Potassium Deficiency: The Signs & Solutions

Feeling tired and sluggish? Are you having muscle cramps and palpitations? These symptoms may indicate that you’re not getting enough potassium in your diet. 

Potassium deficiency is often the culprit behind fatigue and tiredness. If left unaddressed, it may cause high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, muscular paralysis, and difficulty breathing, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) warns. 

Although this mineral can be found in a wide range of foods, deficiencies are common. A survey published by the Linus Pauling Institute has found that roughly 97% of adults and teenagers had potassium intakes lower than the daily recommended allowance. 

Fruits and vegetables are among the best dietary sources of potassium. The problem is that approximately three-quarters of Americans don’t eat enough fruits and veggies, notes the Linus Pauling Institute. 

A deficiency of potassium can affect your workouts and stall your progress in your gym. Over time, it may increase your risk of heart disease, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and other ailments. That’s why it’s important to recognize its signs and change your diet before it’s too late. 

Interested to find out more? Here’s what you should know about potassium deficiency and what to do about it! 

Why Is Potassium Important? 

Potassium is an essential mineral that regulates heart rate, blood pressure, and intracellular fluid volume. Your body absorbs about 90% of the potassium in food, according to the NIH. Most of it is stored inside your cells. 

After ingestion, this nutrient is absorbed into the small intestine. Healthy individuals excrete approximately 195 milligrams of potassium in the urine each day. Vomiting, diarrhea, and certain medications may increase potassium excretion, leading to deficiencies. 

Since this mineral is mostly stored inside the cells, blood tests can only provide a rough estimate of your potassium levels. As such, it becomes even more important to be able to identify the signs of potassium deficiency. 

Your body needs potassium for normal cell function, nerve and muscle contraction, protein synthesis, and carbohydrate metabolism. Furthermore, this nutrient helps keep your blood pressure within a healthy range, which in turn may help prevent heart disease and stroke. 

Potassium and sodium are strongly connected. Both electrolytes play a key role in cardiovascular function. High-potassium diets can actually offset some of the harmful effects of excess sodium on blood pressure. 

The National Library of Medicine states a higher sodium-potassium ratio may increase your risk of heart disease and overall mortality. 

This doesn’t mean that sodium is bad for you — on the contrary, it regulates nerve and muscle function while maintaining normal water balance in the body. Just make sure you don’t exceed 2,300 milligrams per day. 

According to the CDC, the American diet is low in potassium and high in sodium, which may lead to hypertension and affect your heart. But how much potassium do you need per day? 

Daily Potassium Requirements for Optimal Health 

As discussed earlier, nearly 200 milligrams of potassium are eliminated daily in the urine. Individuals who are sick and those taking diuretics or other medicines lose even more potassium. 

The NIH recommends approximately 3,000 milligrams of this mineral daily for men between 14 and 18 years old. Those older than 19 years of age should aim for 3,400 milligrams per day. 

Women ages 14 to 18 need about 2,300 milligrams a day. If you’re over 19 years old, aim for about 2,600 milligrams per day. Pregnant and nursing women should get 2,500 to 2,900 milligrams of potassium per day, depending on their age. 

Beware that too much potassium is just as harmful as too little. Hyperkalemia, or high blood potassium levels, can be fatal. This condition may cause the following symptoms:

• Nausea and vomiting
• Irregular heartbeat
• Chest pain
• Shortness of breath
• Muscle paralysis
• Cardiac arrest
• Tingling or numbness

Excess potassium in the bloodstream can be due to certain diseases or medications, notes the American Family Physician. These may include Addison’s disease, kidney failure, lupus, rhabdomyolysis, insulin resistance, and more. 

As far as medications are concerned, hyperkalemia may be a side effect of ACE inhibitors, beta-blockers, glucose infusions, NSAIDs, or heparins. 

Some dietary supplements, especially those containing Siberian ginseng, dandelion, nettle, alfalfa, or noni juice, may raise potassium levels too. 

What Causes Potassium Deficiency?

According to the NIH, only 85 to 90% of dietary potassium is absorbed into the body. Although most foods contain this mineral, deficiencies are common. After all, few of us have the time to cook balanced meals. 

Just one cup of cooked lentils provides 16% of the daily recommended potassium intake, but when was the last time you ate lentils? What about squash or dried prunes? 

The modern diet is largely based on processed foods, which contain far less potassium than fresh fruits, veggies, legumes, and other whole foods. 

Potassium is a nutrient of public health concern, states the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Health experts associate potassium deficiency to low intakes of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Certain conditions and disorders can further affect your potassium levels. 

As the NIH notes, people with inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis, are at great risk for potassium deficiency. These disorders cause your body to excrete potassium and other essential nutrients. 

If you’re struggling with fluid retention, you may be using diuretics to get rid of excess water. Unfortunately, these pills (except for potassium-sparing diuretics) increase potassium excretion. The same goes for laxatives. 

Potassium deficiency does a lot more than just cause muscle cramps. It has both immediate and long-term effects, leading to poor overall health and diminished athletic performance. 

This brings us to the next point…

Potassium Deficiency Symptoms to Watch Out for 

Mild potassium deficiency rarely causes any symptoms. Most problems occur when your potassium levels are extremely low, which can be fatal. Generally, hypokalemia is defined as serum potassium levels below 3.5 millimoles per liter. 

Its symptoms vary from one individual to another. Some are non-specific, making diagnosis difficult. Individuals with potassium deficiency or hypokalemia may experience the following:

• Fatigue and low energy
• Muscle aches, cramps, or weakness
• Heart palpitations
• Constipation
• Bloating
• Increased thirst
• Increased urination
• Muscle paralysis
• Depression
• Psychosis
• Difficulty breathing
• Tingling and numbness
• Mood swings 

As mentioned earlier, potassium deficiency may affect your physical performance. It’s enough to look at the symptoms listed above. Fatigue, tiredness, muscle weakness, and aches can all interfere with your workouts.

Potassium carries an electrical charge, enabling the transmission of nerve impulses that stimulate muscle contraction. 

The human body cannot relay these signals properly when blood potassium levels are low. This leads to muscle pain, stiffness, cramping, and other symptoms that may affect exercise performance. 

Furthermore, this mineral regulates the activity of pyruvate kinase and other enzymes required for carbohydrate metabolism. Therefore, potassium deficiency can interfere with your body’s ability to break down and process carbs, resulting in low energy and fatigue. 

Due to its role in nerve function, potassium regulates the nerve signals between your brain and muscles. If its levels are too low, you may experience numbness and tingling in the limbs. This condition is known as paresthesia. 

A deficiency of potassium may also affect breathing. This essential nutrient regulates the nerve signals that cause your lungs to contract and expand. Low potassium levels can lead to breathing difficulties and acute respiratory failure (in severe cases).

Long-Term Effects of Potassium Deficiency

Most people tend to overlook the above symptoms. If, say, you’re having muscle aches, you may think it has something to do with overtraining. The same goes for fatigue and shortness of breath, which can have a myriad of other causes. 

Ignoring these issues only makes things worse. Over time, low potassium levels can lead to bone loss, calcium deficiency, hypertension, heart disease, and hypokalemia. 

The National Organization for Rare Disorders warns that hypokalemia can be fatal. This electrolyte imbalance may cause severe muscle weakness, paralysis of the bowel, and respiratory failure. It may also reduce blood blow to the muscles and impair kidney function. 

Potassium deficiency and hypokalemia affect mental health too. According to a review in Acute Care, low potassium levels often have neuropsychiatric symptoms that mimic those associated with anxiety and depression. 

A deficiency in this mineral may also affect nitric oxide release, increasing your risk of rhabdomyolysis during high-intensity training. 

Rhabdomyolysis is a life-threatening condition that causes the rapid breakdown of skeletal muscle fibers. Its symptoms include muscle aches and weakness, dark- or red-colored urine, joint pain, fatigue, and feelings of sickness.  

Now that you know the risks of potassium deficiency, you may be wondering what to do about it. Should you change your diet, take potassium supplements, or both? Let’s find out! 

The Truth about Potassium Supplements 

Potassium supplements should help prevent hypokalemia and bring your potassium levels back to normal, right? Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. 

Since too much of this mineral can be harmful, OTC supplements cannot contain more than 99 milligrams of potassium per tablet. 

That’s just 2% of the daily recommended allowance for most adults, notes the NIH. Therefore, you’d have to take large doses to meet your daily potassium requirements. 

Another option is to use salt substitutes, which tend to be slightly higher in potassium. Some deliver up to 2,800 milligrams of this mineral per teaspoon. As you might have guessed, these products can lead to hyperkalemia and cause a host of other problems. 

The best thing you can do is to prevent potassium deficiency in the first place. 

A balanced diet that includes plenty of fruits and vegetables can help increase your potassium intake and improve overall health. Plus, most foods only contain small or moderate amounts of this mineral and are unlikely to cause hyperkalemia. 

Potassium-Rich Foods to Stock Up On

Most folks know that bananas are a great source of potassium. One medium fruit provides nearly 10% of the recommended daily value (DV) for this mineral.

Beet greens, salmon, and even milk pack more potassium than a banana. If, say, you’re on the keto diet, you’d better fill up on greens or avocados. Just one cup of sliced avocados boasts 15% of daily recommended potassium intake. 

Here are some of the best potassium-rich foods to stock up on: 

• Cooked beet greens — 39 calories and 28% of the DV of potassium per cup
• Cooked wild Atlantic salmon — 155 calories and 11% of the DV per serving (3 oz)
• Baked potatoes — 161 calories and 20% of the DV per serving (1 medium potato)
• Cooked Swiss chard — 35 calories and 20% of the DV per cup
• Baked acorn squash — 115 calories and 19% of the DV per cup
• Cooked white beans — 249 calories and 21% of the DV per cup
• Low-fat milk — 102 calories and 8% of the DV per cup
• Cooked Adzuki beans — 294 calories and 26% of the DV per cup
• Raw durian — 357 calories and 23% of the DV per cup
• Cooked Lima beans — 216 calories and 20% of the DV per cup
• Guava — 112 calories and 15% of the DV per cup
• Cooked green soybeans — 254 calories and 21% of the DV per cup
• Kiwi — 90 calories and 10% of the DV per serving (about two fruits)
• Cooked white button mushrooms — 44 calories and 12% of the DV per cup
• Cooked tomatoes — 43 calories and 11% of the DV per cup

Spinach, bok choy, sweet potatoes, broccoli, and dried fruits are all chock-full of potassium. 

As far as electrolyte drinks go, we don’t really recommend them. Most brands are loaded with sugar, artificial flavors, and potentially harmful chemicals.

Eat Clean to Prevent Potassium Deficiency

Along with calcium, magnesium, and sodium, potassium is a key mineral that regulates every system in your body. Even the slightest imbalance can take a toll on your health and affect sports performance. 

Potassium deficiency isn’t something to ignore. A well-rounded diet can help replace potassium losses and make it easier to meet your nutritional needs. See our clean eating guide to improve your diet and make smarter food choices. 

Have you ever experienced any symptoms of potassium deficiency? How did it affect your workouts? Share your experience below!