Page 18 - Florida Sentinel 9-20-19

Health
What Is It?
Potassium is a mineral that helps your cells work the right way. It helps make the electricity that lets your cells do their jobs. Your nerves and mus- cles -- including your heart -- might not work the way they should if you don’t get enough.
How Much Do You Need?
If you’re 14 or older, you should get about 4,700 milligrams of potassium a day. Breastfeeding mothers need more: 5,100 mil- ligrams.
For children:
0 to 6 months: 400 milligrams 7 to 12 months: 700 milligrams 1 to 3 years: 3,000 milligrams 4 to 8 years: 3,800 milligrams 9 to 13 years: 4,500 milligrams
Helps With Osteoporosis
As people age, their bones tend to get brittle. The typical diet in the U.S. doesn’t help, either. Lots of meat and dairy can cause your body to make too much acid, and that can weaken your bones faster. Foods rich in potassium -- mostly fruits and vegetables -- can slow it down.
Helps Prevent Kidney Stones
These are hard little balls made from minerals in your pee, and they can really hurt if they get stuck when you’re trying to go. More acid in your body -- often thanks to a meat-rich diet -- makes you more likely to get them. Potassium helps get rid of acid, which keeps those minerals where they belong (in your bones) and prevents those painful stones.
Helps Prevent High Blood Pressure
This is when blood pushes too hard against the walls of your veins and arteries. It can lead to stroke, heart disease, and heart failure. It’s often called “the silent killer” be- cause you rarely have symptoms. The sodium in salt makes it worse, but potassium can help you get rid of sodium and ease tension in the walls of your blood vessels.
Source: Bananas
A single medium banana has 422 milligrams of potassium. Have one as a snack or slice it onto your cereal. You can even bake some ba- nana bread. Just don’t soak or cook them -- they lose potassium that way.
Source: Potatoes
A medium potato baked with skin has a whopping 926 mil- ligrams of potassium. If you are going to have a baked potato, keep the extras to a minimum.
Source: Sunflower Seeds
Looking for something crunchy to get your potassium fix? These have 241 milligrams per ounce. And they're full of other vitamins and nutrients as well.
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