The POTASSIUM Epidemic - Dr. Berg Explains Symptoms, Signs, Diet, Causes, and Treatment

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 .