Posted on 04/06/2013 4:15:43 AM PDT by JoeProBono
Increasing potassium in our diets as well as cutting down on salt will reduce blood pressure levels and the risk of stroke, research in the British Medical Journal suggests. One study review found that eating an extra two to three servings of fruit or vegetables per day - which are high in potassium - was beneficial. A lower salt intake would increase the benefits further, researchers said.
A stroke charity said a healthy diet was key to keeping stroke risk down. While the increase of potassium in diets was found to have a positive effect on blood pressure, it was also discovered to have no adverse effects on kidney function or hormone levels, the research concluded. As a result, the World Health Organisation has issued its first guidelines on potassium intake, recommending that adults should consume more than 4g of potassium (or 90 to 100mmol) per day.
The BMJ study on the effects of potassium intake, produced by scientists from the UN World Food Programme, Imperial College London and Warwick Medical School, among others, looked at 22 controlled trials and another 11 studies involving more than 128,000 healthy participants.......
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Learned a new word: pulses (refers to legumes that grow in pods)
The article says that potassium is found in:
...most types of food, but particularly in fruit, such as bananas, vegetables, pulses, nuts and seeds, milk, fish, chicken and bread.
Olive Garden's the worst for salt. They want to sell you more drinks.
I use Morton lite salt. Half sodium, half potassium.
Cover that with the second piece of toast and it’s perfect.
(I usually put a little PB on the 2nd piece so it will stick to the bacon and banana.)
Yes, I learned around 5th grade that peanuts are legumes — Lord only knows what they learn in 5th grade now. But peanuts do not, apparently, fall into the category of pulses, as the definition I found says the legumes referred to as “pulses” grow in pods.
Beware the advice of physicians who kill their patients.
Today about 30,000 a year in Britain alone.
That being said, if you really want more potassium in your diet, get a shaker of Morton salt substitute.
This is because supplements are usually limited to about 99mg of potassium, because otherwise they would be too big to swallow. Typically, a healthy adult person needs about 4,700mg a day (via WebMD), so a 99mg dose is tiny.
However, 1/4 tsp of Morton salt substitute contains 610mg of potassium, which is about 17% US RDA.
Why do I have a feeling that someone will reading this article, gobble potassium like there’s no tomorrow, and go into hyperkalemia?
Ayep. Neurons have to dump potassium when they fire. Too much potassium means hyperpolarized neurons.
Electrolytes are like garlic on a steak - just because a little is good, that doesn’t mean that a lot is better.
Where do you buy potassium, at building supply magazines? Can you buy less than 50 lbs at a time?
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