potassium deficiency.. possible?

stines72
stines72 Posts: 853 Member
edited January 1 in Health and Weight Loss
i woke up with my leg cramping really bad 2 night in a row and my leg was really sore after that.. also it was easy for my fingers and toes to cramp when i bent them and it was hard to exercise yesterday.

since then i have eaten 3 bananas all in 24 hours and hope that today @ the gym will be easier due to that

so do yo u think its possible that it was potassium deficiency?

Replies

  • EccentricDad
    EccentricDad Posts: 875 Member
    It's possible. If you aren't getting your 3500mg of potassium a day (or close to that) then yes it's very likely. Also, Sodium and potassium work as polar opposites and if you are taking in too much sodium then you will have a much higher need for potassium.

    Body aches could also be a response to a food allergy/intolerance (common cause of fibromyalgia and restless leg syndrome). So it could be what you ate too. Do you have digestive problems too? That would be another sign it's an intolerance.

    Good sources of potassium would be: Apricots, V8 low sodium veggie juice, potatoes, bananas, and meat (though you'll have to research on MFP to find the ones that track it).

    You could also be having muscle cramps due to low magnesium. Try taking in more magnesium by eating dark green veggies and nuts. Or you could supplement. Most people don't reach their magnesium goals and have depleted magnesium stores which results in poor attention and anxiety.

    Good luck.
  • stines72
    stines72 Posts: 853 Member
    thanks for the reply. you're prob right about the sodium and magnesium. i will make sure to eat something rich in magnesium for dinner tonight and incorporate it into my diet from now on.
  • VelociMama
    VelociMama Posts: 3,119 Member
    Yes. I was deficient in potassium for a long time early on when I started MFP.

    Just FYI, the database entries without an asterisk beside them are from the USDA nutritional database, and they DO have potassium content listed. I'd recommend using those entries whenever possible and start tracking your potassium intake.

    Also, just a quick look at your diary indicates you're vastly undereating on a daily basis. This can lead to muscle fatigue, cramping, and a host of other problems. Eat your exercise calories back at least enough to net 1200 calories per day. That will help tremendously.
  • Francesca941
    Francesca941 Posts: 9
    In order to have your daily amount of potassium from bananas you would need to eat 40 INCHES of banana. Dark green veggies and apricots actually have more. =) Drink lots of water too!
  • flslp87
    flslp87 Posts: 175 Member
    I take a potassium supplement and a magnesium supplement AND I take calcet calcium w/ D3 pills daily or I have leg cramps. AND I just recently had my blood work done and my potassium was WNL. One thing that I have been doing also is drinking a bottle of powerade zero daily when I work out.....has helped a ton.
  • stines72
    stines72 Posts: 853 Member
    i just added the potassium tracker yesterday when i realized that might have been the problem... also - pregosaurusre... i have been undereating almost my whole life and especially through my weight loss. i am trying to slowly up my calories so that i dont gain too much weight from a sudden increase :) so yes i am working on that.

    flslp87 - what does WNL mean.. low?

    and also does the potassium tracker in food diary measure by milligrams? it only says a number for me
  • stines72
    stines72 Posts: 853 Member
    also it is sounding like i need to add a potassium suppliment lol 40 inches of bananas! i dont think i could eat that many bananas
  • VelociMama
    VelociMama Posts: 3,119 Member
    i just added the potassium tracker yesterday when i realized that might have been the problem... also - pregosaurusre... i have been undereating almost my whole life and especially through my weight loss. i am trying to slowly up my calories so that i dont gain too much weight from a sudden increase :) so yes i am working on that.

    and also does the potassium tracker in food diary measure by milligrams? it only says a number for me

    I hear ya. You may have a small bump in your weight, but realize it's temporary and will come off as long as you're consistent. I suggest putting your scale away for a few weeks while you readjust your calorie intake and focus more on your fitness and nutrition goals for a while. I did the same thing early on, and it was a big help to just focus on my daily and short-term goals for a while.

    I believe the potassium recommendation on MFP is 3500mg per day no matter your starting weight, height, or size.

    Also, I would caution you about potassium supplements. It is very possible to have too much potassium in your diet, and that can cause some rather serious health problems long-term. EccentricDad gave you a big list of potassium-rich foods that I'd recommend trying to incorporate first before supplementing with a potassium pill. Any starchy vegetables like potatoes, peas, etc. will be potassium-rich.
  • stines72
    stines72 Posts: 853 Member
    i just added the potassium tracker yesterday when i realized that might have been the problem... also - pregosaurusre... i have been undereating almost my whole life and especially through my weight loss. i am trying to slowly up my calories so that i dont gain too much weight from a sudden increase :) so yes i am working on that.

    and also does the potassium tracker in food diary measure by milligrams? it only says a number for me

    I hear ya. You may have a small bump in your weight, but realize it's temporary and will come off as long as you're consistent. I suggest putting your scale away for a few weeks while you readjust your calorie intake and focus more on your fitness and nutrition goals for a while. I did the same thing early on, and it was a big help to just focus on my daily and short-term goals for a while.

    I believe the potassium recommendation on MFP is 3500mg per day no matter your starting weight, height, or size.

    Also, I would caution you about potassium supplements. It is very possible to have too much potassium in your diet, and that can cause some rather serious health problems long-term. EccentricDad gave you a big list of potassium-rich foods that I'd recommend trying to incorporate first before supplementing with a potassium pill. Any starchy vegetables like potatoes, peas, etc. will be potassium-rich.

    thanks so much for the encouragement. its hard to break the daily weigh in .. such a bad habit! i will put the scale up, although my self-deprecating part of my brain wont like it lol

    i will try those foods first and foremost before taking any suppliments, it will help with increasing my calorie count too
  • kjw1031
    kjw1031 Posts: 300 Member


    flslp87 - what does WNL mean.. low?


    Within Normal Limits
  • VelociMama
    VelociMama Posts: 3,119 Member
    i just added the potassium tracker yesterday when i realized that might have been the problem... also - pregosaurusre... i have been undereating almost my whole life and especially through my weight loss. i am trying to slowly up my calories so that i dont gain too much weight from a sudden increase :) so yes i am working on that.

    and also does the potassium tracker in food diary measure by milligrams? it only says a number for me

    I hear ya. You may have a small bump in your weight, but realize it's temporary and will come off as long as you're consistent. I suggest putting your scale away for a few weeks while you readjust your calorie intake and focus more on your fitness and nutrition goals for a while. I did the same thing early on, and it was a big help to just focus on my daily and short-term goals for a while.

    I believe the potassium recommendation on MFP is 3500mg per day no matter your starting weight, height, or size.

    thanks so much for the encouragement. its hard to break the daily weigh in .. such a bad habit! i will put the scale up, although my self-deprecating part of my brain wont like it lol

    LOL You can do it! It's amazing how relieving it is to not stress about that stupid scale on a daily basis. :smile:

    I actually lost more by not weighing every day. I think it made me focus more on hitting my macronutrient goals and my fitness goals more which led to more progress all around.
  • raeleek
    raeleek Posts: 414 Member
    I had cramps and got dizzy often and my sister, who works in dialysis, suggested I up my potassium.

    I have been drinking between 2-4 cups of low sodium V8 each day and I have been eating a lot more spinach and bananas. It's amazing how much it has helped with the cramping and I don't get dizzy anymore. My sister is not a doctor but she does work side by side with doctors daily and they don't typically recommend a supplement.
  • stines72
    stines72 Posts: 853 Member
    i just added the potassium tracker yesterday when i realized that might have been the problem... also - pregosaurusre... i have been undereating almost my whole life and especially through my weight loss. i am trying to slowly up my calories so that i dont gain too much weight from a sudden increase :) so yes i am working on that.

    and also does the potassium tracker in food diary measure by milligrams? it only says a number for me

    I hear ya. You may have a small bump in your weight, but realize it's temporary and will come off as long as you're consistent. I suggest putting your scale away for a few weeks while you readjust your calorie intake and focus more on your fitness and nutrition goals for a while. I did the same thing early on, and it was a big help to just focus on my daily and short-term goals for a while.

    I believe the potassium recommendation on MFP is 3500mg per day no matter your starting weight, height, or size.

    thanks so much for the encouragement. its hard to break the daily weigh in .. such a bad habit! i will put the scale up, although my self-deprecating part of my brain wont like it lol

    LOL You can do it! It's amazing how relieving it is to not stress about that stupid scale on a daily basis. :smile:

    I actually lost more by not weighing every day. I think it made me focus more on hitting my macronutrient goals and my fitness goals more which led to more progress all around.

    lol i bet it is nice.. cant wait until i get there too. i always felt like once i got to my goal i wouldnt worry about weight anymore but i bet if i still weighed dailiy after meeting my goal i would still obsess over it im sure. i ate a very hearty meal last night and was surprised to see i was still losing weight the following morning... the "bad side" of my brain keeps telling me one meal can screw it all up! but i know in my heart its' not true.

    struggling through my work out yesterday opened my eyes and i thought how i would ratehr feel healthy and make it through my workouts feeling good than feel awful! healthy is the way to go!
  • VelociMama
    VelociMama Posts: 3,119 Member
    lol i bet it is nice.. cant wait until i get there too. i always felt like once i got to my goal i wouldnt worry about weight anymore but i bet if i still weighed dailiy after meeting my goal i would still obsess over it im sure. i ate a very hearty meal last night and was surprised to see i was still losing weight the following morning... the "bad side" of my brain keeps telling me one meal can screw it all up! but i know in my heart its' not true.

    struggling through my work out yesterday opened my eyes and i thought how i would ratehr feel healthy and make it through my workouts feeling good than feel awful! healthy is the way to go!

    I'm a huge fan of fitness goals. If you don't have some, I suggest making some and working on achieving them. Let the weight loss come off as a side effect. The main reason I see people fail here is because they don't give themselves credit for what they do RIGHT along the way enough. They just focus on their weight not their health and relearning how to eat and move. Make sure you do that. If you have a day where you hit your exercise and nutrition goals, give yourself a pat on the back for that even if you don't lose on the scale. It's far more important to maintaining this for life than whether or not you dropped a lb or not.
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
    Never take a supplement without a doctor's recommendation for potassium. You can seriously mess with your heart. Even when my bloodwork came back low for potassium, they only gave me supplements until my bloodwork reflected normally again. The low sodium V-8 is what I use when I get worried about my potassium, but I stick to one serving of it a day. If you are undereating, you can be deficient in postassium from that. You may consider getting some bloodwork done to see what's going on with your body.
  • joshkilborn
    joshkilborn Posts: 46 Member
    I've always been told to balance your potassium intake with magnesium also because they work hand-in-hand and an imbalance can be just as bad as being deficient.
  • Piekny
    Piekny Posts: 1
    A deficiency of any of the important minerals can result in muscle pain. Some of the most common include: calcium, potassium, sodium, magnesium, iron, chromium, chloride, copper, manganese, and zinc. These ions are either directly or indirectly necessary for conduction of nerve impulses and muscle contraction. Whether they work directly or indirectly (required for enzymatic activity) they are all needed. A deficiency in any of the ions is actually the leading cause of fibromyalgia and muscle pain. Remember that some of these ions need other vitamins or ions to be absorbed. For example, you can take an excess of calcium but without magnesium, the calcium will not be absorbed properly. Also, eating and drinking acidic foods will cause muscle pain because the body will try to neutralize itself using calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium from body, preventing the minerals to be utilized by the bones and organs where they are most needed.
  • beansprouts
    beansprouts Posts: 410 Member
    According to your food diary...you are doing a lot of exercising/ sweating. Try using salt substitute...to help replace the loss potassium...(((That's what they give to runners))).
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