070 The Importance of Potassium

Hey, everyone! It's so nice to feel like I am finally rested after spending two night sleeping on the couch in Jimmy's hospital room last week. Now that I have recouped I want to write about what I learned while Jimmy was in the hospital.

Potassium is important!

You look at that "K" on the periodic table and you eat a banana but do you really realize just how important Potassium is in your diet? I know that I didn't until Jimmy didn't have enough of it.

Last time Jimmy got dehydrated and his potassium dropped so did his blood pressure. Once they straightened things out with his hydration I didn't think much of it because they took him off his blood pressure meds so I thought they were the main culprits causing the drops in blood pressue. It seems that potassium had more to do with it than I thought.

Evidentally, you have ALL KINDS of problems when your potassium levels drop. Some of these are cramps, decreased muscle activity, decreased function in your GI tract, blood pressure drop, and potential heart damage. YIKES! To say I underestimated the importance of potassium doesn't even come close to the mark. Read more about what Potassium does in your body.

So make sure that you are drinking lots of fluids and taking your vitamins so that you reduce your chances of experiencing low potassium levels. Read here to discover common causes of low potassium levels.