Potassium intakes of 7000 to 15,600 mg per day do not cause elevated blood potassium levels

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Sunday, May 12, 2019 11:32 am Email this article

Six (6) studies have shown that large potassium intakes (7,000 mg to 15,600 mg per day) do NOT cause elevated blood potassium levels (hyperkalemia) in healthy people without contraindications.

 

Blood potassium levels were 4.0 to 4.6 mEq per liter in people consuming roughly 7,000 mg to 15,600 mg of potassium per day.

Normal blood potassium levels are 3.5 to 5.0 milliEquivalents per liter.

Mildly elevated blood potassium levels are 5.1 to 6.0 milliEquivalents per liter.

Moderately elevated blood potassium levels are 6.1 to 7.0 milliEquivalents per liter.

Severely elevated blood potassium levels are 7.1 milliEquivalents per liter and above.

Humans evolved consuming 5-6 times more potassium than today (15,600 mg vs 2700 mg)

Researchers at the University of California, San Fransisco (UCSF) analyzed 159 Stone Age diets and found that the average potassium intake was 15,600 mg of potassium per day versus an average today of roughly 2,700 mg per day in the US (Sebastian, 2006).

This means we evolved consuming roughly 5-6 times MORE potassium than we consume today! (15,600 mg vs 2,700 mg)

Some people need to be cautious about taking potassium supplements

The authors of this paper note that some people need to be cautious about taking potassium supplements.

The write:

One obviously must exercise caution in supplementing potassium in individuals with certain underlying conditions, such as hyperkalemia, chronic renal insufficiency, adrenal insufficiency, aldosterone deficiency, and use of certain medications: angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin II–receptor blockers, potassium-sparing diuretics, cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Individuals without such contraindications tolerate chronic large potassium loads without developing hyperkalemia (Table 4) because the human kidney excretes chronic potassium (and bicarbonate) loads with great facility and prodigious capacity.

The Institute of Medicine has not set a Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) for potassium intake. They reported:

In otherwise healthy individuals (ie, individuals without impaired urinary potassium excretion due to a medical condition or drug therapy), there is no evidence that a high level of potassium from foods has adverse effects. Therefore, a [upper limit] for potassium from foods has not been set . . . Fruits and vegetables, particularly leafy greens, vine fruit [a.k.a., vegetable fruit] (such as tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, eggplant, and pumpkin), and root vegetables, are good sources of potassium and bicarbonate precursors. Although meat, milk, and cereal prod- ucts contain potassium, they do not contain enough bi- carbonate precursors to balance their acid-forming precursors, such as sulfur-containing amino acids.

I believe potassium bicarbonate is VASTLY superior to ALL blood pressure drugs

I believe that potassium bicarbonate is vastly superior to ALL blood pressure drugs because potassium bicarbonate is giving the body exactly what it needs—more potassium and more bicarbonate! 

I believe that Potassium Bicarbonate is superior to Potassium Chloride because through human evolution we consumed a lot MORE potassium, a lot MORE bicarbonate, a lot LESS sodium and a lot LESS chloride as noted by the same researchers in 2001 (Frassetto, 2001).

This tells me that potassium bicarbonate is the potassium supplement to use, NOT potassium chloride.

Potassium bicarbonate lowered my blood pressure by 20 points, from 140 to 120

In 2000 I started taking roughly 2,000 mg of potassium (1/2 teaspoon twice a day) in the form of Potassium Bicarbonate and it lowered my blood pressure by about 20 points, from about 140 to 120 mm Hg.

References

Sebastian A, Frassetto LA, Sellmeyer DE, and Morris RCJ. The evolution-informed optimal dietary potassium intake of human beings greatly exceeds current and recommended intakes. Semin Nephrol, 2006 Nov; 26(6): 447-453.

Frassetto L, Morris RCJ, Sellmeyer DE, Todd K, and Sebastian A. Diet, evolution and aging—the pathophysiologic effects of the post-agricultural inversion of the potassium-to-sodium and base-to-chloride ratios in the human diet. Eur J Nutr, 2001 Oct; 40(5): 200-213.

Author’s Contact Info

Anthony Sebastian, MD
Professor of Medicine
Division of Nephrology
Department of Medicine, School of Medicine
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, CA, 94143-0126 USA
Phone: 415-476-4336
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Lynda A. Frassetto, M.D
Professor
Division of Nephrology
Department of Medicine, School of Medicine
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, CA, 94143-0126 USA
(415) 476-6143 phone
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R. Curtis Morris Jr., M.D.
Professor Emeritus, Medicine
Division of Nephrology
Department of Medicine, School of Medicine
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, CA, 94143-0126 USA
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