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Let's talk about the relationship between potassium and diabetes .
Did you realize that a potassium deficiency could actually trigger a new onset of diabetes ?
If you have diabetes or prediabetes or insulin resistance , this video is very , very important .
In fact , 1 of the common drugs , the first line of defense against high blood pressure is these diuretics called Thiazide diuretics .
And it's well known that they give you a risk of developing diabetes .
Now you think that would discourage doctors from using it , but it's 1 of the big side effects .
These diuretics are used for hypertension .
So that's why they use it .
On the flip side , there's another drug called an ACE inhibitor .
Okay ?
Which actually protects against diabetes .
It actually lowers your risk of getting diabetes , which is interesting , and it too is used for blood pressure .
Now my question is , what's going on here ?
Why would 1 increase the risk and yet the other 1 decrease the risk ?
And I believe it has everything to do with what these 2 drugs do to potassium .
First of all , the thiazide diuretic depletes your potassium .
If you are consuming a diet that is very low on potassium , like most people , and you're taking this drug on top of that , chances are you can end up with very low levels of potassium .
And without enough potassium , okay , insulin can't be released too well .
So we have a lessened amount or production of insulin when we have low potassium .
Now what's gonna happen when we don't have enough insulin ?
We're gonna have higher levels of glucose in the blood .
What's the name of that ?
Diabetes .
Now with the ACE inhibitor , it just so happens .
1 of the things that it does is it increases potassium by helping you prevent the loss of potassium .
So there's this certain ACE enzyme that's basically increasing blood pressure .
It also helps use hold sodium , and it releases potassium .
And so they develop these ACE inhibitors , okay , to inhibit that enzyme to help you lower the blood pressure .
And 1 of the mechanisms that works is basically by helping you hold potassium .
But my question is this , if potassium not only helps you lower your blood pressure , but also if potassium is deficient , your blood pressure is gonna go up in the 1st place .
So if the way this ACE inhibitor is working by increasing your potassium levels to bring your blood pressure down , then why not just start consuming foods high in potassium or take potassium ?
Why do we need to take a drug to increase our potassium ?
You have to realize how important potassium is for your whole body .
It protects the kidney against kidney disease .
It protects your heart against all sorts of issues .
It keeps the arteries flexible .
It helps prevent a stroke .
And , apparently , it also helps you protect against diabetes because it helps to increase the normal amounts of insulin that you need to regulate this blood sugar .
So we have these interesting , drugs used for various symptoms , but I don't understand why they just don't look beyond that .
And what's really underneath this problem .
There are so many people that get rid of their blood pressure problem by taking potassium .
And there's also a lot of people that improve their blood sugars by taking potassium .
So as far as metabolic syndrome , where you have both blood pressure problems and glucose , potassium is probably 1 of the most important minerals to take , especially since the majority of the population just does not get enough .
The requirements for potassium are extremely high .
And you might not realize this .
So 1 banana will give you like 300 milligrams of potassium , You need 47100 .
Okay ?
Banana , 300 .
Requirement , 47100 .
Potatoes are high in potassium .
Leafy greens are the best source of potassium .
Big salads .
Avocado is really good .
You can also get potassium from electrolyte powders because a lot of times the pills only come in 99 milligrams .
Again , you need 47 100 milligrams .
Okay ?
So you'd have to have a lot of pills to achieve that daily recommended amount .
Our bodies also need potassium for the sodium potassium pump , which is in every single cell in your body to help power the nervous system in connection with the muscles .
And this is why if you're low on potassium , you feel kinda tired .
Potassium also helps to regulate sodium , and you need this balance of at least twice as much potassium as you do sodium .
In fact , if you have a salt sensitivity , which means a intolerance for salt , what that really means is you just need more potassium .
And if you're eating a lot of carbs and sugar , it takes potassium to store this sugar .
So a good amount of potassium in the body gets locked up in this sugar .
This is why when when you go on a low carb diet , you get rid of so much fluid because you're getting rid of all this excess glucose that's stored as glycogen .
Some people can lose up to £11 of fluid just by getting rid of this , this excess of glucose that's stored .
But in the process , you're gonna lose potassium too because it's locked up into the glucose .
This is why it's really important to take potassium or get enough from the diet when you're doing the ketogenic diet or a low carb diet .
But then again , if you're on a high carb diet , you need it even more .
1 last point about this interesting relationship between , potassium and insulin .
When someone's a type 1 diabetic , right , and they forget to take their insulin , they can start generating massive amounts of ketones way , way higher than , you could if you didn't have the problem , and that's called diabetic ketoacidosis .
1 of the big treatments for this is to take potassium , which will not only help alkalize the body because it's alkaline , but it can definitely help , protect against this condition .
Why ?
Because potassium is needed to make this insulin to increase the production of insulin .
So it's my belief if you have enough potassium as a diabetic type 1 , you probably would not develop ketoacidosis .
But , of course , that's just my opinion .
Check with your doctor before taking any actions on this video .
There's a lot more to learn about potassium .
So if you have not seen this video , you should check it out .
I put it up right here .