First of all potassium is a super essential mineral for our body and we need to consume almost 4700 mg a day.
Potassium has many important roles in our body, such as regulating blood pressure, protecting against strokes, regulate heartbeat and rhythm, help synthesize protein and metabolize carbohydrates, regulate fluid balance, muscle contractions, nerve system, protect the kidney.
What does potassium do ?
- High blood pressure:When you’re low in potassium, blood pressure will increase. Why? Because potassium is a physiological relaxer. It calms things down.
- Muscle cramps:Potassium is an electrolyte, meaning it helps control electricity and muscle function in the body. If it’s low, you’re more likely to experience cramps .
- Sugar cravings:Potassium helps you store sugar, and it’ll actually help you get rid of sugar cravings because the storage of glucose needs potassium.
- Constipation:Potassium helps regulate digestion and keep things flowing.
- High insulin:There’s a relationship between sugar, blood sugar, diabetes, and potassium. In fact, when you have enough potassium, the need for insulin goes down – so I always recommend potassium for diabetic clients.
- Muscle weakness:You can have this inexplicable muscle weakness and not know why. That’s because electrolytes are needed to help the muscles contract.
- Abnormal heartbeat:That’s also why you can have an abnormal heartbeat. The heart is a muscle. These abnormal heartbeats – for example, atrial fibrillation and arrhythmias – are a combination of deficiency in potassium and/or magnesium.
- Anxiety and insomnia:Again, potassium is something to calm you down. So if you’re doing, for example, a diet that doesn’t involve a lot of potassium, you can start manifesting a lot of these symptoms.
Potassium is used in almost every cellular reactions in our body. It is also used in storing sugar in muscles and liver. Especially the storing of glycogens is necessary for our body to be used as a quick and instant energy source.
Cut sugar cravings by potassium.
Technically potassium is the mineral that allows glucose to be stored as glycogen. If your body is low on potassium you are not going to store enough glycogen, you will feel less efficient and your body will start storing more fat as energy.
One of the benefits of having enough potassium in our body is cutting sugar cravings as your body will be able to store sugar efficiently and stabilizing blood sugar.
We usually need 4 to 1 potassium sodium ratio in our body. However, most people have the opposite. This is essential for balancing blood pressure.
Potassium sources.
Potassium mainly comes from vegetables, but you can get it from animal proteins too. There are high potassium levels in leafy vegetables, avocados and beet tops.
Spinach , lima beans, squash, salmon, Brussel sprouts are among the most richest potassium sources.
How about bananas? Yes, it is true that bananas do contain a certain amount of potassium. However, in order to fulfill our potassium need we should consume 10-11 bananas a day. Do we really want to do that with consuming a lot of sugar ?
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