Is It a Hormonal Imbalance or Just a Potassium Deficiency

by SHANNON DAHLUM, FDN-P 

When it comes to popular nutrients and supplements, magnesium seems to get all the credit. In general, the majority of us are deficient in magnesium and because it’s a vital mineral involved in well over 300 functions in our bodies, it gets a lot of attention for good reason. Of course, there are a wide array of minerals needed for maintaining healthy functioning, but I think potassium is a bit of an unsung hero.

The majority of clients I work with are women in their 40’s and 50’s who struggle with body weight challenges. In our work together, they always start by running a hair tissue mineral analysis test, which shows us how the body is utilizing minerals in the tissues. Almost across the board, I see low potassium in these women, and that’s likely because it’s the first mineral that’s lost during the stress response. Without healthy potassium levels, optimal hormonal balance can’t be maintained. That’s because potassium plays a starring role in blood sugar regulation, thyroid function, and healthy bowel function.

Potassium assists with blood sugar regulation in two ways. First, it helps to usher blood sugar into the cells of the body, similarly to insulin. When there isn’t enough potassium in the body to move glucose from the blood into the cells, blood sugar remains elevated. Second, potassium also helps with the conversion of glucose into glycogen, which is how sugar is stored as fuel in the liver for future use. When blood sugar dips, the liver should release glycogen into the blood stream to make sure blood sugar level stays in a healthy range. If glycogen conversion is impaired, however, the body may be forced to use alternative fuel sources between meals, and this raises the risk for blood sugar dips. Both the inability to move glucose easily into the cells and to convert it effectively into glycogen will lead to blood sugar highs and lows, which creates inflammation, increased stress hormones, diminished metabolic function, and increased fat storage particularly in the midsection.

In addition to ushering sugar into the cells of your body, potassium is also needed for ushering thyroid hormones into the cells where they can act on the thyroid gland itself. Low thyroid function is a common cause of unexplained weight gain and weight loss resistance. Even with healthy thyroid hormone levels on a blood test, low potassium can prevent those hormones from being able to do their job.

Every cell has to maintain a balance between sodium and potassium in order to function properly. Sodium carries a positive electrical charge and is concentrated outside of each cell, while potassium carries a negative charge is concentrated inside of the cells. Together, these minerals create the sodium-potassium pump which is crucial for the physiological functions of every single cell. When the functioning of this pump is reduced, the ability to transport T3 (your active thyroid hormone) into the cell is also reduced which diminishes the functioning of the thyroid itself. Since the thyroid sets the pace for your metabolism, this can lead to poor energy production and increased body weight.

Healthy bowel elimination is another component that’s needed for maintaining hormonal health. Without a minimum of one bowel movement daily (up to three is even better), the body won’t be able to eliminate excess estrogen, hormone disrupting environmental toxins, or maintain a healthy balance of the gut’s microbiome. The accumulation of estrogen and toxins promotes excess fat storage, while increased body fat promotes even more estrogen production, so this can become a vicious cycle. The overgrowth of inflammatory gut microbes that often results from impaired bowel function contributes to chronically elevated stress hormones, which further exacerbates estrogen accumulation, hormonal imbalances and metabolic dysfunction.

Potassium plays a role here because it supports bowel function by pulling water into the digestive tract, and for peristalsis, which is the wave-like muscular contraction that moves waste through the bowels.

There are several reasons potassium deficiency is so common, and reason number one is chronic stress. When the stress response is triggered in the body (whether it’s from mental/emotional stress, a drop in blood sugar, or inflammation inside the body that you’re completely unaware of) a hormone called aldosterone increases, which causes your body to retain sodium and lose potassium. The purpose of this is to elevate the sodium to potassium ratio, which increases fluid retention (higher blood pressure) and insulin resistance (higher blood sugar). This is intended to be a temporary situation that prepares your body to spring into action. Ideally, aldosterone falls shortly after, and the sodium to potassium ratio rebalances. Most of us live in a state of chronic stress, though, so those minerals don’t get much of a chance to recover. The longer your body remains in a state of stress, and the higher that stress is, the greater the potassium loss becomes.

No nutrient in the body ever works alone. Just like all other minerals, potassium is affected by the availability of other nutrients in the body. Excess vitamin D supplements, as well as inadequate zinc and magnesium can both deplete potassium. The accumulation of heavy metals also negatively impacts potassium, and even regular exposure to fluoride can impair potassium’s ability to enter your cells.

The best way to support potassium in your body is to be sure you’re getting it in your diet; about 4,700mg daily should be your goal. If you’re including an array of high quality animal products and fresh produce daily, it’s easy to meet your needs. If the bulk of your diet comes in the form of processed foods, you’re going to ingest a much higher intake of processed salt which will exacerbate a high sodium to low potassium ratio.

A six ounce portion of salmon contains 600-800mg of potassium and 4 ounces of chicken has about 435 mg. Pork, beef, cod, Greek yogurt and cottage are good sources, too. White potatoes have developed a bad reputation for being poor in nutrients and high in starch, but they’re actually a very rich source of potassium. One cup of potato includes 600-650mg of potassium, so don’t write them off as a useless food. Winter squash contains about 500mg per cup and black beans have 600mg per cup. Other good plant sources of potassium include tomatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, Swiss chard and mango. One of my favorite sources to include, especially after working up a sweat in the summer, is coconut water. It’s a great way to replenish lost electrolytes and contains about 600mg of potassium.

Minerals play an often overlooked, yet crucial role in maintaining healthy metabolic function, hormonal balance and body weight, and all of them are important. Since potassium is the first mineral that’s lost in the physiological stress response, being intentional about increasing your daily intake can have a big impact on your overall functioning.