researchers concluded that higher potassium intake was strongly associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.

Potassium is increasingly understood to be important in the treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease and related events. A 2014 meta-analysis covering more than 333,250 people and 10,659 stroke cases found a “significant association between K intake and stroke.” The more potassium people consume, the less likely they are to have a stroke.

There were more than 1.4 million new cases of diabetes in the United States in 2019, according to the CDC. Preventing diabetes is much easier than reversing the condition, and there is hope. Although low levels of potassium in the blood are associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, a 2016 article in the journal Nutrients explains that increasing dietary potassium may help maintain healthy blood sugar control and limit the risk of developing diabetes. Even if you’ve already been diagnosed with prediabetes, research shows that increasing potassium can stabilize fasting glucose levels.

Potassium is also healthy for your kidneys. Adequate potassium not only helps prevent kidney stones, but it’s also a powerhouse in the prevention and treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Many patients with CKD are advised to limit their potassium to reduce the risk of developing hyperkalemia (excess potassium in the body). However, a 2020 meta-analysis found that higher potassium intake in the early stages of the disease was actually protective and slowed progression. Results for high-potassium diets in the later stages of CKD are more mixed. (If you have kidney disease, be sure to consult your healthcare provider before loading up on potassium.) If you struggle with CKD, you can learn more about ideal foods for kidney health in our comprehensive article.

What Is Potassium And Why Do We Need It: 15 Foods High In Potassium

When most of us think of bone health, potassium is not the first thing that comes to mind. But maybe we should! Research shows that potassium is strongly linked to higher bone mass density. Many studies tell us that positive effects on bone health are seen even with a daily intake of at least 2,300 mg of potassium, although some studies recommend aiming for a daily potassium intake of around 4,700 mg.

More importantly, these suggestions may not actually be enough for many people. The Food and Nutrition Board encourages adults to get 4,700 mg per day; this is more than twice the NIH recommendation for adult women.

Perhaps more importantly, a 2013 study on potassium and health explains that the ratio of potassium to sodium in the diet significantly affects many health markers, even more so than potassium alone. In other words, the more sodium you eat, the more potassium you need.

Potassium and sodium are two important electrolytes that work together to accomplish great things. Both help regulate nerve function; Supports muscle contraction and heart function. And they work together to maintain fluid balance between cell walls. Having a healthy balance of these minerals is vital for them to function properly.

Best Low Potassium Soups For Kidney Disease

Harvard Health explains that early Paleolithic humans probably consumed 16 times more potassium than sodium, and the typical modern industrial diet provides a potassium-to-sodium ratio of just 0.74 to 1. By the way, the ideal potassium-sodium ratio, NIH, seems to be about 2:1. So most of us get less than half the potassium we need, at least in relation to the sodium in our diet. When the balance is disrupted, problems arise.

Sometimes potassium levels in the body can fall outside the ideal range; It may be too high or too low. It is more common to have very low potassium levels than very high levels.

Not having enough potassium in your body is called hypokalemia. Although many people who develop potassium deficiency do not have any symptoms, the effects of low potassium can be debilitating and even fatal. It is a serious problem that can lead to muscle weakness or paralysis and abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias). Hypokalemia is also associated with increased blood pressure, kidney stones, and osteoporosis.

Although more common than excess potassium levels, cases of low potassium are usually mild and are often the result of another condition or medication side effect.

Potassium (k+) In Blood And Its Significance

In contrast, the risks of potassium toxicity and hyperkalemia from too much potassium are rare in healthy people because the kidneys effectively excrete excess potassium through urine. However, people with certain conditions should be aware of the risks of consuming too much potassium. Mild hyperkalemia is usually asymptomatic, but high potassium levels can cause life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, muscle weakness, or stroke. Most cases of hospitalization due to excess potassium are due to medications and kidney failure.

Dietary causes of hyperkalemia are very rare, especially in people who are not at risk. If you’re in a high-risk group, check with your healthcare provider to make sure you’re consuming safe levels of potassium.

Plants are incredibly effective at pulling minerals from the soil, including potassium, which is taken up instantly by plant roots. In most traditional land practices, potassium is added to the soil as fertilizer to help plants grow. In more traditional practices, potassium is returned to the soil through fertilization or animal manure when plants die or during grazing.

Potassium is found in many plant foods, including our favorite comfort foods like potatoes! Beans and other legumes, nuts, vegetables and fruits (including dried fruit) are also good sources of potassium. However, dried fruits have higher amounts of potassium because the water has been removed and all the nutrients have been concentrated (although they are also higher in sugar content for the same reason).

Carnivore Diet Potassium: Risks, Benefits, And Foods

Here are some examples of the foods richest in potassium. (Remember, the NIH recommended minimum is at least 2,600 mg per day for women and 3,400 mg per day for men, and you don’t need to get it all in one place.)

This list could actually go on for pages. Many different fruits and vegetables contain potassium; This amount is even higher when they come from healthy, potassium-rich soil. Such foods include:

Potassium is also abundant in dairy products and some fish, but these present other health and ethical considerations. (For more on dairy, see our article here; for more on fish, see our article here.)

Potassium

Potassium Chloride In Sodium Chloride: Pi

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