Does Potassium Give You Energy
 

From LiveStrong:

www.livestrong.com › Food and Drink
Jul 1, 2011 - Foods high in potassium provide your body with components necessary to provide energy for physical activity. However, potassium does not ...

This link says adults need 2000mg potassium daily.

I have a good friend who is challenged with CFS/ME and she does so much research to try to help herself with her horrible malaise and crashes. I've had my share of fatigue and know potassium does help with energy. My labs and I save them for years to refer back, always come in on the lower end of range...

so I do supplement as well. I just ate a banana and eat avacodos and work with foods as best I can to keep nutrients in good level, but foods just don't do it all. She muscle tests as I do and believes it helps her too. She has taken up to 700mg potassium some days and it brought her up.

I know that some BP meds pull potassium out of our bodies and I take some BP meds....a friend who is now gone, was paranoid about salt and would not salt anything and she was on BP meds and she passed out a lot and I was with her when this happened a couple times....every time she went to the ER, her potassium levels were in the tank. So that had to do potassium IV's on her.

I'm not saying overdose on potassium but be aware...our docs just don't spend time on our labs and as long as we're in ranges, they dismiss us.

I know since I'm diligent on my potassium supps, I do have better energy and with bodywide pain, it's draining.

There are many links on this valuable mineral/electrolyte, so think about it at least.

The new RDA for potassium is 4500-4700milligrams a day (4.5 to 4.7grams a day). Some archeologists claim that our hunter/gatherer ancestors consumed up to 8 to 9 grams a day of potassium ....but don't try that yourself. You can poison yourself on potassium supplements, stop your heart. Stick with good food sources.

Live Strong is an inaccurate site for some things. It is much better to go to medical sites with research on them. Live Strong tends to parrot other sources, and their writers are not the best and often print up fringey data.

Linus Pauling Institute at the Univ. of Oregon is one of the best IMO.
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic

Here is their potassium monograph:
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/minerals/potassium

Adequate potassium is needed for red blood cell manufacture, for proper nerve transmission, for exercise energy, running the muscles properly and heart. None of these things work when potassium gets low.

Don't you mean 4700 mg? Preg women need more.

Yes, thank you Caroline. I was thinking in grams to start, and then changed the #s to milligrams. Many readers here get confused with grams. People are more familiar with milligrams because drugs are mostly in that amount.

And my title should read Energy...I do make errors. But I think everyone got the drift.

I thought I had a post here on V8 and I drink it a lot now, it's very high in potassium, I buy low sodium one. Sometimes whole glass of V8, sometimes mix 1/2 and 1/2 water and sometimes 1/2 glass my fav beer and the rest V8. Get a good lift with this extra potassium.

Also, drink Sobe Lifewater, which also contains potassium, doesn't say how much on bottle but on front of bottle is says Vitamin B...I add 1/2 tsp of DRibose to half bottle of this Sobe water...my fav flavor is blood orange mango....drinking l/2 bottle now as my e n e r g y tanked....after a shower mostly...not that it was great before shower.

I'm using My Fitness Pal App on my phone counting calories. It also has some nutrition markers. I'm low in potassium I'd say about 90% of the time and it is starting to concern me. I only need to lose a few more pounds (thank goodness, knock on wood, throwing salt over my shoulders) so my calorie count will go up a little for maintenance, hopefully relatively soon.

However,the potassium on most days is way too low according to this APP.

I think I have slightly more energy when I purposely attempt to eat foods high in potassium. Additionally, my blood pressure seems to be lower.:)

The potassium supplements in the store seem very low. I do wonder if they are worth taking though, at least to bring up totals a little.

I suspect, similar to magnesium, this is something many many people have an issue with...low potassium.

I do make myself all natural vegetable drinks with a little bit of apple. Sometimes I have pineapple in them. These seem to have a fair amount of potassium in them. I also like a half an avocado, half a baked potato at times and a once in awhile treat...dried apricots.

I'm avoiding processed foods, and salty foods and I'm not sure about V8... But it might be very good for me for an occasional treat. I can see where the potassium count might be good...

***One can low salt v8 163 ml= 700 mg. Potassium Wow, that does seem like a lot!:)

Vowel Lady, I try to do the same as you do - getting my potassium from what I eat.

For me breakfast is some combination of orange juice, toast from wholegrain bread, cheese, boiled eggs, avocado and banana - all good sources of nutrients including potassium.

Lunch is usually a green salad with some cheese and beans, usually with a wholegrain bread roll.

Dinner involves fish or white meat, red meat sometimes, baked/boiled potatoes or brown rice, mushrooms, broccoli, green peas/beans, etc.

IMO, what I eat meets my nutritional needs (not just potassium) with no reason for dietary supplements.

There is a Vitamin Water Zero product called Revive fruit punch which is carried in most supermarkets in our vicinity. It contains 880 mgs of potassium per 20 ounce bottle, which is much more potassium than the normal vitamin waters, and there is no sodium or sugar in it.

I have used the Vit Waters and like Sobe but never really checked potassium .. but as you say it's the Revive fruit punch that has high potassium....I have a bottle of Zero go go water and a trace of potassium. I'll have to get some of the Revive next time. I just don't believe I get adequate potassium from my foods...and I eat pretty well. I've eliminated breads in my diet but I don't think breads are a good source of potassium....hardly ever eat a white potatoe, sweet potatoe yes, and when I make my soups use a sweet potatoe in it....I believe sweets are higher in potassium...thanks all...good info.