Your heart contracts and expands to pump blood through your veins. A system powered by electrolytes that include potassium keeps the pumping going at a constant pace. In fact, a potassium deficiency causes arrhythmia, or an abnormal heart rhythm. The arrhythmia, in turn, provokes a number of symptoms, including dizziness. However, do not assume you need potassium if you feel light-headed. Consult a doctor and supplement the mineral if she prescribes it.
About Potassium
As an electrolyte, potassium carries the electricity that powers your heart to pump blood. That is only possible if the concentrations of potassium inside and outside your cells are at the right levels. In an ideal situation, your body absorbs the mineral from foods you eat. Your kidneys then filter out any excess potassium to keep it at the needed level in and around the cells. Potassium is also a dietary mineral that activates the enzymes that break carbohydrates down into energy.
Potassium Deficiency
Hypokalemia is the medical term that indicates your potassium level is below normal. Antibiotics and diuretics, diarrhea, vomiting and a magnesium deficiency can cause your potassium level to drop. Since blood transports oxygen, if you do not have enough potassium for the heart to pump it properly, your organs become deprived of a healthy supply of the gas, resulting in dizziness, fainting and light-headedness.
Potassium Sources
Potassium is available as an over-the-counter supplement to correct deficiencies. If your potassium supply drops so low as to cause dizziness, your doctor may prescribe supplementation. In general, you obtain adequate potassium from the foods you eat. Rich sources of the mineral include baked potatoes with the skins, prunes and their juice, raisins, lima beans and acorn squash. Other foods that provide smaller amounts of the mineral are bananas, sunflower seeds, artichokes and tomatoes.
Recommended Intake
The Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine established an adequate intake level, or AI, for potassium based on intake levels found to lower blood pressure, reduce salt sensitivity and minimize the risk of kidney stones. To prevent heart arrhythmia and the ensuing dizziness, follow a diet that provides the daily amount of potassium that the Institute of Medicine recommends. Breast milk or formula should provide infants up to 6 months of age with 400 mg of potassium daily; a mother needs 5,100 mg daily while breastfeeding. Older babies should get 700 mg until they reach age 1. Ages 1 to 3 require 3,000 mg daily. Children ages 4 to 8 require 3,800 mg of potassium daily, while ages 9 to 13 need 4,500 mg of the mineral daily. The AI for those age 14 through adulthood is 4,700 mg.
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