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Potassium Citrate Properties

Aug 22, 2011 | By Phoebe Strauss
Potassium Citrate Properties
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Potassium citrate is a supplement form of potassium, a mineral your body normally absorbs from the foods you eat. The nutrient transmits electricity to power your cells, organs and tissue. Potassium also allows muscles, including your heart, to contract and relax. Potassium citrate is available over the counter, but you should take it only under your doctor's guidance to correct a deficiency or to improve another health condition for which potassium citrate is recommended.

Alkalinizing Property

Potassium citrate treats kidney stones caused by renal tubular acidosis, a condition marked by the kidneys' inability to transfer acidity from the blood into the urine to be flushed. Besides leading to the formation of kidney stones, the problem causes kidney failure, retardation in children and bone disease. Potassium citrate, an alkalinizing mineral, helps to maintain your blood and urine at the ideal pH for health.

Decalcifying Agent

Potassium citrate also helps to prevent a type of kidney stone related to too much calcium in the urine. Medically necessary high-fat diets cause calcium to accumulate and crystallize, forming kidney stones. Researchers at Johns Hopkins Children's Center led by Eric Kossoff, M.D., have evidence that taking potassium citrate twice daily makes it seven times less likely that you will develop kidney stones while on a high-fat diet.

Deficiency Corrective

When a medical condition causes you to eliminate too much potassium through your urine, the level of the mineral in your body drops, causing a condition known as hypokalemia. The lack of potassium causes muscle weakness, lethargy, gastric problems and a dysfunctional heart. To correct the mineral deficiency and restore your health, your doctor may prescribe potassium citrate.

Osteoporosis Preventive

Potassium's alkalinizing property prevents your bones from losing calcium, says the Linus Pauling Institute. Some studies involving elderly men and premenopausal and postmenoupausal women show that potassium from supplements and foods reduced bone mineral density loss, the cause of osteoporosis. However, other research contradicts those positive findings. Do not take potassium citrate to prevent or treat osteoporosis without your doctor's guidance.

References

Article reviewed by AKanjuka Last updated on: Aug 22, 2011

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