What the experts say: on Potassium intake

Potassium. Its another puzzle piece in the vitamin and supplement picture. How much, if any, do we need? Well, I’m sure that we all now realize that the US RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) for vitamins isn’t quite right. After all, they’ve got a ridiculously high “recommended” daily amount of carbs too – so no surprises there.

In a nutshell, here is “the rub” with your Potassium levels…

On a low-carb diet, especially in the beginning when the carbs as REALLY low (or on a zero-carb), you body will experience water loss. Signals are sent to the kidneys to release any retained sodium and water – this isn’t a bad thing, but in flushing out the excess sodium, potassium (another salt) gets flushed away with it. Its simply a “Wrong place at the wrong time” kind of thing. Depending on how much potassium is inherent in the foods that you eat, as well as your own individual biochemistry will be the deciding factors on whether this has a big effect on your or not.

The problem here is that potassium plays a big role in regular functioning of your body. It plays a crucial parts in maintaining your blood pressure as well as passing signals traveling through your nervous system to your muscle fibers and back again.

Now don’t get all frightened… Basically, this means that a very low potassium level might lead to overall weakness, muscle cramps, and generally feeling of achy tiredness.

I’m going to examine some of the low-carb “experts” in the field these days and their stance on this issue. I’m going to do this every so often regarding common questions just to see how everyone stacks up… do they agree or not – and if not.. what SHOULD we do.

Today I’ll be looking at:

Michael R. & Mary Dan Eades’ Protein Power Lifeplan (the updated Protein Power from 2000)

(who certainly put it more eloquently that I did, albeit more verbose)

(pages 351-352):

“In the initial stages of this regimen, you absolutely must take a daily supplement of potassium. Why? Because, unfortunately, as your kidneys waste the excess sodium and fluid they’ve been so busily accumulating when you insulin was high, they’ll waste some potassium as well. Potassium, like magnesium, resides insie the cells of the body, meaning that the levels of it in the blood don’t really tell you much about total body levels. In general, people with insulin-related disorders — particularly those who have been on diuretic medications for fluid retention or blood pressure — may be deficient in potassium at the start of their rehabilitation. And the loss of excess fluid that occurs in the first week or so only compound that problem. Low potassium will make you feel like — as they say in the South — “something the cat drug up.” Too tired to climb the stairs, too tired to even breathe. And low potassium can cause your muscles to cramp and, more important, can put you at risk for disturbances of heart rhythm.

Take you potassium, take your potassium, take your potassium.

One way to incorporate more potassium into your diet is by using salt-replacement products, such as NoSalt Salt Alternative or Morton’s Lite Salt or Salt Substitute on your foods. Just sprinke on salads or hot foods can help keep your potassium in the normal range. In the early weeks of the plan, however, that addition may not suffice so before beginning the program we recommend purchasing an over-the-counter potassium supplement (each tablet will contain 99 mg) and taking four each day for the first several weeks you’re at the Intervention Level. After that you can probably taper off to a couple a day plus whats in the varied diet you’re sure to be eating.”

(extra carriage returns are mine for readability)

I’ve taken potassium supplements before, but haven’t in a year or so. I don’t suffer from muscle cramps or any tiredness – in fact I feel great and can perform pretty well in my athletic activities lately. So your mileage may vary. But when in doubt, listen to Dr. Eades.

On an interesting side note -  I planned to compare Eades stance on potassium with Dr. Atkins (from his famous ‘New Diet Revolution’ book), as well as with Mark Sisson (from his recent Primal Blueprint book). Oddly enough, there was no real specific mention of potassium in either book – hence the “Eades stand alone” here.

Next time I’ll be comparing topics that they ALL have an opinion on for sure.

What does everyone think about this?

(banana bag photo by petitshoo – and no, I do not endorse banana consumption, tons of carbs)

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