Potassium – The Most Important Electrolyte

Did you know you need 4700 mg (up to 6000 mg) per day of potassium in your diet? To put that in perspective, a banana has 422 mg, a potato has 897 mg potassium, salmon has 300 and 1/2 cup of broccoli has 250 mg of potassium. The average person is not getting enough potassium in their diets. Potassium deficiency symptoms include fatigue, edema, heart arrythmias and cramping of the muscles. Heart patients are told to restrict sodium but are given a potassium pill, usually about 47 mg. What is that going to do? Increasing your potassium intake in food will give you the right balance of minerals you need to reduce symptoms and eventual illness which affects heart, metabolism, and nerves.