According to Drugs.com, cream of tartar, or potassium acid tartrate, is a diuretic and a laxative. Cream of tartar is a powdery substance that has a very long and stable shelf life. It is made from the acidic sediments that accumulate on the sides of wine caskets. The acidic quality of cream of tartar is used in the cooking industry to lend a creamy texture to sugary foods such as icing, meringue, bread, cookies and candy. It is also used to reduce brown discoloration of vegetables. Physicians used cream of tartar as a medicine in the 19th and early 20th Centuries; however, recent interest in cream of tartar has emerged in the alternative medicine community.
High Potassium Levels
A major health risk for use of cream of tartar is its high potassium content. According to the Earthclinic.com, 1 tsp. cream of tartar contains 5 g, or 5000 mg of potassium. The Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences recommends a potassium intake of 2,000 mg per day for men and women aged 18 and over; therefore, the potassium content of 1 tsp. cream of tarter greatly exceeds the daily requirement. This poses a risk for people with kidney disease, congestive heart failure and those who are taking medications that decrease the ability of the kidneys to excrete potassium. Earthclinic.com also asserts that most healthy adults can consume up to 18 g of potassium without ill effects. People who take potassium-sparing diuretics such as aldactone and dyazide, beta-blocker drugs such as propranolol and lopressor, and ACE inhibitor medications such as vasotec and lisinopril, can develop high serum potassium levels, or hyperkalemia, while taking cream of tartar.
According to the Merck Manuals Online Medical Library, hyperkalemia occurs when serum potassium is greater than 5.5 mEq/L. Symptoms of hyperkalemia include muscle weakness, flaccid paralysis, and potentially fatal cardiac arrhythmia. Always consult your doctor before taking cream of tartar.
Laxative Effect
According to the June 1914 records of the Iowa State Medical Society, both lay persons and physicians hotly debated the risks of consuming bread products made with "baking powders" such as cream of tartar. The concern was the known laxative effects of this substance. The record states that harm was considered remote since the average person is not likely to consume a quantity of bread necessary to cause a laxative effect. Concern remained as to the effect of the residue of potassium carbonate that is produced from ingestion of cream of tartar.
In 1867, George B. Wood M.D. published "A Treatise on Therapeutics, and Pharmacology or Materia Medica Vol. 2," which describes the ready acceptance of the cathartic and laxative properties of cream of tartar. The laxative effects of cream of tartar are seen when it is taken singularly as a powder. Dr. Wood noted that consumption of large quantities of cream of tartar could produce nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and gastrointestinal "inflammation."
Diuretic Effect
In "A Treatise on the practice of medicine" published in 1847, Drs. Eberle, Grigg and Elliot extolled the usefulness of cream of tartar as a diuretic. The text of the treatise states that it was used for treatment of a condition then known as "dropsy" or edema. In modern medicine, the use of cream of tartar for diuresis has been replaced by formal diuretic medications such as hydrochlorothiazide, or HCTZ, lasix, and aldactone. In reading physician treatises regarding cream of tartar, the extent to which medical science has advanced within the past 100 years is readily apparent.
References
- Drugs.com: Potassium Bitartrate; 2010
- Baking911.com: Baking Other; Retrieved 10032010
- "Journal of the Iowa State Medical Society": The Baking Powder Problem; June 1915
- "A Treatise On Therapeutics, And Pharmacology Or Materia Medica Vol. 2"; George B. Wood; 1867
- "A Treatise on the Practice of Medicine"; John Eberle, et al.; 1847
