Potassium Deficiency Causes Diabetes

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 .