Potassium is an essential mineral and electrolyte that every cell needs; it works with sodium to control fluid balance and is needed for nerve signals, muscle contraction and kidney function. Supplements are used to add potassium, and potassium salts are also prescription drugs for low blood potassium.
Also known as: potassium citrate, potassium chloride, potassium gluconate.
There is no RDA. ODS lists an Adequate Intake of 3,400 mg a day for men and 2,600 mg for women (2,900 mg in pregnancy and 2,800 mg while breastfeeding). No upper limit was set for healthy people. Most potassium-only supplements contain up to 99 mg, and multivitamins that include it typically have about 80 mg.
It is sold in the US as a dietary supplement. Under the 1994 dietary supplement law (DSHEA), FDA does not approve dietary supplements before they are marketed, and the maker, not FDA, is responsible for safety and labeling. Some potassium chloride products are prescription drugs. ODS explains that many makers keep supplements at 99 mg because FDA ruled that some oral potassium chloride drugs over 99 mg were unsafe (they were linked to small-bowel lesions) and requires a warning on some potassium salts above that amount.
ODS says high potassium from food is not a risk for healthy people with normal kidneys, but very high doses from supplements or salt substitutes can cause high blood potassium (hyperkalemia), which in severe cases causes muscle weakness, palpitations and dangerous heart rhythms. People with kidney disease, and people taking ACE inhibitors (such as benazepril), angiotensin receptor blockers (such as losartan) or potassium-sparing diuretics (such as spironolactone), can develop hyperkalemia even below the Adequate Intake. Loop and thiazide diuretics do the opposite and can lower potassium. Diarrhea and vomiting can also change blood potassium.
ODS says about 90% of potassium eaten is absorbed and the kidneys adjust how much they excrete; blood levels are tightly controlled and correlate poorly with body stores. We do not list a half-life or a time to peak.
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