Importance of Potassium

Hi everyone,

Today I was thinking about one of my biggest obstacles to getting leaner and I thought I would write a few articles on the causes and cures of water retention.

With so many processed foods around us today, we are constantly being bombarded with salt, pesticides and artificial hormones. In addition to that, many people do not consume enough fresh fruits and vegetables, and even when we do, they are still full of chemicals that cause fluid imbalances within our bodies.

In this article I want to talk about the importance of potassium, one mineral/electrolyte that is often overlooked. We all know that a little salt (sodium) is good for us, but do we really know how much we are really ingesting? There is a lot more sodium in our foods than we think, and this has a detrimental effect on our potassium : sodium ratio, making sodium more dominant. If sodium becomes more dominant, water follows suit and our cells become saturated with excess fluid. This causes swollen legs, cellulite, and water under the skin (you know that lingering bit of tummy “fat”) which will prevent us from looking lean, amongst other things.

We needn’t worry so much about getting enough salt as it’s all around us, but we do need to think more about the sodium : potassium balance and eat more potassium rich foods to counteract the negative impact of sodium.

In addition to helping to regulate fluid, potassium is vital to other functions within the body as well.  Some of these functions include regulating the acid-base balance, protein synthesis, glucose and gylcogen metabolism, skeletal and cardiac muscle contraction (along with other electrolytes such as calcium), and potassium is greatly involved in nerve conduction.

So, as you can see, an imbalance or deficiency of potassium within our body can affect many essential pathways and functions on top of fluid balance.

Some excellent sources of potassium are:

• Apricots (1300 mg)
• Raisins and Sultanas (1100 mg)
• Tomato Puree (1000 mg per tablespoon)
• Potatoes (white and sweet with skin on) (600 – 800 mg)
• Broccoli
• Pineapples
• Spinach
• Bananas (400 mg)

The average healthy adult should aim to consume about 3,500 mg of potassium per day. Provided you have no factors that contraindicate potassium intake, such as renal disease (please check with your doctor if this is the case).

Let me know what you think of this article. I feel that people need to be more aware of the causes of water retention, so I will be posting more articles on the factors involved. This is not a problem that only females encounter, so all you men out there might be interested to read more about it too.

Marianne