Potassium is one of the many minerals you consume in a well-balanced diet. It's essential for muscle function, metabolism and digestion. It's also considered an electrolyte that helps retain fluids in the body as well as maintain the proper pH of...
Potassium has a vital role in the body, but it needs to stay within a certain range in the bloodstream to fulfill its tasks. Eating healthy should provide all of the potassium that the body needs, but people can develop a high or low potassium...
Potassium acts as an electrolyte -- a substance that conducts electrical impulses that power the heart and prompt the muscles to contract. Potassium also works with enzymes to speed up chemical reactions in the body. Although the body needs...
Potassium is an essential dietary mineral that propels many important functions in your body. Most Americans do not consume the recommended 4.7 g of potassium daily, which can lead to an abnormally low level in your blood and tissues. Potentially...
Potassium is an electrolyte important for the function of nerve and muscle cells. Its level in your body can be measured with a blood test. An abnormal potassium level can cause serious life-threatening consequences, such as rhythm disturbance or...
Potassium is an electrolyte (like sodium, calcium and magnesium), meaning that it conducts electricity in the body. Potassium is vital for cellular function, including heart and kidney function. Too little potassium in the blood is known as...
Potassium is an electrolyte the body needs to perform several functions. This mineral assists with making proteins, metabolizes carbohydrates, helps build muscles and regulates the electrical activity of the heart. Your body gets potassium from...
Potassium is not only a mineral, but an electrolyte as well. The electrical charge of potassium helps the mineral control muscle contraction and nerve impulses. About half of the potassium in your body is located inside your cells. The remaining...
Potassium belongs to the class of nutrients called minerals. According to "Nutrition and You," approximately 95 percent of the potassium in your body is found inside of the cells and the remaining 5 percent is located outside your cells and in the...
Potassium is a mineral necessary for maintaining fluid balance in the body. It is vital for a number of functions, including all muscle contractions. Having too much potassium (hyperkalemia) or too little potassium (hypokalemia) in the body can...
An electrolyte and essential mineral, potassium plays a vital role in your body's cellular and electrical functioning. A low potassium level, or hypokalemia, is a condition defined as a lower-than-normal level of potassium in the bloodstream. As...
An essential mineral, potassium plays a vital role in metabolic function and in maintaining the health of all tissues, cells and organs. Your body requires different levels of potassium depending on age, while women who are pregnant or lactating...
The body needs potassium along with the other electrolytes sodium, calcium, magnesium and chloride to function properly. Potassium in particular is crucial to heart and digestive function and muscle contractions. Having either too much or too...
According to the National Dairy Council, a diet high in potassium can help prevent a stroke or heart attack by lowering blood pressure. That alone is a powerful reason to make sure you get your recommended 4,700 micrograms, or mcg, per day, but...
Along with other electrolytes such as sodium, potassium levels must be regulated in the body for optimum health and cell function. Electrolytes are electrically-charged ions that must be regulated for normal cell function. Potassium is an...
The functioning of your body is critically dependent on the close regulation of potassium levels. Potassium is an essential mineral and an electrolyte. Potassium exists inside the cells of your body and outside, in the extracellular spaces. The...
The muscles of the body use stored carbohydrates as fuel. According to the World's Healthiest Foods website, potassium is involved in this maintenance. Potassium is an essential mineral the body needs to help in metabolism. A delicate balance must...
Potassium works with sodium in your body to optimize the makeup of your cell membranes. Your heart function, ability to contract your muscles and to transmit nerve impulses all rely on an adequate intake of potassium. If a doctor or other health...
The potassium in your body comes from the food you eat. After potassium is released from food during digestion, it is absorbed into your bloodstream and distributed throughout the body. Your kidneys maintain your blood potassium level within a...
Your body needs adequate levels of potassium to function properly -- high or low potassium can be equally dangerous. Potassium problems often result from diet, various illnesses and medical conditions, or they can be a side effect of certain...
Potassium is a mineral found in food. It plays a role in maintaining a regular heartbeat and is involved in regulating muscle tissue. If potassium level is too high, it can cause an irregular heartbeat or a heart attack. The kidneys typically...
Potassium is an electrolyte that plays a role in digestion, metabolism and muscle tissue regulation, as well as balancing electrical and chemical processes in the body. A higher-than-normal level of potassium in the blood is called hyperkalemia....
Potassium is a significant mineral your body needs to regulate functions of the muscles, nerves, kidneys, heart and digestive system. Generally, most of the potassium in your body is within your organs and cells, while a small percentage...
Potassium is an essential ion found within the cells of the body. The delicate balance between potassium outside the cell, known as the extracellular fluid K+ and the potassium inside the cell, called the intracellular fluid K+ helps maintain the...
A high potassium level may indicate that you have a condition called hyperkalemia, according to MayoClinic.Com. Most cases of high potassium are caused by a disorder of the kidneys, affecting their ability to get rid of excess potassium. An...
The body requires potassium for proper function of nerve and muscle cells. When levels become depleted, the condition is called hypokalemia. The kidneys regulate blood potassium levels, and kidney damage or disease can cause potassium levels to...
Potassium is a vital mineral and electrolyte necessary for proper function of all cells, tissues and organs in the human body. The body strictly controls potassium levels within a narrow range. There are many causes of potassium abnormalities. If...
Limiting potassium in your diet can help patients with Addison's disease. Learn how to adjust your diet to fit your specific health and nutrition needs in this healthy shopping video.
