Potassium?

[Slapshot]

Someone's wife I know recently passed away from heart trouble caused by low potassium. It got me thinking: should I be taking any sort of potassium supplement? I am on extended induction (week 3), and am eating by the book: veggies, fats, etc.

The USRDA for Potassium is 3500mg. I looked for Potassium supplements in the supermarket and couldn't find any.

Thanks for any tips/thoughts you might have, including whether you take potassium and where you bought it.

[Peej]

Re: Potassium?

In the US, potassium supplements don't come any higher than 99mg by law. My suggestion would be to keep track of your potassium intake on something like fitday. If you're consistently low, you might want to think about consulting a doctor about it. Try to eat more potassium rich foods. Spinach, zucchini, and broccoli are some particularly good legal foods.

The RDA is pretty high though. Your body should do a pretty good job maintaining its potassium level unless you're consistently really low or losing a lot of fluid. You can always switch to a salt substitute or get a combination salt to get some more potassium. I personally use a salt substitute to make a sort of homemade gatorade for when I work out. However, my levels have never been low enough to do any major damage.

[Slapshot]

Re: Potassium?

Thanks Peej - good to know. There are not a lot of legal high-potassium foods, but the three you listed are a good start. I will likely take a supplement to ensure my levels are consistent, as well as keep up my fluids.

[Georgiana]

Re: Potassium?

You can also add avocados, fish (and meat in general) and tomatoes to the list. Furthermore, Atkins is not only Induction, so not far from now you will be able to eat yogurt, legumes, fruits, etc.

[Slapshot]

Re: Potassium?

Thanks Georgiana. I plan an extended induction, but I see that avocadoes, zucchini, spinach and veal (yum) are rich in potassium. Those choices, coupled with a supplement and plenty of water should keep everything in check...

[rajenki]

Re: Potassium?

First time around for me I did not need water pills and had no trouble with potassium depletion at all.

This time around I take a water pill due to a spinal cord injury and now that I've felt the symptoms, I know what potassium depletion feels like for me (but your mileage may vary). In my case, limbs start tingling for no reason and some major muscles start to feel strained for no reason. For example, my right quad started feeling like I had done about 300 deep knee bends but I hadn't done anything at all. I also feel very tired. I had my blood drawn and they put me on a pretty high dose of prescription potassium...but this is something you don't want to mess with. Too much can cause pretty much the same symptoms and both too high and too low can be dangerous for your heart. Since I have a cardiac history, I'm checked whenever I have a new symptom. Right now I'm concerned that my potassium is too high...but I'm having blood drawn on friday to see.

[Sunny_0ne]

Re: Potassium?

I track everything I eat in FitDay and so have a very good idea of how much potassium I am getting.

It's not nearly enough on an induction menu. I was exhausted, tired, and felt miserable.

So I added two potassium supplements twice a day. It's still far below the RDA of potassium, but it keeps me from suffering the symptoms of a potassium deficiency.

Overdosing can cause serious heart problems. So plug your menus into FitDay so you will know exactly how much you are getting from your diet. Don't guess!

As you move up the OWL ladder and begin adding in more foods, you will probably get all the potassium you need from your food, and the supplements will no longer be necessary.

[Slapshot]

Re: Potassium?

Thanks Sunny. I will start with a few 99mg tablets as a backstop, at least during induction as I know I'm falling well short of the 3500mg RDA. While I'm on extended induction, I highly doubt I could ever exceed the RDA even with 400mg of supplements per day. I haven't gotten any low-potassium issues, but I've just completed induction, so it's early yet.

[chinadoll]

Re: Potassium?

Fitday will definitely help you keep track. You are probably eating more than you think. Mushrooms also have some potassium and unfiltered apple cider vinegar is very high in potassium.