Maybe you eat bananas and oranges. Maybe you are getting enough potassium in your diet, maybe not. Potassium is a very important mineral to keep you heart healthy and electrified:

“Watch What You Eat

Eat five helpings of fruits and vegetables daily to prevent heart disease.

Maintain adequate dietary potassium, calcium and magnesium intake.

Reduce saturated fats and cholesterol to stay away from heart disease.” (From Prevent Heart Disease)

Potassium helps maintain the normal function of the heart and nervous system. Potassium is an electrolyte, which means it is a substance that takes on a positive or negative charge when dissolved in the watery medium of the bloodstream. Potassium supports the electrical energy action generated by the sodium and potassium pumping movement of electrons across cell membranes:

“Potassium channel blockers slow the heart rate and make the heart less likely to respond to abnormal electrical impulses. They’re used to treat atrial fibrillation and flutter, supraventricular tachycardia, ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation. Examples include amiodarone and sotalol.

Benefits: They decrease the heart’s workload.” (From Health)

Potassium resides in your cells and is also required for muscle contractions and regulating heartbeat and blood pressure. In addition to its use in regulating heartbeat and blood pressure, potassium is a natural diuretic, helping you body to excrete water and sodium. Excreting excess sodium also helps your cardiovascular health. Many people with heart conditions or heart failure are counseled to eat foods high in potassium or to take a potassium supplement.

If you believe you aren’t eating enough potassium rich foods like bananas, oranges, dried fruit, dried peas and beans, turkey, fish and beef, then talk to your doctor about the importance of a potassium supplement for your heart health. Potassium supplements are available from your local health store or click here to purchase from Physician’s Preference.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 26th, 2006 at 11:22 am and is filed under Health & Wellness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.