Hello,

Someone please help me out here. I went into my local Good Earth looking for Potassium, never had to buy it before.
I was asking the man about how much I should take and the fact that I am following the Atkins wol. Right away he said you dont need any!
I thought huh? But I dont get any from food... he said sure you do and if you take to much it will ruin your heart! OMG I thought who is this guy? From what I was looking at.. I dont think I get any!
Question... I have read from alot of people on here that there taking Potassium, what % are you taking? Last night I had horrible body aches and thought I was getting the flu, I think I need this but dont want to mess with my heart. I am currently taking a Multi, and Mag/Calcium, Mega biotin, Flax, Coriomega, B 12, C, and Biosil.
Thank-you for your help.

NoSunNoFun

As Atkins says in most of his books, it is almost always enough to just use "No Salt" or "Half Salt" products on your food. Supplements are very small as you can indeed overdose on potassium & affect your heart function.

These salt substitutes are made of potassium chloride instead of sodium chloride. You COULDN"T eat too much of them - they are too bitter.

And yes, many foods contain potassium. Some of the higher ones are not on the LC eating plan (orange juice, bananas) but you can still get all you need from foods. Here's a link to a list of high potassium foods and you'll see how many ARE on the LC lists: http://www.meadowdialysis.com/High%20potassium.html

And here is more information on why you need it and how much:
http://www.nwkidney.org/images/webs...n/potassium.htm

Tofi,

Well Sheeet howdy...
I guess I do get enoegh, I have at least 2 cups of coffee a day, and 1 cup of tea in the evening. I also eat tons of nuts, and celery.
I am a happy girl!

NoSunNoFun

I take one supplement a day that has like 90 mg of Potassium. I have having some leg cramps and stuff that indicated I wasn't getting enough potassium in my system. Since I have been taking the supplement, I haven't had them anymore.
Apparently, there is a lot of potassium in meat, particularly the juice. You may be getting more than you think... mad

The reason Dr. Atkins says to take a supplement is that during induction, as with any diet, you experience a diuretic effect that flushes electolytes out of your body, including potassium.

I wasn't taking my potassium supplements, and I got mild leg cramps for a while, then got WICKED leg cramps that made my muscle bulge out, rock hard. This is not something you want to happen to you twice.

Too little potassium can also cause a heart attack, so I would listen to Dr. Atkins and not to some hippie in a health food store.

My supplement bottle says 1-5 tablets a day. I would start with one and build my way up if the aches don't go away, or see your dr.

Potassium Deficiency should not be a problem as long as you eat plenty of meat and vegetables. 1 cup of boiled spinach or an 8 oz. Sirloin has twice the Potassium of a Banana. I did not supplement my Potassium...and did not have any problems. But, I drink the juice and eat the fat off my Steaks and eat lots of Spinach.

2 Slices Bacon -- 49mg
1 Jumbo Egg -- 79mg
1 cup Iceberg Lettuce -- 87mg
1 oz. Sunflower Seed Kernels -- 139mg
1/2 cup Broccoli (Raw) -- 143mg
1 cup Romaine Lettuce -- 162mg
1 cup Raw Spinach -- 167mg
1 oz. Peanuts -- 193mg
1 oz. Almonds -- 206mg
5.5 oz. Pork Chop -- 340mg
4 oz. Top Sirloin (Fat & Juice Eaten) -- 418mg
1 cup Cooked Spinach -- 839mg
1 cup Cooked Soybeans -- 922mg

1 Medium Banana -- 467mg

Unsweetened Soymilk also has a lot of Potassium. Chocolate SoySlender has 330mg per 80z. Hope that helps.

Okay, let me first sort out some misconceptions about potassium and the heart.

Too much or too little potassium can cause rhythm disturbances of the heart. That much is true - BUT (and it's a very big but) if you have normal kidney function - and all LCers should have tests for this - any extra potassium ingested will simply be excreted.
As Gaijingal said, as we begin to low carb, the natural diuresis we experience can flush out potassium.
This level of low potassium can cause feelings of weakness and fatigue. You may feel that your limbs are too heavy to lift.
Your potassium levels on LC will not become so low that you will have heart problems. As others have said, we do get a fair bit from our food.

So, how much to take? The Drs Eades of Protein Power suggest around 400mg daily - in divided doses because it doesn't last in the body for more than 12 hours. You can either, as tofi suggests, take it in the form of No Salt (my personal choice) or take tablets. Take the tablets with food or they can cause tummy upsets.

And anyone taking diuretics or meds for high BP should check first with their pharmacist before taking OTC potassium supplements.

About the leg cramps: this is caused by a lack of magnesium rather than potassium.

We need around 400 to 600mg magnesium daily - another thing that can be "washed out" in that diuresis.
The best way to take magnesium is with calcium - they work best taken together in a 2 cal:1 mag combination. You can find them together in a 330mg cal:167mg mag combination. Again, the dose needs to be spread throughout the day.

HTH!

Rosebud

i wanted to add to this bc my father in law has had a liver transplant and he gets his whole body tested monthly for any sort of problems. well, he a few months ago he was tested and found out that he had too much potassium and my mother in law asked the doctor if it was bc he ate bananas everyday. the doctor said that this amount of potassium that would harm the body CAN NOT be ingested. he told them that my father in law could eat 10 bananas a day and not be affected.

Just curious, did they explain why he had too much Potassium then?
Kathy

his body was producing it but i dont know why. i do know that he had an unusual liver disease and now takes tons of pills a day so either one of those may have led to his body doing odd things. but i will ask my mother in law, i am sure she knows.

Thanks Eve, it's funny my Mother Postassium was up last spring she had to cut back on high Postassium foods and it worked, it came down but I was always very curious about how it got high and what the effects would of been. Now with all the winter squash around, I've reminded her to go easy !

Thanks Kathy