by Lawrence Wilson, MD

POTASSIUM

Potassium is a major electrolyte in our bodies. This means it is present in large quantities in the body, and is required in large quantities in the diet. Potassium has a single electrical charge, also called a monovalent element. This makes it a good electrical conductor and tends to make it very water-soluble. It performs many essential functions ranging from regulating the heart to balancing the electrical potential of the body.

Sodium/potassium pair. Potassium is closely allied with sodium in the body. Both are used as solvents, both are regulated in the blood by the kidneys, both are monovalent elements, and they share other qualities as well. However, potassium is found mainly inside the cells, while sodium concentrates more in the blood and interstitial fluid. The concept of pairs of minerals is extremely important in physiology and in nutritional balancing science.

THE FUNCTIONS OF POTASSIUM IN OUR BODIES

Potassium has many critical functions in our bodies, among which are:

· A potent solvent. The monovalent elements are the body’s solvents. Though less important than sodium, potassium also functions to dissolve many chemical compounds in the blood.

· Association with cortisol levels. Sodium is more associated with adrenalin and aldosterone, which are faster acting hormones. Potassium is more associated with cortisol and cortisone. These are slower-acting or later-stage stress hormones. The correlation on hair mineral tests is only a general one, however, as many factors can influence the hair levels.

· Thyroid gland regulation. Potassium sensitizes the cells to thyroid hormone, according to Dr. Eck’s research. In addition, when sodium and potassium rise, tissue calcium tends to decrease. This causes the cells to become more permeable to thyroid hormone, in particular, and to other hormones such as insulin, as well.

· Cancer fighter. Max Gerson, MD pioneered a high potassium diet for cancer and other degenerative diseases. His rationale was that potassium leaking out of the cells causes depolarization of the cells and disease. His answer was to replenish potassium in the diet. Today, however, that diet, usually composed of many glasses of carrot and apple juice, appears to be less effective because the cancer problem is not so much about potassium as it is about toxic metals and toxic chemicals in the body that must be removed to restore health.

· Fluid balance and osmotic regulation. Potassium does this along with sodium, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus.

· Nerve conduction, especially in the heart. Those who eat improperly with not enough vegetables, in particular, may feel weak or even experience palpitations, skipped beats, arrhythmias and rarely heart attacks from potassium depletion. This can be much worse, for example, if they do not replenish their minerals and they use saunas or hot tubs that induce intense sweating. This is why I recommend kelp and sea salt if one uses a sauna.

· Regulation of blood viscosity, serum and cellular acidity, and CO2 transport in the red blood cells.

· Regulation of cell membrane potential, cell permeability, sodium pump action, muscle contraction and relaxation, and nerve impulse conduction. These are all in conjunction with sodium and other macrominerals in most cases.

FOOD SOURCES OF POTASSIUM

Vegetables. Obtaining enough potassium every day is of critical importance. Many people do not get enough from their diets, although it is not difficult to find in certain foods. Most nutrition books and doctors will tell you the best sources are fruits and vegetables. However, I will qualify this. The best and most biologically available source is cooked vegetables, NOT FRUIT and NOT RAW FOODS. This is important to explain.

The problem with fruit. Although many fruits are rich in potassium, the form of potassium is not biologically available to our bodies. This includes bananas, coconut, peaches, pears, apples and most other fruits, as well. Many health authorities will disagree with me on this, but this is our experience with fruit. Not only is the potassium not biologically available, but it is toxic as well. This is explained below in the Potassium and Hair Mineral Analysis section of this article. This is one of the major reasons I do not recommend eating any fruit at all.

The problem with raw vegetables. While vegetables are good sources of potassium in many cases, when eaten raw our bodies cannot extract enough of the minerals. The reason is that we cannot break down enough of the tough fibers in vegetables. In order to obtain the most minerals, one must cook the vegetables to break down the fiber.

Vegetables juices are a good source of potassium. The only other option to obtain plenty of potassium from vegetables is to drink some vegetable juice each day. I recommend about 10-12 ounces only of carrot juice, perhaps with some greens in it. Wheat grass juice, one or two ounces at a time, is also excellent and contains some potassium. another way to get more potassium is to blend your food.

Blended or pureed food. For more potassium, one could eat a blended or pureed salad, for example, or blended, cooked vegetables. However, salads are all very yin in Chinese medical terminology, as is all raw food, so I do not recommend it. I also do not recommend fermented vegetables, although they are a better source of potassium than eating raw vegetable salads, for example, and much better than eating fruit.

Raw dairy products. These can also be good sources of potassium, particularly raw, unpasteurized and unhomogenized milk and yogurts.

Drinking water. Some, but not all tap and spring water contains some potassium. Reverse osmosis water and distilled water contain no potassium at all. It is one reason I do not recommend reverse osmosis water ever, and I only recommend distilled water for a few months, at most, usually when beginning a nutritional balancing program or perhaps for a week or so during a detoxification or purification reaction to remove toxins faster.

POTASSIUM AND HAIR MINERAL ANALYSIS

An ideal hair potassium level is about 10 mg% or 100 parts per million. Please note that hair potassium and sodium levels can be accurately measured in a hair sample only if the laboratory does not wash the hair at all. Potassium and sodium levels are extremely erratic and inaccurate if the hair has been washed at the laboratory.

The hair potassium level is important for a number of basic hair analysis patterns:

Fast and slow oxidation. An elevated hair potassium level, in relation to calcium (a high Ca/K ratio), is associated with a fast oxidation rate. A low potassium in relation to calcium (a low Ca/K ratio), is associated with a slower oxidation rate.

The electrical balance of the cells, the sodium pump, and kidney activity. The sodium/potassium ratio on a hair mineral analysis in which the hair has not been washed at the laboratory is the most important single ratio on a hair mineral test.

A low potassium in relation to sodium (a high Na/K ratio) is associated with anger, acute stress and inflammation. At times it is associated also with edema, and weight gain due to some water retention. It is also associated with kidney imbalances and toxicity, in some cases.

In contrast, a high potassium in relation to sodium (a low Na/K ratio) is associated with chronic stress, frustration, resentment, hostility, tissue catabolism, chronic infections, blood sugar problems, and a tendency for malignancy, and liver, kidney and cardiovascular stress and problems.

The critical Na/K ratio is discussed in separate articles entitled The Sodium/Potassium Ratio and Elevated Sodium/Potassium Ratio.

Adrenal hormone levels may be reflected in the hair potassium level. Low hair potassium tends to correspond to reduced adrenal and thyroid glandular activity. Elevated hair potassium tends to correspond to increased adrenal glandular activity and, at times, high adrenal cortical hormones, in particular. However, the presence of toxic metals and other factors such as toxic metals in the kidneys, for example, can also either elevate or depress the hair potassium level.

Thyroid activity and hair potassium. Dr. Paul Eck called the calcium/potassium ratio on a hair mineral test the thyroid ratio. The hair must not be washed at the laboratory for this to apply. He found that a ratio greater than 4:1 is associated with sluggish thyroid hormonal effect at a cellular level only. Whereas, a ratio greater than 4:1 is generally associated with an increased thyroid hormonal effect at a cellular level.

This can be very confusing, however, because the hair mineral ratios will not necessarily correlate with serum thyroid hormone levels, or with the TSH level. This is because the latter two are measured in the blood, not the cells. Much more on this topic is explored in three articles entitled Thyroid Imbalances, Grave’s Disease Or Hyperthyroidism and Interview With Dr. Wilson On Grave’s Disease.

Sympathetic dominance. A hair potassium level of 4 mg% or less is a pattern called sympathetic dominance. A secondary indicator is a high Na/K ratio. A newer indicator is a three highs pattern, or a four highs pattern combined with any elevated Na/K ratio.

This pattern indicates a person who “pushes” himself, either physically with excessive activities, or mentally with worry or fear. As a result, the person remains in a fight-or-flight mode of living too much, even when the body is very tired. One therapist phrased it as “acting as though you are being chased by tigers all of the time”.

Sympathetic dominance is often mainly a lifestyle pattern. This means it is often more of a habit pattern, rather than a strictly physical illness or condition. However, the presence of excess copper, and excesses of toxic metals, along with possible zinc deficiency, can reinforce and hold one in the pattern.

Very low hair potassium. Some laboratories only read potassium levels down to 1 mg% or 10 parts per million. The actual level can be much lower than this in some cases. This can complicate hair analysis interpretation in a few cases.

Kidney stress and hair tissue potassium. If the kidneys become toxic or congested, it can affect the hair potassium level – usually raising it. This we call kidney stress. It is a common finding on hair analysis retests, but also on initial hair mineral analyses.

The most common cause of kidney stress and kidney congestion and toxicity is the presence in the body of the ‘amigos’ – aluminum and toxic forms of copper, iron, manganese, cobalt, chromium, selenium and vanadium. For more on this interesting subject, read The Amigos on this website. When any of these elements are removed from the body during a nutritional balancing program, which occurs very often, the hair potassium level can rise for a few months due to a little extra effort required of the kidneys. This is the meaning of kidney stress.

Kidney stress may also be due to the release of certain medical drugs, cadmium, mercury or other toxic substances. In many, but not all cases, this will temporarily affect the hair potassium level and perhaps the ratios involving potassium, as well.

Toxic forms of potassium on a hair test. At times, a very high hair potassium on a hair mineral analysis is not just due to a metabolic imbalance with regards to potassium. In a few cases, it is due to the release of a toxic form of potassium, usually on a retest. This particular form of potassium cannot be changed into a more healthful form by our bodies, so it excreted during a nutritional balancing program. The sources for this toxic potassium appear to be:

1. Eating fruit. People who have eaten a lot of fruit often show a high potassium on a first or a retest hair analysis. It is part of a hair analysis pattern called Beam Me Up, Scottie pattern, and includes a high potassium level.

Most fruit today, even organically grown, is fertilized with some superphosphate fertilizers that contain a toxic form of potassium. The potassium is incorporated into the fruit, and it does not matter if the fruit is pesticide-free, hybridized or heirloom varieties. This is one of the sad facts about almost all fruit today, and a major reason I do not recommend eating any of it today.

2. Some vegetables. Vegetables, and most of our food today, is grown using superphosphate fertilizers. Most often, vegetables can absorb the toxic potassium in the fertilizers and change it to a non-toxic form. However, this is not always the case, especially with sweeter vegetables. Lately, for example, some carrots seem to contain more of this toxic potassium.

3. Potassium from a water softener. In a few cases, showering and perhaps drinking water softened with potassium tablets will elevate hair potassium level drastically. This is also a toxic form of potassium, and I would never drink water softened with potassium, or with salt or sodium, for that matter.

To avoid this distortion of the potassium level, before sampling the hair, wash and rinse the hair thoroughly with either regular tap water, or distilled or reverse osmosis water. Do this two times if you regularly bath in softened with potassium. I would also avoid taking baths in water softened with potassium, as some will be absorbed this way.

4. Sexual fluids. Human male and female sexual fluids contain this same toxic form of potassium. those who swallow this fluid on a regular basis, or rub it on the body, or absorb it through the vagina or elsewhere, will also often show a very high hair potassium level on a retest hair analysis after being on a nutritional balancing program for a while. The toxic form of potassium may be one reason that swallowing or otherwise absorbing male or female sexual fluid can give one a buzz or a zing, as can eating fruit.

5. Krill. Krill, a relative of shrimp, contains some of the same toxic form of potassium. Some health authorities recommend krill as a source of omega-3 fatty acids. However, anyone who uses this oil may accumulate a lot of this toxic form of potassium. I do not recommend krill oil for this reason alone.

6. Congenital (or present at birth) toxic potassium. On occasion, a young child will excrete some toxic potassium that the child was presumably born with from its mother. This will show up on a retest hair analysis, usually, as a spike or elevation in the potassium level. It will then return to a lower level on the next hair analysis, in most cases. Often, when the potassium level rises very high, the child will experience some deep healing, and the two events may well be related.

POTASSIUM SYNERGISTS

Potassium works closely with sodium, calcium and magnesium to regulate metabolism. Other synergists include most vitamins. These assist kidney activity and may therefore help regulate the potassium level in the blood and the tissues. Most of the important trace minerals are also synergists because they all regulate potassium levels to a degree. Dr. Paul Eck emphasized that zinc appears to raise potassium in the mineral system of the body. Phosphorus, along with zinc, are synergists in protein synthesis.

POTASSIUM ANTAGONISTS

Calcium and magnesium tend to rise in the hair as potassium falls. Sodium is pumped out of the cells and potassium must be pumped in to maintain the electrical balance of the cells. This antagonism with sodium is particularly important. Copper, in the mineral balancing system, lowers potassium to some degree. In fact, a low hair potassium level is an indicator for hidden copper toxicity. Vitamin D can raise the calcium level, which tends to lower potassium, as can too much vitamin A, in some people. All the toxic metals, once again, are antagonistic to all of the vital minerals in the body.

Courses | About Dr. Wilson | Contact Us | The Free Basic Program