top of page

Are You Getting Sufficient Potassium?



𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀: ensuring you get ample potassium is critical for optimal health.⁣

This is generally easy to do if you eat a whole-foods diet rich in 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴, but many people don’t eat a lot of plants, even if they are eating mostly whole foods. 𝗟𝗼𝘄-𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗼𝗵𝘆𝗱𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝘂𝗺. ⁣

𝗙𝗨𝗡 𝗙𝗔𝗖𝗧: Ensuring adequate potassium on a low-carb diet is all the more important to balance the higher sodium and protein intakes.⁣

𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀: Potassium is a primary buffering molecule within the blood and the ratio of potassium to protein in the diet accounts for 70% of the acid load on the kidney. 𝘕𝘰, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘱𝘏 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦, no one is claiming that here, but the buffering systems will be impacted, which can cause long-term problems if the context is right.⁣

Evolutionarily, our dietary potassium to sodium radio was 𝟹–𝟷𝟶 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘶𝘮. This can be really difficult for many to obtain, and potassium supplementation may be necessary. We explain in the linked video how K supps wreck one of us, and the other thrives on additional supplementation.⁣

The best sources for supplements will be 𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘶𝘮 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦. You want to take them with meals rather than away from food and start small with dosing, increasing as you tolerate. ⁣

Whole foods are obviously preferable, but not always possible.



Comment over here.


bottom of page