Potassium – An Essential Nutrient That Keeps Your Heartbeats Regular
Potassium is a macromineral that has a variety of roles in the body including supporting regular heartbeats, maintaining regular muscle and nerve contractions and keeping fluid levels balanced within the body. In this article I will be discussing this nutrient in more detail and providing you with a summary of its main functions, the best food sources, the recommended daily allowances (RDAs) and the potentially adverse effects of consuming too much or too little.
1) DISCOVERY
Potassium was first discovered and isolated by Sir Humphry Davy in 1807. His first attempt to isolate this nutrient was unsuccessful because he passed an electrical current through a water solution containing a potassium compound. Although the electricity did initially isolate the nutrient, it then immediately reacted with the water. In his second attempt Sir Humphry Davy ran an electrical current through a molten potassium compound and was successful in isolating the nutrient.
2) FUNCTION
Potassium has multiple roles in the body. It regulates blood pressure, heartbeats, muscle contractions and nerve transmissions. It also controls both the acid base and fluid balance within the body’s cells. On top of this it helps your body metabolise carbohydrates and proteins.
3) RDA
The RDA for potassium increases with age. Very young children aged between 0-6 months are advised to consume 400 milligrams (mg) per day but this daily requirement increases to 4.7g for adults aged 19 years and older. Lactating women need even more of this nutrient and have an RDA of 5.1g.
4) FOOD SOURCES
Fruits and vegetables are often the richest source of this nutrient with bananas (350mg per 100g), dried apricots (1880mg per 100g) and spinach (490mg per 100g) containing very high levels. However, certain meats such as fillet steak (470mg per 100g) are also a good food for getting your potassium.
5) OVERDOSE SYMPTOMS
Your body controls blood levels of this nutrient very tightly making it very difficult to consume too much. However, certain diseases and infections can inhibit your body’s ability to do this and lead to hyperkalemia (higher than normal blood levels of potassium). Hyperkalemia has a variety of unpleasant symptoms which include diarrhea, nausea, stomach pain and vomiting.
6) DEFICIENCY SYMPTOMS
Potassium is available from a wide range of foods so failing to consume enough is rare. However, digestive problems, excessive fluid loss and high levels of sodium in the body can all cause this nutrient to be removed from the body leading to hypokalemia (lower than normal blood levels of potassium). The side effects of hypokalemia include confusion, dry skin, muscle cramps and thirst.
Tom Parker owns and operates a number of useful fitness resources and websites. You can learn more about potassium and the other macrominerals by visiting his websites.
Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.