Why We Need Potassium

Tom Audette: We’re talking with Max Motyka of Albion Labs. Max, what about potassium, is that a mineral that we need? What can you tell us about potassium? Max Motyka: Well, potassium, of course, is very, very important. It’s needed in high quantities, like 900 to 2000 mgs a day depending on body size and activity level and things such as that. Potassium is a regulator. It’s involved in [the] proper function of your nervous system, your muscles and your heartbeat—[your] heart regulator—things like that. It’s called…an electrolyte typically in medicine, [that’s] the term and that’s why oftentimes people don’t identify potassium as a mineral because the doctors, in particular, refer to it as an electrolyte and it gets overlooked as a mineral, if you will. But, it’s a very, very important one and it’s one that can become out of whack from a variety of things like a lot of exercise, a lot of sweating. We lose potassium in sweat and urine and things such as that. So, if you’re out in the summertime and you’re active and you’re sweating a lot, and you start to feel a little bit tired and what have you, sometimes it’s a sign that your potassium is getting low. Tom Audette: So, Max, are there food sources of potassium that we get in our normal diet? Max Motyka: There are. It’s limited a little bit. The food that’s very high potassium is a banana. Outside of bananas the best source is going to be flesh foods such as steaks and things such as that because they have the potassium that they needed to have their body functioning, and that potassium is typically the one that we could get in our diet. Oftentimes the amount is not as high in that….because if you can imagine, since the potassium is an extra cellular element in the body, a lot of it is lost from the meat because it’s mostly in the blood. Tom Audette: When it comes to supplementation with potassium are there concerns about taking too much? What are the amounts you’d typically find in a supplement? Max Motyka: I’ll tell you, the regulation on tablets and capsules in this country only allows 99 mgs of potassium per dose and that’s certainly more than a safe level; you’re not going to do any harm to somebody at that dose and taking a supplement with 99 mgs—a couple of tablets before exercising and things like that—can be a very good idea and it’s a safe idea. People who have specific health problems, such as severe kidney disease and such as that, they have to be careful about getting too much potassium. But, you and I, no problems with our kidneys, the chance of your taking too much potassium is very, very weak. Tom Audette: How about signs of deficiency other than some of the things you mentioned? Max Motyka: Well, [in a] deficiency one of the things that happens is you start to get problems with muscle function; you feel weakness, lassitude, that type of thing. You could get cramps. You’ll often see in football games the football players on the sidelines getting an i.v. and what they’re giving them is potassium to help counteract the cramps from having lost so much during the performance of that sport. You could actually develop irregular heartbeat because it’s involved in the regulation of the muscle pump of the heart. Any neurological thing that requires constant regulation, like if you don’t have enough potassium, all of a sudden it’s going to get out of whack. Instead of the muscle of the heart, for instance, going boomp, boomp, boomp like that, it will [twitch]. So, you get very irregular heartbeat without enough potassium. It’s a critical need. Tom Audette: So, if someone were to notice either cramping as something more than an infrequent situation, or feel a little bit of an irregular heartbeat, potassium might be something to look at? Max Motyka: Yes, you know, they even start to get a little CNS (central nervous system) problem in a way; they become a little irritable, that’s a sign as well. So, if somebody’s sweating a lot and they’re getting irritable and maybe saying, “You know I feel weak,” that’s why. They need their potassium. Tom Audette: Now, is potassium chelated in the same form as some of the other minerals that we’ve spoken about? Max Motyka: This is a different animal, if you will. Potassium—there are a few minerals like this that cannot be chelated and that’s because of their atomic structure. Potassium can be made into a complex and a complex form, which we make. It is a potassium-lysine complex, and that is as good as you’re going to get with potassium—is a complex form. And, the nice thing about the complex form…is that it is gentler on the gut than the typical potassium salt form. People who take potassium chloride and things such as that, often will complain about the feeling they get in their stomach when they take that supplement. With the complex it’s not that bad and also, if you’re taking in the liquid form, which oftentimes they put potassium in effervescent tablets or liquids to make it work quicker, you find that the taste of potassium in those forms is a little too salty, if you will. The glycine complex—the taste is not a problem. Tom Audette: Thank you, Max.