The body of an adult woman contains on average about 225 grams of potassium (this is approximately 10% less than in a male body). The daily human need for potassium is 2 to 4 grams. When intense physical exertion, the body should receive at least 5 grams of this microelement per day. It is quite possible to provide such quantity of potassium at the expense of eating potassium-containing food products.
Why are potash products especially useful for people who are actively involved in physical culture and sports? The fact is that when performing various physical exercises during training, the load on the cardiovascular system is significantly increased. A potassium just ensures the normal operation of this system of human organs, regulating blood pressure and heart rhythm. In addition, potassium participates in the processes of muscle contraction and relaxation, ensures the passage of impulses in nerve fibers, regulates the distribution of fluid in the body. If you pay due attention to the preparation of potassium-containing products, all the above-mentioned physiological processes in the body of the training person will constantly proceed at the desired level. Potassium is also able to prevent strokes, reduce fatigue and nervousness.
What are the main potassium-containing foods should be eaten to prevent deficiency of this element? A sufficient amount of potassium is found in many plant foods. For example, eating such a widely known and available potassium-containing food as a potato in the amount of 500 grams per day fully provides for the daily human need for this element. However, it should be remembered that excessive consumption of potatoes can lead to the appearance of "extra pounds" because of the large amount of starch contained in it. Other potassium-containing products include dried apricots, dried apricots, apricots, beans, cherries. A sufficient amount of potassium is also found in grapes, prunes, zucchini, black currant, pumpkin, oatmeal. Some potassium content is found in bread, meat, fish, cereals, milk and dairy products.
Insufficient amount of this element in the body leads to low blood pressure, arrhythmia, increased cholesterol levels in the blood, muscle weakness, increased fragility of bones, impaired kidney function, insomnia and depression. With these pathologies, further training becomes hazardous to health. To remove the above symptoms often apply not only the inclusion in the diet of the necessary food, but also prescribe the intake of special potassium-containing drugs. Such pathological conditions occur mainly with the use of diuretics (which often many athletes sin in order to quickly reduce body weight and get into the desired weight category at the expense of loss of moisture) and some hormonal drugs (in particular, the hormones of the adrenal cortex). Intensive sweating, which necessarily occurs in a person when performing physical exercises during training, as well as frequent diarrhea or vomiting also lead to a lack of potassium in the body. In these cases, to restore the normal balance of this element, one can not do without the use of potassium-containing products.
Excess potassium, even with increased intake of potassium-containing foods, is rare, since the excess amount of this element is rapidly excreted from the body with urine. However, with insufficient physiological activity of the adrenal cortex or acute nephritis, a diet with potassium-containing products can lead to disorders of the heart, increased urination, agitation and pallor. In such cases, a doctor's consultation is necessary.
Potassium is able to neutralize the harmful effects of excess sodium in the body. Therefore, a potassium diet with arterial hypertension, circulatory disorders and kidney diseases should be formed mainly due to products of vegetable, rather than animal origin. For example, in potatoes the potassium content is twenty times greater than sodium, and in milk - only three times.
As we see, the importance of potassium-containing food products for maintaining the health and normal working capacity of a person is simply invaluable.