Need More Carbs to Boost Energy Hypokalemia_Low Potassium Symptoms – Dr.Berg

Man , I just need more carbs to boost my energy .

Really ?

Have you ever heard that before ?

Well , it's actually just the opposite and I'm gonna explain why .

So I'm gonna explain this in 2 different ways .

The simple version and the technical version for those people that want to know about it .

When you eat carbs , you lose potassium .

And when you lose potassium you get tired , weak .

Potentially you can have paralysis if there's a huge potassium loss , leg cramps , abnormal heart rhythm , even a palpitation could be a 1 symptom , high blood pressure and tremor .

So that's the simple version .

Let me explain a little bit more tactical .

There's something called insulin induced hypokalemia .

Hypokalemia is low potassium .

When you stimulate insulin , because the carbs are high , you block this enzyme .

Okay .

This enzyme is a pump and you have millions of them in all of your cells .

And this pump basically keeps the potassium inside the cell and the sodium outside the cell to form an electrical gradient so it can act as a battery .

And you need the battery to keep the muscles relaxing and contracting as well as to keep the messages flowing as well as to keep the electrical signals to the nervous system activated .

What's interesting is 30% of all the energy that you have in your body is allocated to this specific pump .

So if you inhibit this pump , more potassium stays outside the cell and you start losing potassium .

Okay .

And that condition is called hypokalemia and you're gonna get these symptoms right here .

So that's just 1 reason why you get tired after carbs .

There's other reasons as well .

So a spike in insulin will cause a potassium deficiency .

And of course not consuming enough potassium foods can also be another reason , but there are more reasons right here .

Let's see if a loss of fluid , diarrhea or vomiting .

Okay .

That could be 1 .

Also , if you're diabetic and you're peeing excessively , you can lose fluid with that .

Now if you have steroids or you have a huge spike in stress or an injury or shock to the body , you lose potassium .

And you also , during surgery , lose potassium and this is why many times they will put potassium in your IV .

This is interesting .

Alkalosis could be the reason why you're low on potassium .

There's a huge push to make everyone alkaline .

Right ?

Well , if you're too alkaline , you're gonna have alkalosis and you're gonna be deficient in potassium .

When you take steroids or you go through a lot of stress , that can also create alkalosis .

And so will a high sugar diet .

And then you have certain diuretics will also create a potassium deficiency .

And also if you're low on magnesium , you're not gonna be able to have enough potassium in the body too .

So these are other reasons why you may also be tired due to this low potassium .

But I wanted to emphasize the importance of potassium with your energy .

And if you want more data on that , check out these videos on this page .