Signs and Symptoms of Low Potassium

There are quite a few signs that your potassium may be low. The symptoms of low potassium include: muscle weakness, unexplained exhaustion, metal fatigue and emotional instability, and heart problems to name a few.

Low potassium will cause your muscles to become weak and unresponsive. Potassium is essential for proper muscle function. Low potassium will also cause you to be exhausted do to the fact that it is one of the key components that make up electrolytes. Without electrolytes, you'll feel week and fatigued. Electrolytes conduct electricity in the body, so it is important for good health.

Potassium supports the proper firing of neurons, and without it you will become mentally fatigued and emotionally unstable. You are more limited in your ability to control your emotions when you are low in potassium.

Your heart needs potassium to support good blood pressure. Your heart muscles will be affected without the right balance of potassium.

The most common causes of a potassium deficiency include: not taking daily vitamins, chronic diarrhea (for example, if you have irritable bowel syndrome), you use diuretics, consuming excessive amounts of sodium and exercising in excess.Sodium is related to potassium in that if your sodium level is high and your potassium level is low, your body will steal calcium from your bones and excrete the calcium from your body through your urine, causing a risk for osteoporosis. Having enough potassium can remedy this problem.

Most Americans with a potassium deficiency are those dieting or those who are consuming too much sodium, as in soft drinks, after heavily exercising and sweating, causing a sodium to potassium imbalance in the blood stream.

There are many good sources of potassium in foods. High potassium foods include: swiss chard, lima beans, yams, winter squash, avocado, soy beans, bananas, baked potato with skin, milk, orange juice, cantaloupe, spinach and a variety of beans. Bananas alone have at least 450 mg potassium and a medium baked potato with the skin has 850 mg potassium.

It's recommended for most people to consume 2,000 mg/day of potassium for good health. Including foods in your diet that are rich in potassium is the best way to replace any that is lost. It is also no recommended to take potassium supplements without first consulting a doctor as taking too much potassium can cause you to have problems just as having too low of a potassium level can.

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