How is potassium useful

See, Play and Learn No links available. Research Clinical Trials Journal Articles. Resources Find an Expert. For You Patient Handouts. Sources of potassium in the diet include Leafy greens, such as spinach and collards Fruit from vines, such as grapes and blackberries Root vegetables, such as carrots and potatoes Citrus fruits, such as oranges and grapefruit Your kidneys help to keep the right amount of potassium in your body.

Start Here. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Diagnosis and Tests. Related Issues. Clinical Trials. Salt also known but its chemical name, sodium chloride is a crystal-like compound that is common in nature. Sodium is a mineral, and one of the chemical elements found in salt.

Most of the sodium Americans eat comes from packaged, processed, store-bought, and restaurant foods. Potassium, Sodium, and High Blood Pressure Increasing your potassium intake can decrease your blood pressure if you have high blood pressure.

Consuming too little potassium in your diet and too much sodium can raise your blood pressure. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. Food and Drug Administration. Sources of sodium in U.

Estimated hour urinary sodium and potassium excretion in U. Urinary potassium excretion and risk of developing hypertension. The prevention of renal and vascular end-stage disease study external icon. Associations between urinary sodium and potassium excretion and blood pressure among adults in the United States: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, external icon. Potassium is very important in the human body. Along with sodium, it regulates the water balance and the acid-base balance in the blood and tissues.

Potassium enters the cell more readily than does sodium and instigates the brief sodium-potassium exchange across the cell membranes. In the nerve cells, this sodium-potassium flux generates the electrical potential that aids the conduction of nerve impulses.

When potassium leaves the cell, it changes the membrane potential and allows the nerve impulse to progress. This electrical potential gradient, created by the "sodium-potassium pump," helps generate muscle contractions and regulates the heartbeat. Another of the pump's most important functions is preventing the swelling of cells.

If sodium is not pumped out, water accumulates within the cell causing it to swell and ultimately burst. Potassium is very important in cellular biochemical reactions and energy metabolism; it participates in the synthesis of protein from amino acids in the cell.

Potassium also functions in carbohydrate metabolism; it is active in glycogen and glucose metabolism, converting glucose to glycogen that can be stored in the liver for future energy.

Potassium is important for normal growth and for building muscle. Though sodium is readily conserved by the body, there is no effective method for potassium conservation.

Even when a potassium shortage exists, the kidneys continue to excrete it. Because the human body relies on potassium balance for a regularly contracting heart and a healthy nervous system, it is essential to strive for this electrolyte's balance. In medicine, potassium is one of the most commonly prescribed minerals. It is also commonly measured in biochemical testing and is supplemented if it is low. Because potassium is crucial to cardiovascular and nerve functions and is lost in diuretic therapy for edema or hypertension, a prevalent American disease, it must be added as a dietary supplement frequently.

As stated before, the average American diet has reversed the natural high potassium-low sodium intake, and a shift back to this more healthful balance will help reduce some types of elevated blood pressure. Supplementing potassium can be helpful in treating hypertension specifically caused by a hyper-response to excess sodium.

In one study, 37 adults with mild hypertension participated in a crossover study. Patients received either 2. They were then crossed-over to receive a different treatment for another eight weeks and so on. The results of the study demonstrated that potassium supplementation lowered systolic blood pressure from an average of 12 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure an average of 16 mm Hg.

Interestingly, the additional magnesium offered no further reduction in blood pressure. Potassium supplementation may be especially useful in the treatment of high blood pressure in persons over the age of The elderly often do not fully respond to blood pressure-lowering drugs making the use of potassium supplement an exciting possibility.

After this relatively short treatment period the group getting the potassium experienced a drop of 12 mm Hg in systolic and 7 mm Hg in diastolic blood pressure. These results compare quite favorably to the reduction of blood pressure produced by drug therapy in the European Working Party on High Blood Pressure in Elderly Study. Pharmacological preparations of potassium are commonly prescribed for many of these conditions.

A 10 percent potassium chloride solution is often given, but its taste is unpleasant. More easily used formulas are tablets that are swallowed or effervescent tablets.

Time-release formulas such as Micro-K are also available. Potassium chloride has occasionally been helpful in treating infant colic, some cases of allergies, and headaches. During and after diarrhea, potassium replacement may be necessary, and many people feel better taking potassium during weight-loss programs. Fatigue or weakness, especially in the elderly, is often alleviated with supplemental potassium, along with magnesium.

Additional potassium may also be required for dehydration states after fluid losses and may be used to prevent or reduce hangover symptoms after alcohol consumption.

Elevations or depletions of this important mineral can cause problems and, in the extreme, even death. Maintaining consistent levels of potassium in the blood and cells is vital to body function. Even with high intakes of potassium, the kidneys will clear any excess, and blood levels will not be increased.

For elevated potassium levels, called hyperkalemia, to occur, there must usually be other factors involved; decrease in renal function is the most likely cause. Major infection, gastrointestinal bleeding, and rapid protein breakdown also may cause elevated potassium levels.