Potassium is an essential mineral and an electrolyte. Your body needs potassium in order to maintain an electrochemical gradient in your cell membranes that is responsible for maintaining the transmission nerve impulses, the contraction of both skeletal and smooth muscles and heart function. Alcoholics frequently suffer from malnutrition. Potassium is one of the many nutrients that can become deficient in your body due to chronic alcohol abuse.
Alcoholism and Malnutrition
Acoholics are vulnerable to malnutrition due to decreased appetite, as alcohol may serve as a meal replacement in severe cases of alcohol addiction, according to according to Dr. Charles S. Lieber of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. If you're consuming more than 30 percent of your total calories from alcohol, it's likely you're not consuming enough protein, fats and carbohydrates, which contain vitamins and minerals such as potassium, to adequately meet your body's needs.
Alcoholism and Malabsorption
If you're an alcoholic, you may experience potassium deficiency even if you are consuming the adequate daily intake for that mineral. Lieber states that alcohol can also alter the way your body absorbs nutrients from the intestine and uses them. A study published in the June 2002 edition of "Medicina" found that potassium deficiency, or hypokalemia, was one of the most frequent electrolyte disturbances in chronic alcoholics, with 29 percent of the study subjects having potassium levels that put them in the hypokalemic range.
Effects of Potassium Deficiency
In severe cases, potassium deficiency can be life-threatening, according to the Linus Pauling Institute. If you are deficient in potassium, you may experience such symptoms as intestinal paralysis, bloating, abdominal discomfort, bloating, constipation, heart arrhythmias, muscle weakness and fatigue.
Sources of Potassium
Potassium is found in a wide variety of foods. Fruits and vegetables generally contain higher amounts of potassium than animal-based foods. Good sources include bananas, baked potatoes, prune juice, dried plums, oranges and their juice artichokes and lima beans. The Adequate Intake, or AI that the Food and Nutrition board of the Institute of Medicine has established for those 14 years and older is 4,700 mg per day. For breastfeeding women, the dosage is a bit higher, at 5,100 mg per day. Due to toxicity concerns, you should not take potassium supplements without consulting your doctor.
References
- Linus Pauling Institute; Potassium; Jane Higdon; February 2004
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Potassium
- "Medicina"; Blood Plasma Potassium, Sodium and Magnesium Levels in Chronic Alcoholic Patients During Alcohol Withdrawal; Virginija Stasiukyniene; 2002
- "Alcohol Research & Health"; Relationships Between Nutrition, Alcohol Use, and Liver Disease; Charles S. Lieber; 2003
