What is potassium good for?
So why is potassium good for us? Potassium can be a secret weapon when thinking of heart health, managing blood pressure and improving systems in the body. At the moment reducing sodium seems to get all the attention, but increasing potassium is just as important and the great thing about potassium is that it assists with excretion of sodium.
In a process known as the sodium/potassium pump, these electrolytes work together in the body, moving sodium out of the cell and potassium into the cell. This “pump”, the moving back and forth of these two electrolytes, is an essential part of how our cells function. It plays a critical role in nerve conduction, fluid, acid and base balance as well as energy production. Having the correct balance of sodium and potassium relieves pressure in veins, arteries and capillaries therefore lowering blood pressure and improving overall heart health.
An imbalance starts to occur because many diets are typically much higher in sodium than potassium, which causes inefficiency in our system. Ideally these two electrolytes work hand in hand, but we overload ourselves with sodium and don’t balance it with potassium. This imbalance has led to the World Health Organisation (WHO) listing potassium as one of the world’s shortfall nutrients. The U.S has already made steps to improve awareness, including mandatory potassium levels on their food labels.
How can we increase potassium visibility?
Potassium is naturally present in vegetables such as potatoes, bananas, cabbage and avocado but processed foods form a large part of consumer’s diets in this busy, modern day world. The report from SACN concluded the potential benefits of potassium based alternatives to sodium ingredients which is positive news and with our PELL™ K low sodium baking powders incorporating our potassium bicarbonate, Kudos can deliver potassium to all cakes and bakery products. One scone made with PELL™ K-Rise can provide 7% of our RDA. Every bit counts!
