Potassium: 95% of You Need More… But Ask Your Prescriber First

Table of Contents

• Our Supermarket Diet
• Filling the Gap
• The Kidney Question
• You May Need More Potassium

Our Supermarket Diet

There being no supermarkets hundreds of thousands of years ago, our ancestors ate much differently. Plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, perhaps dried berries in the winter, and whatever animal was slower than they were. Researchers figure we probably got about 11,000 mg of potassium a day. That’s about double the 5000 mg a day we need for optimal health.

Note

You don’t need to read this unless the math is confusing. Maybe you’ve looked at the Nu-Salt label where it states that a 1/6 teaspoon serving size (1g) [1g = 1000 mg] of KCl (potassium chloride) contains 530 mg of potassium (K). The missing 470 mg is chloride. When we talk about modern diets containing 5000 and 3000 mg of potassium a day, that’s the potassium only, not the chloride it’s combined with.

Unfortunately, most of us get between 2300 and 3000 mg per day.

At the same time, our sodium intake is way too high. The combination results in high blood pressure, heart, disease, and much else that lowers our quality of life and raises the national medical bill.

Filling the Gap

If you are near the top of potassium intake, five bananas at 400 mg of potassium each, or 1/2 of a teaspoon of salt substitute will make up the difference. If you’re more of a prepared foods person, that’s even more bananas—don’t grow a monkey tail!

Most salt substitutes consist of 100% potassium chloride (KCl), which is what I used to recommend when I had official patients.

The Kidney Question

Here’s the problem: For most of us, too little potassium is killing us slowly. For a minority of us, too much potassium will harm us more rapidly.

Here are the basics:

1. A person can lose about 2/3 of their kidney function before they develop symptoms. By the time we develop symptoms, the only available treatment may be kidney dialysis.

2. If your healthcare team finds kidney trouble early in the game, extra potassium can protect the kidneys, as well as reduce blood pressure and heart disease.

3. Depending on meds, kidney test results, and a bunch of other factors, too much potassium can lead to fatal heart arrhythmias.

You May Need More Potassium

After careful evaluation of a person’s lab work and medication, physicians often prescribe extra potassium to their patients with high blood pressure or certain heart rhythm disturbances. Ask your clinician if you think this applies to you.

Anyone with kidney disease, other serious illness, or taking medications that raise potassium levels, should consult their physician before using KCl-containing salt substitutes.

Previous newsletters about potassium.

Potassium: The Salty Little Element That Makes Us Go

Potassium: Common Deficiency—Simple Fix

Potassium: A Closer Look