This mineral is important for a healthy nervous system and a regular heart rhythm. It helps prevent stroke, aids in proper muscle contraction, and works with sodium to control the body’s water balance. Potassium is important for chemical reactions within the cells and aids in maintaining stable blood pressure and in transmitting electrochemical impulses. It also regulates the transfer of nutrients to the cells.
Sources
Food sources of potassium include dairy foods, fish, fruit, legumes, meat, poultry, vegetables, and whole grains. It is specifically found in apricots, avocados, bananas, blackstrap molasses, brewer’s yeast, brown rice, dates, figs, dried fruit, garlic, nuts, potatoes, raisins, winter squash, tourla, wheat bran, and yams.
Warnings
Use of diuretics, kidney disorders, diarrhea, and laxatives of all disrupt potassium levels. Although potassium is needed for hormone secretion, hormones secreted as result of stress cause a decrease in the potassium sodium ratio both inside and outside the cell.
Copy typed by Shirley-Ann Pearman
All of the above was taken from an excerpt from
