3 ms·

Potassium deficiency is very rare, and causes arrythmias and other electrical problems just like ingesting too much of it. I think you mean magnesium, whose de

Potassium deficiency is very rare, and causes arrythmias and other electrical problems just like ingesting too much of it. I think you mean magnesium, whose deficiency is widespread and it is though to be caused by depletion of it in the soil due to intensive agricultural practices.

commoner 5y ago
> Potassium deficiency is very rare Potassium-deficient diets are not rare. Using the U.S. as an example, only 3% of people in the U.S. consume adequate levels of potassium in their diet according to the most recent NHANES survey.[1] The U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee has identified potassium as 1 of 4 "shortfall nutrients" (nutrients that are underconsumed by the U.S. population at large) that are of public health concern in 2015.[2] That is why the FDA has required food manufacturers to include potassium amounts in the "Nutrition Facts" label since 2016.[3] [1] https://academic.oup.com/advances/article/4/3/368S/4591617 https://academic.oup.com/advances/article/4/3/368S/4591617 [2] https://nutritionj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12937-017-0230-0 https://nutritionj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12937... [3] https://www.ift.org/news-and-publications/food-technology-magazine/issues/2016/june/features/fda-overhauls-nutrition-facts-label https://www.ift.org/news-and-publications/food-technology-ma...
- 1_player 5y ago
  Given that 68% of people in the US are deficient from the other electrolyte, magnesium, I maintain that potassium deficiency is rare(r), and certainly is scarier to supplement that Mg is. https://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2005/9/americans-magnesium-deficient https://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2005/9/americans-magn...
  - commoner 5y ago
    What? 97% of U.S. people have potassium-deficient diets, which is greater than the 68% of U.S. people who have magnesium-deficient diets (according to your source). I agree that anyone who is taking potassium supplements should carefully monitor their potassium intake, but almost all foods have low enough levels of potassium that excessive potassium consumption is extremely rare. The FDA limits most potassium supplements in the U.S. to 99 mg per dose, an insignificant 2% of the Daily Value.* * https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Potassium-HealthProfessional/ https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Potassium-HealthProfession...
LinuxBender 5y ago
No I mean Potassium. Very few people eat foods rich in Potassium and certainly very few people come close to the 4.7 grams RDA. Excess Potassium is excreted by the kidneys assuming one does not have stage 4 renal failure. Potassium is extremely hard to measure in the serum because the body always tries to keep the levels high enough but the cellular levels can be deficient even when serum levels appear fine. Chronic low potassium intake can lead to idiopathic hypertension. I learned this the hard way. If a person is consuming the RDA and having arrhythmia I would suggest they see a doctor and require extended lab work and multiple EKG's done to find out what is going on. There could be a more serious issue that needs to be addressed sooner than later. One could even get their own consumer grade 6-lead EKG to get prolonged measurements that the doctors office will not have time for.
- 1_player 5y ago
  As I mentioned in a sibling comment, 68% of US people are Mg deficient, 3% are K deficient. And considering how many are hypertensive, K supplementation, which is already tricky, needs an even bigger caveat, as many hypertensive medications are potassium sparing, thus supplementation should _not_ be done without medical supervision. I agree that it's tricky to test, and the science around potassium metabolism with HTN medication is confusing and contradicting: you can find studies for the same medication that say it's potassium sparing and another that says that hypokalemia is a common side effect. You can have vegetables containing potassium, sure, but it's a bit of a stretch to say that potassium deficiency is widespread, in general and supplementation of it is discouraged.
  - commoner 5y ago
    > 68% of US people are Mg deficient, 3% are K deficient My comment said that "only 3% of people in the U.S. consume adequate levels of potassium in their diet according to the most recent NHANES survey", which means that 97% of U.S. people (100% - 3%) have diets that are deficient in potassium (K). > And considering how many are hypertensive Excess sodium and insufficient potassium in the diet contribute to hypertension, not the other way around.[1][2] In contrast to potassium, 89% of U.S. adults and 90% of U.S. children exceeded maximum recommended sodium intake levels in the 2009–2012 NHANES survey.[3] With almost everyone in the U.S. consuming too much sodium and too little potassium, the high prevalence of hypertension (29% of U.S. adults as of 2011–2012) is not surprising![3] [1] http://cardiacos.net/wp-content/uploads/ArticulosMedicos/2007/2007-Sodium-and-Potassium-in-the-Pathogenesis.pdf http://cardiacos.net/wp-content/uploads/ArticulosMedicos/200... (PDF) [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4224208/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4224208/ [3] https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6452a1.htm https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6452a1.htm

commoner 5y ago

> Potassium deficiency is very rare Potassium-deficient diets are not rare. Using the U.S. as an example, only 3% of people in the U.S. consume adequate levels of potassium in their diet according to the most recent NHANES survey.[1] The U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee has identified potassium as 1 of 4 "shortfall nutrients" (nutrients that are underconsumed by the U.S. population at large) that are of public health concern in 2015.[2] That is why the FDA has required food manufacturers to include potassium amounts in the "Nutrition Facts" label since 2016.[3] [1] https://academic.oup.com/advances/article/4/3/368S/4591617 https://academic.oup.com/advances/article/4/3/368S/4591617 [2] https://nutritionj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12937-017-0230-0 https://nutritionj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12937... [3] https://www.ift.org/news-and-publications/food-technology-magazine/issues/2016/june/features/fda-overhauls-nutrition-facts-label https://www.ift.org/news-and-publications/food-technology-ma...

1_player 5y ago
Given that 68% of people in the US are deficient from the other electrolyte, magnesium, I maintain that potassium deficiency is rare(r), and certainly is scarier to supplement that Mg is. https://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2005/9/americans-magnesium-deficient https://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2005/9/americans-magn...
- commoner 5y ago
  What? 97% of U.S. people have potassium-deficient diets, which is greater than the 68% of U.S. people who have magnesium-deficient diets (according to your source). I agree that anyone who is taking potassium supplements should carefully monitor their potassium intake, but almost all foods have low enough levels of potassium that excessive potassium consumption is extremely rare. The FDA limits most potassium supplements in the U.S. to 99 mg per dose, an insignificant 2% of the Daily Value.* * https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Potassium-HealthProfessional/ https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Potassium-HealthProfession...

LinuxBender 5y ago

No I mean Potassium. Very few people eat foods rich in Potassium and certainly very few people come close to the 4.7 grams RDA. Excess Potassium is excreted by the kidneys assuming one does not have stage 4 renal failure. Potassium is extremely hard to measure in the serum because the body always tries to keep the levels high enough but the cellular levels can be deficient even when serum levels appear fine. Chronic low potassium intake can lead to idiopathic hypertension. I learned this the hard way. If a person is consuming the RDA and having arrhythmia I would suggest they see a doctor and require extended lab work and multiple EKG's done to find out what is going on. There could be a more serious issue that needs to be addressed sooner than later. One could even get their own consumer grade 6-lead EKG to get prolonged measurements that the doctors office will not have time for.

1_player 5y ago
As I mentioned in a sibling comment, 68% of US people are Mg deficient, 3% are K deficient. And considering how many are hypertensive, K supplementation, which is already tricky, needs an even bigger caveat, as many hypertensive medications are potassium sparing, thus supplementation should _not_ be done without medical supervision. I agree that it's tricky to test, and the science around potassium metabolism with HTN medication is confusing and contradicting: you can find studies for the same medication that say it's potassium sparing and another that says that hypokalemia is a common side effect. You can have vegetables containing potassium, sure, but it's a bit of a stretch to say that potassium deficiency is widespread, in general and supplementation of it is discouraged.
- commoner 5y ago
  > 68% of US people are Mg deficient, 3% are K deficient My comment said that "only 3% of people in the U.S. consume adequate levels of potassium in their diet according to the most recent NHANES survey", which means that 97% of U.S. people (100% - 3%) have diets that are deficient in potassium (K). > And considering how many are hypertensive Excess sodium and insufficient potassium in the diet contribute to hypertension, not the other way around.[1][2] In contrast to potassium, 89% of U.S. adults and 90% of U.S. children exceeded maximum recommended sodium intake levels in the 2009–2012 NHANES survey.[3] With almost everyone in the U.S. consuming too much sodium and too little potassium, the high prevalence of hypertension (29% of U.S. adults as of 2011–2012) is not surprising![3] [1] http://cardiacos.net/wp-content/uploads/ArticulosMedicos/2007/2007-Sodium-and-Potassium-in-the-Pathogenesis.pdf http://cardiacos.net/wp-content/uploads/ArticulosMedicos/200... (PDF) [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4224208/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4224208/ [3] https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6452a1.htm https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6452a1.htm