The Daily Amount of Potassium You Should Consume Can Be Surprising

Potassium is one of the most important minerals with regard to the correct maintenance of human health.

For this reason, keeping its levels always stable in the body is the recipe to avoid a series of complications and health problems.

Taking this into account, we decided to create a complete article to explain how much potassium is necessary to ingest per day, in addition to indicating which foods are rich in this mineral and other information relevant.

Keep reading!

What are the effects of potassium on the human body?

Potassium is not considered an essential mineral for nothing, as it is involved in several vital functions in the body, such as:

• Regulation of the electrical activity of the heart;
• Regulation of fluid exchange within cells;
• Maintenance of blood pressure at acceptable levels;
• Control of the nervous functions of the body;
• Among others.

However, it is necessary to ingest potassium in a balanced way, neither too much nor too little.

How much potassium do you need to eat daily?

According to experts such as Dr. David Nazarian, who is the founder of the portal VitaminMD.net, site focused on vitamins and minerals, men should consume 3,400 mg of potassium per day, while women should ingest 2,600 mg daily.

It is worth mentioning that this recommendation is for adults and must be followed strictly, since a lack of potassium in the body can cause symptoms such as:

• Uncontrolled blood pressure;
• Occurrence of cardiac arrhythmias;
• Muscle weakness and spasms;
• Kidney pains;
• Symptoms of gastrointestinal problems, such as constipation and abdominal cramps;
• Among others.

Excess mineral in the body can cause:

• Arrhythmias;
• Cardiac arrest (in more serious cases);
• Shortness of breathe;
• Nausea and vomiting;
• Among other signs.

Maintaining potassium levels in the body can be done through the consumption of foods rich in the mineral.

What foods to eat to acquire potassium?

Among the foods richest in potassium, bananas and pumpkin are the champions. To give you an idea, a medium banana can have up to 500 mg of potassium, while a sizable pumpkin can reach 900 mg of the mineral.

However, in addition to these two foods, other true deposits of this important natural compound are:

• Leafy vegetables, such as lettuce;
• Dark green vegetables such as kale, spinach and arugula;
• Legumes, such as beans and lentils;
• Nuts;
• Dairy products;
• Avocados;
• oranges;
• Potatoes;
• Dried fruits such as apricots, prunes and raisins.

Include these foods in your diet and have your potassium stock always stocked!

Graduated in History and Human Resources Technology. Passionate about writing, today he lives the dream of acting professionally as a Content Writer for the Web, writing articles in different niches and different formats.