The mineral potassium plays a critical role in optimizing and maintaining human health, helping to regulate blood pressure, the fluid balance within cells and the function of nerves. Maintaining high potassium levels helps mitigate against stress, while stress can contribute to reducing blood potassium levels. Eating bananas and other foods high in potassium is a natural way to help your body fight stress.
Physical Stress
Physical stress, such as intense exercise or exertion, can lead to low potassium levels. Athletes lose potassium through muscle exertion and also excrete potassium through their sweat. Low potassium levels caused by physical stress can lead to muscle cramps as well as an irregular heartbeat. Replace potassium lost through physical exertion by eating potassium-rich foods, such as a banana or a glass of orange juice. Dr. Elson Haas at Periodic Paralysis International says low-salt vegetable juice is beneficial for potassium replacement.
Emotional Stress
Stress can lead to diminished potassium levels, especially when anxiety or a time crunch leads to eating fast food, processed food and other high-salt convenience foods. High sodium intake throws the levels of sodium and potassium in your bloodstream off balance and results in high blood pressure. Natural foods high in potassium, such as bananas, legumes and whole grains, help restore blood pressure to normal levels and counteract the negative health effects of stress-related junk-food eating. These healthy high-potassium foods also contain a wealth of other vitamins, minerals and fiber that help strengthen the body to better fight stress.
Cardiovascular Stress
Low potassium levels can stress the cardiovascular system, resulting in high blood pressure, cardiac arrhythmia and congestive heart failure. In 2010 researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham published a study in "Circulation: Heart Failure," which determined that low potassium levels are associated with significant higher mortality and hospitalization rates in patients with heart failure and chronic kidney disease. In the study of more than 1,000 subjects with heart failure and chronic kidney disease, the University of Alabama found a death rate of 48 percent among the patients with low potassium levels, and only 36 percent among patients with normal potassium levels. Dr. Ali Ahmed, senior author of the study, advised clinicians to monitor their patients' potassium levels and treat them accordingly.
Eating Disorders
Eating disorders, particularly bulimia, with its related vomiting and use of laxatives and diuretics, can significantly stress the body and lead to dangerously reduced potassium levels. Reduced potassium in the bloodstream, as a result of bulimia, can lead to irregular heart beat, which can cause sudden death. Most people with low potassium can reverse the condition by eating high-potassium foods. However, bulimics purge their food, so this strategy is unlikely to be successful in these cases without successful treatment of the underlying disorder first.
References
- Periodic Paralysis International; Role of Potassium in Maintaining Health; Elson M. Haas, M.D.; 2000
- University of Alabama, Birmingham; UAB Resarch Warns of Risks of Low Potassium in Heart Failure Patients with CKD; Bob Shepard; February 2010
- MayoClinic.com: Low Potassium (Hypokalemia)
- Colorado State University Extension; Potassium and Health; J. Anderson, et al.; 2008
- Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; Bulimia; 2002
- Seattle-Pacific University Response; Healthy Ways to Cope with Stress; John Medina; 2009
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