Potassium is a mineral essential for your body in small amounts each day. Your heart and muscles use potassium for contracting and potassium strengthens your bones, allows your nerves to send nerve impulses and helps you digest your food. Potassium may even help you lower your blood pressure, as well as your risk for kidney stones, stroke and osteoporosis. However, getting too much potassium from supplements can be dangerous and cause heart problems.
Recommended Intake
The adequate intake level set for potassium is 4,700 mg per day for adults. Avoid taking supplements that provide more than this unless prescribed by your doctor. Potassium-rich foods are the best way to meet this recommended intake, as there is little risk for toxicity from foods. However, some people may need to take potassium supplements.
Hyperkalemia
An excessive intake of potassium supplements could cause high blood potassium levels, or hyperkalemia. Normal blood potassium levels range from 3.6 mEq/L to 4.8 mEq/L, according to MayoClinic.com, and blood potassium levels over 6.0 mEq/L can be dangerous to your health. Due to the risk for hyperkalemia, doctors often monitor potassium levels and heart function of patients prescribed high doses of potassium.
Heart Problems
Hyperkalemia can cause heart problems, including slow or irregular heart rates. If not treated, hyperkalemia may cause you to have a heart attack. People with poor kidney function, those on certain medications and those who take 18 g or more of potassium supplements per day are more at risk for these problems. Medications that can cause potassium levels to rise to dangerous levels include ACE inhibitors, NSAIDs, beta blockers, cyclosporine, heparin and trimethoprimand sulfamethoxazole.
Considerations
Do not take potassium supplements without first speaking to your doctor to determine whether it is safe for you, and only take them in the amounts recommended by your doctor. Aim to meet your recommended potassium intake from foods rather than supplements, as foods do not cause high blood potassium levels.
References
- "American Family Physician"; Hyperkalemia; Joyce C. Hollander-Rodriguez, et al.; January 2006
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Potassium
- Linus Pauling Institute; Potassium; Jane Higdon, Ph.D., et al.; December 2010
- MayoClinic.com; Hyperkalemia (High Potassium); December 2009
- Drugs.com: Potassium
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