Potassium is a mineral that can be found in fruits, dry fruits, milk, beans, cereals, and vegetables. Medically potassium is mostly used to treat or prevent low potassium levels, preventing a stroke, and treating high blood pressure. In some people, potassium can cause stomach upset, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, or intestinal gas. Too much potassium is unsafe and can cause feelings of burning or tingling, generalized weakness, paralysis, mental confusion, low blood pressure, irregular heart rhythm, or death.
Potassium functions as a transmission of nerve signals, fluid balance, muscle contractions and other variable chemical reactions. Potassium can be obtained through our foods, taken by mouth, or intravenously through an IV to prevent and treat low levels of potassium in the blood.
Potassium Supplementation might be effective for high blood pressure. Intensive research has shown that taking potassium as a supplementation can lower blood pressure. For most people that are healthy, they should get their potassium through foods in their daily diet. An additional health condition that potassium is possibly effective for is to reduce the risk of a stroke. Potassium should be taken with magnesium to be effective specially after a stroke to improve the recovery of nerve and nervous system functions.
There are a number of conditions in which there is not enough scientific evidence that potassium can be of help, and those are: prediabetes, dental pain, alcoholism, acne, Alzheimer disease, allergies, arthritis, irritability, blurred vision, bloating, colitis, cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome, confusion, fatigue, mood swings in early menopause, Constipation, fever, heart attacks, muscular dystrophy, skin problems, stress, and many other conditions.
The safest and best way to find out whether you should take additional potassium in the form of supplementation or intravenously through an IV is to consult with your family physician and have him perform a blood test.
©Copyright – Hector Sectzer
