Potassium Supplements
Best Potassium Supplements
Keep your heart healthy with some of the best potassium supplements available online from CVS. These supplements help you manage your potassium levels when combined with a balanced diet full of fruit and vegetables.
Potassium is an essential mineral that is found in many foods, and it's a highly effective electrolyte that maintains proper water levels and a healthy heart. This mineral can help with a myriad of different functions within the body including regulating blood pressure, helping with digestion, and maintaining a normal heart rhythm. If you're considering adding a potassium supplement to your diet, read on to learn more.
What Is Potassium?
An essential mineral, potassium is required by the human body for a wide range of functions. If your medical provider believes you could benefit from increasing the amount of potassium in your diet, CVS can help you find the best supplement for your needs. This product selection includes a diverse assortment of potassium supplements in different strengths and forms. Explore all of the options available or filter products to focus on the ones that are right for you.
What Are The Benefits Of Potassium Supplements?
Most people get enough potassium from their diet, but certain factors can lead to a need for more of the mineral. If you take a diuretic (water pill), sweat excessively due to work or recreation, have kidney disease or experience nutrient absorption issues from Crohn's disease or other conditions, you may need more potassium. Your doctor can run tests to determine if this is the case.
Potassium supplements benefit your heart and blood pressure. Correcting a deficiency or optimizing your intake may help lower your risk of strokes, heart attacks, various cancers and some other illnesses, allowing you to maintain better health as you get older.
What Does Potassium Do?
Potassium is found in all of the tissues in the human body. Along with sodium, potassium is a key electrolyte, a substance that helps to conduct energy through the body. Without potassium, your kidneys, heart, muscles and nerves cannot function properly.
How Much Potassium Do You Need Per Day?
Getting adequate potassium can help with things like hypertension, inflammation, and may prevent the possibility of a stroke. Adults should get 3,500 to 4,700 mg of potassium per day from foods. If you cannot get the proper amount of potassium from food alone, look for a multivitamin that contains potassium, or you may take it separately as an individual supplement.
What Has Potassium?
Many food sources contain a good amount of potassium including leafy greens like spinach and kale. Potassium is also found in avocados, yams, and bananas. Salmon is high in potassium with an average amount of 414 mg per serving. Other sources of potassium include pinto beans, white potatoes, and peas. Try to incorporate some of these foods into your diet if you're low on potassium or to add more to your daily intake.
How to Increase Potassium
The body does not make potassium naturally, so it's important to make sure you're getting it from your diet. If you need to increase your potassium levels, eat more green, leafy vegetables and include more fish and potatoes in your diet. If you prefer to get potassium another way, consider taking a supplement that contains potassium or one that contains just potassium alone. Make sure you're getting the recommended amount of between 3,500 and 4,700 mg a day to ensure your body is getting what it needs.
When Should I Take Potassium Supplements?
Take potassium supplements exactly as your doctor tells you to ensure they work properly. Many of the best potassium supplements, such as CVS Health Potassium Gluconate, are dosed once a day with a meal and a full glass of water. Prescription products may be given once daily or divided across several doses to help minimize nausea and discomfort.
Is It Okay To Take a Potassium Supplement Daily?
Your body excretes some potassium daily, and you need to replenish this loss through the foods you eat. If you have a significant potassium deficiency or can't absorb it properly from your diet, potassium-rich foods likely won't be enough to balance your levels. Take potassium daily, as recommended by your doctor, in addition to your multivitamin and other regular supplements.
What Is the Best Form of Potassium To Take?
The most absorbable form of potassium for most people is potassium chloride, which doctors prescribe to treat types of potassium deficiencies that don't respond to dietary changes. As this medication can have side effects, it's usually only given when necessary, and your doctor will likely use test results and potassium supplement dose calculators to ensure you get a suitable dose.
Potassium gluconate is another highly-absorbable form of potassium and the most common type included in over-the-counter potassium supplements. The lower dose of these products reduces the risk of side effects, but you should still ask your doctor or pharmacist before taking them.
Signs of Low Potassium
A large population of adults does not get an adequate amount of potassium in their daily diets. Some of the signs of low potassium include an irregular heartbeat or heart palpitations, fatigue, and muscle weakness. You may also notice feelings of tingling or numbness, muscle spasms, or frequent constipation. If you suspect that your blood potassium levels are low, ask your doctor for a blood test to confirm.
Potassium Deficiency
Your body cannot manufacture potassium on its own. As a result, you can only obtain the mineral by eating foods that contain it. Food sources of potassium include dried apricots, prunes, raisins, bananas, potatoes, spinach, tomatoes, broccoli, beans, nuts, dairy products, meats, poultry and fish. Individuals with digestive disease and those on certain medications are at an increased risk for low potassium levels. Potassium supplements may be recommended for anyone who has or is likely to develop a potassium deficiency.
Potassium Benefits
Scientific research suggests that potassium may be beneficial for people who have or are at risk for developing certain medical conditions. Medical professionals may recommend potassium supplements for promoting heart and bone health, managing type 2 diabetes and lowering the likelihood of kidney stones. It's important to understand that there is not enough evidence to prove that potassium supplements are beneficial for addressing any medical condition.
Potassium Supplements
To compare the strengths of potassium supplements, you can examine the number of milligrams (mg) of the mineral that products provide in a single serving. Most supplements provide dosages of 100 to 600 mg. Products also differ in form with capsules, caplets and tablets being the most common options.
Potassium Side Effects
Potassium supplements can pose a risk for side effects and interfere with some medications and other dietary supplements. As a result, it is important to consult a health care professional before taking potassium. Your medical provider can also recommend the best strength for your needs. Always follow the instructions provided by the supplement manufacturer unless otherwise directed by a medical professional.
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