Daily Potassium Requirements for Optimal Health

KEY POINTS

Potassium deficiency is a very real and possibly deadly health problem

Daily Potassium Requirement, according to the RDA, is a measly 4.7 grams (4,700 mg) per day

Our caveman ancestors regularly consumed 10,000-15,000 mg of potassium per day

Supplementation can be a useful way to reverse a potassium deficient state, but diet should be the primary way to get your potassium

Fruits and vegetables are the best source of potassium.

If you suffer with kidney disease or are currently taking medications (especially for heart disease or high blood pressure) check with a healthcare provider before supplementing

Most healthy people can benefit from 1,000-2,000 mg of potassium in supplement form

Some health experts claim that nutrient deficiencies are a thing of the past and supplementation is unnecessary in today’s day and age…they are dangerously mistaken!

In fact nutrient deficiencies are quite common, and such deficiencies are the direct cause of many health problems that result in hospitalization and even death.

One such nutritional deficiency is potassium and in today’s article, we will talk about the benefits of potassium supplementation as well as the daily potassium requirements for optimal health. Published research shows that potassium deficiency can be a direct or indirect cause of many health problems, including:

Cardiac arrhythmias (irregular heart beat)
High blood pressure
Fatigue and muscle weakness
Constipation

Benefits of Potassium

Potassium can be an important part of any supplement program. Studies have shown that potassium supplementation can result in significant decreases in blood pressure, improvements in constipation, decreases in cardiac arrhythmias, and improvement in fatigue and muscle weakness.

Daily Potassium Requirements

The majority of your potassium should come from your diet; supplementation should be used as a means of optimizing your dietary potassium intake. I recommend reading the article on the Benefits of Potassium for a discussion of dietary potassium from the perspective of our evolutionary history. Although the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of potassium is 4.7 grams (4700 mg), our Paleolithic ancestors consumed between 10-15 grams per day from fruits and vegetables!

For most healthy people, taking up to 1,000-2,000 mg of potassium daily in supplement form should be very safe (depending on diet). If you are on medications, such as loop diuretics or ACE Inhibitors, or suffer with heart or kidney disease, check with a health care provider prior to supplementing with potassium.

The Potassium Supplement That I Recommend

K+2 Potassium is a high potency potassium formula that provides 300 mg of potassium per capsule. In addition to providing 300 mg of potassium per capsule, this formula provides two impressive forms of potassium…

Potassium glycinate is a chelated form of potassium that mimics food sourced potassium in absorption and utilization.

Potassium bicarbonate provides a source of bicarbonate, which helps to alkalinize the body. This advanced combination makes this one of the most potent and powerful potassium supplements on the market. This form would be especially good for people who have bone loss and/or those who eat a high meat diet.

As an alternative, Potassium Amino Acid Complex by Your Prescription for Health is an inexpensive and high-quality form of chelated potassium. Each tablet provides 99 mg of potassium in a form that mimics potassium found in food. Potassium chelate by Your Prescription for Health is considered the most cost-effective form of potassium. The only negative to this potassium supplement is it is limited to 99 mg per tablet.

Summary:

As I mentioned in the article, Benefits of Potassium, we are designed to consume far more than the ridiculously low amounts suggested by the RDA. So if you are a healthy person, with normal kidney function and currently not taking any medications for blood pressure or heart problems, eat as much potassium as you can from fruit and vegetable sources. If you have difficulty getting large quantities of fruits and vegetables, try 4-6 capsules of K+2 Potassium by Designs for Health.