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Potassium is a simple mineral with an essential function: helping your heart beat. About a hundred thousand times per day, potassium helps trigger your heart’s squeeze of blood through your body.

If you currently suffer from high blood pressure, heart failure, or heart rhythm problems, consuming enough potassium is extremely important. And even though potassium and cholesterol are not directly linked, eating a diet rich in this mineral may lower your cholesterol as well.

Potassium: Abundant and Invisible

Potassium is found in abundance in soil and seawater. A healthy dose of potassium is key to all plant and animal life. A crucial electrolyte, potassium allows our muscles to move, our nerves to fire and our kidneys to properly filter blood. The right amount of potassium literally enables the heart to beat.

The majority of people get plenty of potassium merely by eating a standard American diet. The main source of potassium in our food is fruits and vegetables. Whole grains, meat and fish and dairy products also provide potassium.

Great sources of potassium include potatoes, tomatoes, avocados, fresh fruits, orange juice, dried fruits, spinach, beans and peas.

Consuming a diet high in fruits and vegetables is the best way to get plenty of potassium. You will also take advantage of some of the other benefits of a high fruits-and-veggies diet. These include decrease in the risk of heart disease, a lower risk of cancer, and a reduction in the risk for obesity.

Your Heart and Potassium

Potassium can be a heart-friendly mineral, in reasonable amounts. Potassium doesn’t address or prevent heart disease. however, many studies show that consuming enough potassium has heart-healthy benefits in various important ways.

High Blood Pressure and Potassium

In one study of people who suffered from high blood pressure, taking potassium supplements reduced systolic blood pressure by about 8 points. But you don’t have to pop potassium pills to get the heart-healthy benefits. A diet high in fruits and vegetables (greats sources of potassium) and fat-free or low-fat dairy foods can help decrease systolic blood pressure by more than 10 points in people with hypertension.

High Cholesterol and Potassium

A direct connection between cholesterol and potassium has not been found. However, it’s interesting to note that many diets proven to decrease cholesterol are high in potassium as well.

If you suffer from high cholesterol levels, you’re at a higher risk level for heart disease. The same applies to anyone with any of the other risk indicators for atherosclerosis:

• High blood pressure
• Lack of exercise
• Obesity
• Smoking
• Age over 55 for men or 65 for women

Ingesting potassium isn’t known to decrease the risk of heart attacks. But by taking in enough potassium you’ll probably end up eating more fruits and vegetables. A healthy diet can help cholesterol levels and decrease de propensity towards heart attacks.

Heart Failure and Potassium

For many people suffering from heart failure, consuming enough potassium is particularly important. Some diuretics applied towards heart failure can cause loss of potassium in urine. Potassium supplements or a potassium-rich diet can replace it. Consult with your doctor before starting a potassium supplement on your own since it might not be needed.

People who are healthy should not have any complications from consuming a diet rich in potassium or taking potassium supplements as directed. However, people who suffer from kidney problems or some other conditions need to be careful in regards to their potassium intake. Some other conditions that may conflict with potassium consumption are:

• Chronic kidney disease or dialysis dependence
• Use of medications that augment potassium levels, such as spironolactone (aldactone,) triamterene, or trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (bactrim.)
• Acute renal failure

So how much potassium should you be eating? The simplest solution is to increase the number of high-potassium fruits and vegetables in your diet. In this way, you will be getting plenty of potassium with no calculator needed.

If you really feel like counting, the USDA suggests 4,700 milligrams of potassium per day. You can locate the potassium content in foods on their package labels or from the USDA Web site: www.nal.usda.gov.

REFERENCE: (2009) Potassium and your Heart Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/potassium-and-your-heart?ecd=wnl_hrt_020210