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Deficiency Diseases and Good Nutrition
Potassium & Sodium
K & Na
Potassium and Sodium work together so intimately, that it is most convenient to discuss them at the same time. You have to understand one to understand the other.

Potassium is a vital nutrient that is in plentiful supply. It is abundant in the fertilizers that have leached out most of the other minerals. Sometimes, though, we don't get enough of it because we need so much in the first place. There is 300 grams of potassium in our bodies. Potassium comprises 5% of the total mineral weight.



RDA for Potassium

  Age       RDA
0.0-0.5   500 mg
0.5-1.0   700 mg
1        1000 mg
2-5      1400 mg
6-9      1600 mg
10+      2000 mg

This is one of the RDA's that is set at the minimum. It would be most beneficial if, after the age of 10, you consumed 3000-4000 mg of potassium per day.

Potassium is greatly involved in nourishing every cell in your body. Each cell in the body pulls in nutrients and pushes out waste via the sodium/potassium pump. On the inside of the cell membrane are negatively charged potassium ions (K-), and on the outside of the cell membrane are positively charged sodium ions (Na+). The positive and negative charges are attracted to each other, like in a magnet. The positive sodium ions try to get inside the cell with the negative potassium ions. If this happened the cell membrane would no longer be electrically polarized, and the pump could not work. This means that most of the poisonous waste products would stay on the inside of the cell and most of the vital nutrients would stay on the outside the cell. Your cells wouldn't live very long if this is what happened. To counteract the results from the natural attraction of K- and Na+, the cell has two protecting mechanisms: first, the cell membrane is strong and doesn't let much Na+ into the cell, and second, the cell membrane is equipped with protein pumps that push the little Na+ that does get into the cell, back outside with the rest of the sodium ions. Because of these mechanisms, K- stays inside of the cell and Na+ stays outside of the cell and the membrane stays electrically polarized. This allows the cell to dispose of its waste products and draw in healthy nutrients.

Nerves also use the K- and Na+ polarization to send nerve impulses. A nerve impulse is much like the "wave" that crowds do at football games. The people in the stands represent the charge directly inside the nerve cell. When the people are sitting down, their charge is negative, when they stand up, their charge is positive. In the nerve, K- lines the inside of the nerve cell, and just as many Na+ line the outside of the cell. When a nerve is stimulated, the first Na+ ion rushes into the cell and the adjacent K- ion rushes out. Once the K- is outside the cell it stimulates the next Na+ to go into the cell, and its adjacent K- exits the cell waiting on exactly the opposite side. As this reaction moves down the cell membrane, the opposite reaction follows it. The first Na+ returns to its place outside the cell, and its K- returns to its place inside the cell. This motion continues along the length of an entire nerve cell. If you're having trouble visualizing it, just think of the "wave".

Muscle contraction is stimulated by nerve impulses. Cramps in the skeletal and digestive muscles have been cured by eating more potassium. Digestive muscles cramping up can cause painful elimination, constipation, and uncomfortable gas. Your heart is a muscle and it too can cramp up. Making sure you eat enough potassium is a good way to keep your heart healthy. Slow and/or irregular heartbeats have been cured by an increase in potassium consumption. A common cause of colic in babies is failure of the digestive system to absorb glucose correctly. This is probably because they don't have enough potassium in their digestive tract for their sodium/potassium pumps to work correctly, and pull in glucose. (It's almost impossible that the imbalance was because of low sodium intake. Baby food is LOADED with salt!)

The sodium/potassium balance is one way the body controls the pH in the body. When the body is too basic they kidneys excrete sodium, and when it is too acidic the kidneys excrete potassium. You can avoid getting kidney stones, by having a more acidic environment in your kidneys. When the urine is too basic, calcium and phosphorus bind together to form kidney stones. By eating a lot of potassium, you will make your urine more acidic.

Sodium and potassium help to keep blood pressure constant. If you don't eat very much potassium, you won't have much in your cells. You're more than likely to have a lot of sodium on the outside of your cells, though. Your cellular pumps have to work extra hard to keep the sodium outside your cell membrane. More sodium will get inside your cells, and with it comes water. Your cells can actually burst because of the amount of water drawn into it. The water comes from surrounding fluids and blood. This causes a decrease in blood pressure. Eating enough potassium will help keep your blood pressure at its most healthful level.

As you can see, potassium's function in the cell membrane has very far reaching effects. Without it, your brain could not transmit messages to other parts of the body and your individual cells would starve to death. You can get plenty of potassium through whole, natural foods.

Concerning potassium, processed and refined foods are bad for three reasons:

  1. The refining process kills potassium.
  2. Refined carbohydrates (white flour and sugar) increase the excretion of potassium.
  3. Refined foods increase the need for potassium because of the large amount of sodium they contain. It is very important that potassium and sodium are balanced. Usually processed foods contain massive amounts of salt, thus increasing the need for potassium. Thankfully, potassium is found in just about every natural food there is. 



Foods High in Potassium

Avocado, Florida, 1            1,484 mg
Lima beans, cooked, 1 cup      1,163 mg
Refried beans, 1 cup           1.141 mg
Raisins, seedless, 1 cup       1,089 mg
Orange juice, canned, 1 cup      390 mg
Banana, 1                        451 mg
Yogurt, fruit flavored, 8 oz.    442 mg
Ice milk, soft serve, 1/2 cup    412 mg
Milk, 2%, 1 cup                  377 mg
Mango, raw, 1                    323 mg
Apricots, raw, 3                 314 mg
Beef, ground, 3 oz.              256 mg
Gingerbread, 1 piece             173 mg
Cheese, parmesan, grated, 1 cup  107 mg
Oatmeal, plain, 1 pkt.            99 mg
Angel food cake, 1 slice          71 mg
Whole wheat bread, 1 slice        50 mg
Cheese, cheddar, 1 oz.            28 mg

As you can see, the natural foods we eat are very high in potassium. Our bodies need a balanced amount of potassium and sodium so the sodium/potassium pumps in each cell work correctly. Our bodies were designed for diets high in potassium and low in sodium. This was very helpful to our ancestors. For them, salt (sodium chloride, the source of sodium) was a luxury. It was important to eat a lot of salt once they found some, to balance out the great amount of potassium eaten. Because of this need, our bodies are equipped with a salt hunger. (Ever wonder why animals need a salt lick? They eat potassium all day.) Now, when salt is readily available, that salt hunger works against us. Our bodies are rigged not only to want a lot of sodium, but to retain it once we have it. When we eat a lot of potassium, our adrenal glands are stimulated to release aldosterone. This hormone tells the kidneys to excrete potassium and save the sodium. This mechanism has kept the human species alive for thousands of years, but it is killing us. Too much salt causes all kinds of problems.

When a lot of salt gets into your blood, you get high blood pressure. This means that the blood in your body is pushing on the vein wall. It is like trying to run more water through a hose than can comfortably go through it. Your heart eventually stops pumping as hard. The kidneys recognize the drop in amount of blood coming through them and thinks there is a drop in blood pressure. This stimulates rennin and aldosterone to be released. Rennin constricts the blood vessels, which is the last thing you need. Aldosterone directs the kidneys to retain more sodium. When the sodium is drawn back into the body, it brings with it more urea and water. Urea is a toxic poison!

Your kidneys work very hard to keep the delicate sodium/potassium balance. They filter 325 quarts of blood a day. They were designed to deal with little disturbances in the sodium/potassium balance. When we overload our bodies with sodium, it is an enormous disturbance. It is hard for the kidneys to get the balance to the correct level. Your kidneys will not function as well, and possibly eventually stop working.

Salt isn't all bad though. If you didn't have any sodium, you would die. Sodium is contained in every bodily fluid. That's why blood, sweat, tears, and urine (don't ask) are all salty. Sodium and chloride help to transport nutrients between cells. Sodium keeps calcium evenly dispersed throughout the blood, so it doesn't collect on artery walls. Salt is needed to produce hydrochloric acid, without which we could not digest our food.

Although a deficiency in salt is hard to do, it can happen. You will experience wrinkles, sunken eyes (because of tissue dehydration), flatulence, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, confusion, low blood pressure, irritability, and a difficulty in breathing. You probably don't have to worry about it; most of us get way more salt than we need without trying. You need 300-500 mg of sodium a day, and the average American eats 10,000-12,000 mg a day.

If you make sure you eat lots of unprocessed vegetables and grains and go easy on the salt, you should stay healthy.

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Revised: 14 Sep 99