Potassium helps relay signals from your brain to muscles located in the digestive system known as smooth muscle. These signals stimulate contractions that help your digestive system churn and propel food, so it can be digested ( 12 , 13 ).
Rhythmic intestinal contractions are essential for digestion, nutrient absorption and waste elimination. As an electrolyte, potassium allows all muscles to contract, including those in the intestines. A lack of potassium inhibits intestinal motility and compromises healthy digestion.
Potassium, also, draws water out of the body. So when potassium is in your colon it attracts water and pulls it into the fecal matter. This makes your fecal matter softer and easier to move along the colon.
The most common adverse reactions to oral potassium salts are nausea, vomiting, flatulence, abdominal pain/discomfort and diarrhea. These symptoms are due to irritation of the gastrointestinal tract and are best managed by taking the dose with meals or reducing the amount taken at one time.
Your Heart and Other Muscles
Because it's a muscle, your heart needs potassium. It helps cells send the right electrical signals so that the heart pumps correctly. Having too much potassium in the body can alter the heart's rhythm.
For most people, the level of potassium in your blood should be between 3.5 and 5.0, depending on the laboratory that is used. If high potassium happens suddenly and you have very high levels, you may feel heart palpitations, shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea, or vomiting.
Common side effects of potassium citrate include upset stomach, nausea, and diarrhea. Taking potassium citrate with food may help avoid an upset stomach. Serious side effects of potassium citrate include high levels of potassium in the blood and damage to the stomach lining, which can cause lesions or bleeding.
Potassium can reduce bloating by decreasing water retention in the body. Water retention, also known as fluid retention or oedema, occurs when excess fluid builds up in the circulatory system, or within tissues and cavities. Potassium reduces water retention by removing excess sodium (salt) from the body.
Potassium chloride (Klor-Con) can be taken any time of day, but be sure to take it with food and plenty of fluids to minimize upset stomach. The recommendation is avoid taking it within 30 minutes of laying down, since the medication could end up siting in your stomach longer and causing irritation.
Potassium is a key part of a healthful diet. As part of a balanced diet, the mineral can help reduce inflammation and pain.
Studies have shown that potassium supplements may boost sleeping through the night, but good food sources are beans, leafy greens, avocados, baked potatoes, and to a lesser degree, bananas.
Banana. Banana is considered to be an alkaline food because of its high potassium content. A ripe banana can combat stomach acid and coat stomach lining to help prevent heartburn and other reflux symptoms.
Your body needs potassium to manage its sodium levels, which in turn controls the amount of water you hang onto. The better that system works, the less bloat you'll have.
Oral potassium supplements have been associated with oesophageal ulceration, strictures and gastritis.
Low potassium levels can slow your digestive system. You may also be bloated and have abdominal cramping.
There are limited or no options for at-home kits to test potassium levels. If you are prescribed a 24-hour urine test, you will need to collect your urine wherever you are during the day, including at home. However, this testing is still prescribed by your doctor rather than sold as a separate at-home test kit.
Excessive water consumption may lead to depletion of potassium, which is an essential nutrient. This may cause symptoms like leg pain, irritation, chest pain, et al.
If you take more potassium than your kidneys can eliminate, the concentration of potassium in your blood can elevate to a point where you develop a condition called hyperkalemia. Taking more than 18 grams of potassium per day can cause this mineral to accumulate, as can kidney failure or diuretic use.
Consuming too little potassium can lead to serious health issues. However, taking in too much can cause temporary or long-term health problems. Healthy kidneys maintain normal potassium levels in the body because they remove excess amounts through urine.
According to the National Kidney Foundation, normal and high potassium levels, measured in millimoles per liter (mmol/L) of blood, are as follows: Normal: between 3.5 and 5.0. High: from 5.1 to 6.0. Dangerously high: over 6.0.
When Is The Best Time To Take Potassium? That said, there is no “best” time to take potassium, but recent research suggests that taking potassium –alongside your other vitamins and minerals—in the morning could offer greater benefits.