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Out of all the nutrients that our body needs , potassium is at the very top of the list as far as the huge requirements .
We're talking 40 700 milligrams .
No other nutrient comes even close to that .
Now the question is why ?
Why do we need so much potassium ?
Because potassium fulfills a very , very important enzyme that's involved in the sodium potassium pump .
This pump is in all of your nerve cells .
It's in all of your muscle cells .
It is the pump that establishes the battery of our cells .
We need this pump to move electrical impulses .
We also need this pump for muscle contraction that are in your arteries .
We need it in the heart for the heart muscle , as well as in your kidney .
And today , we're gonna talk about the consequences of not having enough potassium in our diet .
But there's some new information I wanna share with you from a paper entitled achieving the benefits of a high potassium paleolithic diet without the toxicity .
Apparently , 1000 of years ago in the stone age , humans have consumed a lot more than 47 100 milligrams .
In fact , there's evidence to show that humans consumed up to 15 , 000 milligrams of potassium every single day .
That's 4 times the current RDAs , which is still quite high .
47100 .
And then if we look at the relationship of potassium to sodium with those levels , we're talking 16 times more potassium than sodium .
So there's some really interesting credible data to show that we need even more potassium than we really think .
And what backs that up is the kidney .
Our kidneys have a very robust capacity to get rid of excess potassium .
But not sodium , but potassium .
So sometimes people say that , oh , yeah .
Potassium is bad for the kidneys .
It can create problems .
That's only in , like , stage 5 kidney disease , which is end stage kidney disease .
If you take large amounts of potassium before you get kidney disease , it actually has been shown to be protective against kidney disease .
I mean , the average person consumes , like , 1.5 cups of vegetables , which are the primary source of potassium .
And , no , you're not gonna get a lot of potassium from bananas .
Bananas have roughly about 300 milligrams .
So you'd have to eat a lot of bananas to get your fulfillment of potassium .
And , of course , bananas have a lot of fructose , which comes with other issues .
Potatoes are also supposed to have a lot of potassium , but , of course , the starch creates other issues .
1 medium sized potato has about 600 milligrams of potassium , but just 1 cup of leafy greens is between 500 to 800 milligrams .
That's 1 cup .
And if you consumed , like , 5 , 7 , or even 10 cups , well , that would give you a tremendous amount of potassium .
The point is we need a lot of potassium .
We probably need more than we're consuming .
Unfortunately , the average person is not consuming enough potassium from the diet .
And you might say , well , maybe they're getting it from their supplements .
Right ?
Well , the majority of supplements only give you , like , between 49 to , at the very most , 99 milligrams per tablet .
So how many pills would you have to take per day to even get your daily requirement of potassium ?
Well , you'd have to have 47 pills .
Okay ?
47 pills .
No one's gonna do that .
And if we look at a potassium deficiency , it's often missed .
It's omitted because most of the potassium is inside the cell , like 98% .
So you can't accurately determine if you have a low potassium situation just by the blood because most of the potassium is inside the cell .
You would have to do a different type of test called an intracellular potassium test .
Not to mention the symptoms of a potassium deficiency are sometimes very vague , especially in the beginning .
You might have a little bit of weakness in your diaphragm that affects your breathing a little bit .
It's hard to breathe .
You might feel a little fatigue .
You might have heart palpitations .
But these are all just early signs of a potassium deficiency .
But eventually , as that deficiency becomes worse , you can develop high blood pressure .
You can actually have an increased risk of stroke .
You can get fluid retention .
You can even get loss of bone and kidney stones because potassium helps keep calcium out of the arteries and out of the urine .
Because sometimes when people get their urine tested , they have high levels of calcium in their urine , which is , you know , kind of an environment to form a kidney stone .
As you can see , potassium is really , really important , and it can create a lot of problems .
Now there's some interesting reasons why people are deficient that go beyond just not consuming enough greens .
If you take penicillin , that can create a potassium deficiency , or diuretics or steroids or go through chronic stress or have higher levels of insulin with a high carb diet .
Another interesting reason why people are deficient is even going on the ketogenic diet .
So let's say , for example , you start the ketogenic diet , which is a low carb diet , and , you're going into this already deficient in potassium , and you take no potassium electrolytes or supplements .
Right ?
What happens is potassium helps you store glycogen .
That's that stuff in your liver and your muscles , stored sugar .
So as you use that up , what comes with that is a lot of water release and a loss of potassium as well .
So if you don't take potassium when you start the ketogenic diet , you may end up with a potassium deficiency from that reason .
But also you have if you're fasting for , like , 3 or 4 days , right , and you don't take supplements , especially electrolytes like potassium , trace minerals , or b vitamins , and you're doing this prolonged fast , you can start having problems from that .
Not to mention , let's say you fasted for 3 or 4 or 5 days , and then you eat too much too quickly , and then you also ate too many carbohydrates .
That's called refeeding syndrome , which is a severe potassium deficiency .
Now I'm not gonna get into the details , but it can create a sudden shift of potassium from your blood right into the cell , and you can end up with a serious low potassium problem , which could be dangerous .
Did you realize that the average person in the US consumes , like , 60% of their calories from ultra processed foods where they strip the nutrients out ?
I mean , let's just take Doritos , for example .
I used to love Doritos .
I would consume huge bags of Doritos in college .
I mean , just massive amounts .
And the next morning , I would end up with all sorts of fluid retention in my fingers and my feet .
And at the time , I had no information about health .
I was the worst .
So back then , I think they put 11 ingredients in these Doritos , and now it's , I think , up to 30 ingredients , different flavors that just make it taste like you're dipping a taco with hot wings into ranch dressing .
And so is there a lot of potassium in Doritos ?
No .
There's a lot of sodium in all these fast food restaurants .
So it gives you this flavoring , which is kind of addicting .
So you eat too much of it , and then you end up with a potassium deficiency .
So all these fast food restaurants , as you see them , as you're driving down the street , are just pumping out empty calories filled with a lot of sodium , very little nutrients , if anything , practically 0 potassium .
And you can see it too .
If you watch people coming out of these these , restaurants and look at their eyes .
It's all swollen around the eyes .
They don't look healthy .
They're also gonna lose the power of their cellular batteries , so they're gonna be walking around tired .
And each 1 of those symptoms will then probably be addressed by a separate drug .
So they're on high blood pressure medication .
They're on a blood thinner .
They're probably taking high energy drinks .
And , of course , a diuretic for the edema and the high blood pressure , which causes further potassium deficiencies .
I challenge you to do this experiment with your own body .
Start consuming a lot of high potassium foods .
Okay ?
A lot of leafy greens .
Just for a week .
And if you don't like greens , just you can make shakes .
Blend kale with blueberries .
There's a lot of different recipes .
But start to increase more potassium rich foods , and just notice how many of these problems start disappearing .
And if you wanted a really good demo on what this potassium requirement looks like in actual food .
I did a video on that .
So check that out .
I put it up right here .