POTASSIUM and THIAMIN in HEART DISEASE by Charles Weber, MS

Peatness · Aug 17, 2022

POTASSIUM and THIAMIN (VITAMIN B-1) in HEART DISEASE

by Charles Weber, MS

Source

http://charles_w.tripod.com/kandthiamin.html

I recommend that you seek additional advice before using any information in this article.

ABSTRACT
Insufficient potassium and vitamin B-1 (thiamin) can not damage the heart significantly when both are deficient. This has very important implications when supplementing each during heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis.
INTRODUCTION
Cardiovascular disease remains as the #1 cause of mortality. About 50% of heart failure patients will perish in 5-years. At age 40, life time risk of developing heart failure is 1 in 5.Diastolic dysfunction heart failure prevalence has increased to 50% of all heart failure. Most of the heart disease in western societies is probably either caused by or is greatly enhanced by a potassium deficiency. Potassium has been used in heart disease therapy since 1930 [1]. Potassium enriched table salt almost halved the mortality from cardiovascular disease of retired men studied in China over a 31 month period [2]. Permanent damage can be inflicted on the heart and kidneys of animals by potassium restriction [3].
However it is possible for a dangerous imbalance with respect to thiamine (vitamin B-1) can arise from potassium supplements if animal experiments are an indication. If potassium supplements are given during the wet heart disease of beri beri (vitamin B-1 deficiency), the heart disease is made much worse [4][5]. Wet heart disease of beri-beri is impossible if potassium is also deficient [6]. Instead a muscular atrophy similar to that from vitamin E deficiency appears [7][8]. Hove and Herndon suspect that muscular dystrophy is a potassium deficiency since body potassium is low during muscular dystrophy [7]. During a vitamin B-1 deficiency the heart loses potassium [4]. This may be why heart damage in beriberi resembles that in a potassium deficiency. The chemistry of vitamin B-1 in the body is extremely complicated and determining its status by chemical tests is very difficult (this article shows the chemistry in great detail)[36 Wooley]. One symptom of a vitamin B-1 deficiency is lactic acid acidosis [9]. Why the heart should be protected by a deficiency of both potassium and vitamin B-1 is strange, and I know no explanation for it.
Some of the symptoms of heart disease are shortness of breath, swelling of the legs and ankles and occasionally the abdomen, fatigue and weakness, loss of appetite and nausea, reduced urination, and persistent cough which sometimes produces mucus or blood tinged sputum. DISCUSSION
It could be the sulfur dioxide in most wines might be part of the reason why wine statistically protects people from the more prevalent potassium deficient heart disease because sulfites in most wines destroy vitamin B-1 in the intestines. Wine also has a poison in it that interferes with potassium excretion [10], and this would intensify the problem with vitamin B-1 destruction for those who start to take potassium supplements. Please keep in mind that the necrosis of heart tissue discussed here is not the same as cardiovascular disease of blood vessels, which is probably usually from a copper deficiency.
It is obvious that if potassium supplements are given, it is very important that the vitamin B-1 intake must be adequate at the same time, and one third of heart disease patients are deficient in thiamin [34].
. You may see here the way to acquire a very comprehensive book about potassium supplementation, nutrition and physiology. It is called “POTASSIUM NUTRITION in Heart Disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Gout, Diabetes, Metabolic Shock (hyperkalemia), and High Blood Pressure”. The table of contents and the introduction are shown.
Potassium supplements are also called sodium free table salt, Morton’s Lite salt, Stirling’s Half and Half (the above combination salts contain about one atom of potassium to two of sodium as the chloride), sodium free baking powder (potassium bicarbonate or tartrate), oral rehydration therapy (ORT) for diarrhea, glucose-insulin-kalium (GIK) salt, and potassium softened water [11]. Leafy vegetables low in starch are high in potassium, some so much so that they are virtually a supplement. Ammonium chloride is equivalent to a potassium supplement since ammonium interferes with excretion of potassium in the kidneys. Glucosamine is a biological reaction product of fructose-6-phosphate sugar and glutamic amino acid, sold as the sulfate. Glutamic acid breaks down forming ammonium ion in the body, so glucosamine acts to increase body potassium by ammonium interference with excretion. Some commercial glucosamine products are also a direct potassium supplement, since they contain large amounts of potassium chloride. Potassium was considered inert, or largely so in the past but definitely is not. In addition to potassium, ammonium and choline molecules were also used in salt substitutes. These molecules may not be useless. Choline is a biologically active material similar to vitamins but made by the body. Its long-term effects as a supplement are unknown to me. However choline supplements increase memory ability in baby rats when administered either before or after being born, probably from an increase in brain cell size [12]. Ammonium, at least, may interfere with potassium excretion if it is absorbed in the intestines and has been used to protect the kidneys [13]. So far as I know, reasonable amounts of the substitutes above are reasonably harmless for healthy people who have normal blood pressure. Ammonium is even synthesized by the kidneys during a potassium deficiency from glutamine, and this is probably a strategy of the body, the purpose of which is to prevent potassium loss. Eating glutamine increases ammonia excretion and decreases potassium excretion [14]. However, if ammonium chloride is used during a potassium deficiency a dangerous taurine depletion occurs resulting in lethal heart disease in cats [15], so should be avoided by humans until there is more information. Sulfate is an excretory product, so the sulfate as the anion with potassium should be, at the least, useless. I suspect that potassium as the sulfate may have the same effect on high blood pressure (hypertension) as the chloride has in increasing pressure, but I know of no evidence. In patients on adequate potassium and low sodium, there is no significant change of blood pressure from potassium supplements. “Urinary potassium was 77±16, 122±25, and 125±27 mmol/24 hours after 4 weeks on placebo, potassium chloride, and potassium bicarbonate, respectively. There were no significant differences in office blood pressure among the 3 treatment periods, and only 24-hour and daytime systolic blood pressures were slightly lower with potassium chloride. Compared with placebo, both potassium chloride and potassium bicarbonate significantly improved endothelial function as measured by brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation, increased arterial compliance as assessed by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, decreased left ventricular mass, and improved left ventricular diastolic function. There was no significant difference between the 2 potassium salts in these measurements. The study also showed that potassium chloride reduced 24-hour urinary albumin and albumin:creatinine ratio, and potassium bicarbonate decreased 24-hour urinary calcium, calcium:creatinine ratio, and plasma C-terminal cross-linking telopeptide of type 1 collagen significantly. These results demonstrated that an increase in potassium intake had beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system, and potassium bicarbonate may improve bone health. Importantly, these effects were found in individuals who already had a relatively low-salt and high-potassium intake.” Potassium citrate should have an affects similar to potassium bicarbonate because citrate is used by the body to provide energy. Potassium citrate has been found to effectively prevent kidney uric acid stones. This is probably related to producing a less acid urine. I suspect that the citrate or the carbonate are the safest long term potassium supplements.
Adding potassium sulfate to a processed food diet should have the same effect as adding sulfuric acid to a normal diet, whatever that is. In any case, sulfate and phosphate increases potassium excretion [16]. Phosphate is probably very dangerous for those with heart disease. Excess phosphate has caused 100 per cent mortality during heart disease [13], so potassium probably should not be provided as the phosphate. Soft drinks often are high in phosphoric acid.
Potassium bicarbonate has been shown to be not as quick as the chloride in relieving a deficiency both as to reducing cell sodium content and raising plasma levels of potassium [16][17]. However, potassium as the chloride should have the same affect on heart disease as potassium from unprocessed food coupled with hydrochloric acid supplements, whatever that is. There are times when this might be disadvantageous. However, even so, potassium chloride reduces blood pressure in sodium loaded spontaneously hypertensive rats and protects them from kidney damage [18] (and no doubt from heart disease).This may be because of difficulty in handling hydrogen ion (acid) in some forms of high blood pressure. Support is given to this possibility since sodium bicarbonate lowered blood pressure 5 mm of mercury while sodium chloride had no affect [19], possibly partly because sodium chloride was already high in their diet. Any designation of high blood pressure must be by comparing the pressure to the average among low sodium chloride intake people [20]. Both sodium and chloride are necessary for pressure augmentation [21]. This phenomenon may be involved with 18 hydroxy deoxycorticosterone steroid hormone (18 OHDOC) because that hormone is raised in one of the forms of high blood pressure [22] and that hormone is the hormone used by the body to increase acid excretion. Chloride as the potassium salt increases blood pressure somewhat though. All these complications are arguments to eat only undamaged food and get as much nourishment from food as possible
Even if the patient is eating foods fairly adequate in vitamin B-1, the patient could still possibly have a problem with vitamin B-1 deficiency if also eating foods that have sulfites in them since sulfites degrade vitamin B-1 in the intestines [23] [24] Such foods are wine, vinegar, pickles, olives, salad dressing, canned clams, fresh, frozen, canned, or dried shrimp, frozen lobster, scallops, dried cod, gelatin, pectin jelling agents, cornstarch, modified food starch, spinach pasta, gravies, hominy, breadings, batters, noodle/rice mixes, shredded coconut, vegetable juice, canned vegetables (including potatoes), pickled vegetables (including sauerkraut), dried vegetables, instant mashed potatoes, frozen potatoes, potato salad, corn syrup, maple syrup, fruit toppings, and high-fructose syrups such as corn syrup and pancake syrup, instant tea, liquid tea concentrates, beer, bottled lemon juice, some baked goods, some dried fruits, and some meat in dog and cat food [47]. Extruding wheat flour at temperatures approaching 100 degrees C can cause losses of vitamin B-1 as high as 34%. Using diuretics can cause loss of vitamin B-1 [25], loop diuretics, for instance [36 Wooley]. There is something in tea leaves that antagonizes vitamin B-1 [26]. Phenolic compounds in blueberries [48] and rice bran [49] destroy vitamin B-1. Also, the symptoms of a vitamin B-1 deficiency can materialize even if vitamin B-1 is adequate if magnesium is deficient, say from Chron’s disease [27]. A folate deficiency prevents thiamin absorption in rats. Folate is the most common B vitamin deficiency in the world. [50] Tea leaves and betel nuts destroy vitamin B-1. Consumption of food high in tannins can cause thiamin deficiency. The reaction was biphasic, having a rapid initial phase which was oxygen-independent, followed by a slower phase which was oxygen concentration-dependent. Ascorbic acid completely inhibited the reaction if present at the beginning of the reaction and could partially reverse the reaction if added during the first 30 min. It is possible that low hydrochloric acid in the stomach of diabetics causes destruction of vitamin B-1. The diet can vary widely as to vitamin B-1. Vitamin B-1 deficiency may be suspected in refugee immigrants, critically ill patients and alcoholics. Vitamin B-1 deficiency can result in cardiac failure, neuropathy, or Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, which last can not be cured with oral supplements even though classic thiamine deficiency symptoms do not show [28].
Diabetics should keep in mind a new discovery that type 1 diabetics excrete vitamin B-1 four times normal people and type 2 three times, which leads to a vitamin B-1 content in plasma one fourth as high in diabetics. This is due to a malfunction of thiamin absorption in the proximal kidney tubules. Erythrocyte (red blood cells) vitamin B-1 was normal in diabetics, probably because there were increased thiamin transporters THTR-1 RFC-1 in the cell wall. Therefore erythrocyte thiamin can not be used to determine thiamin status [29].
Since diabetics are usually deficient in potassium, it seems that it is highly probable that they should never use potassium unless they correct the vitamin B-1 at the same time and the reverse.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
The reverse is also the case. Vitamin B-1 supplements should be dangerous for people with low potassium. Since cell potassium is always low in rheumatoid arthritis [30], such people should not take vitamin B-1 without potassium. This may be part of the reason why people with rheumatoid arthritis (but not osteoarthritis) have a much higher heart disease rate than others [31]. It is not possible to rely on plasma or serum potassium determinations because when the blood of arthritics is drawn the platelets release potassium into the plasma [32]. Even so, 80% of people with rheumatic heart disease have low blood plasma potassium content [33].
All purpose vitamin capsules contain no potassium but usually contain vitamin B-1. Some contain 1,000% of the recommended daily intake and one even contains 5,000%. This is -dangerous for most heart disease in the absence of potassium supplements, but I do not know what definitive affect it has on rheumatoid arthritis.
CONCLUSION
It is extremely important to determine what kind of heart disease a patient has because of the potassium / vitamin B-1 imbalance. As much of essential vitamins and minerals should be obtained from food as possible in or out of a hospital, because nutrient interactions are complicated and correcting deficiencies is difficult for doctors and sometimes dangerous. For patients it is almost impossible to get it correctly. Food is usually safe and balanced for people with no genetic defect if unprocessed, varied, and free of poison. Food processors have no legitimate excuse for destroying or poisoning the food. They have PhDs in nutrition and food technology.
It is probable that the increased mortality during heart disease from taking non steroid anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that Mangoni and Knights mention is because of NSAIDs’ affect in inhibiting aldosterone degradation [60], so that the build up in aldosterone causes inappropriate potassium excretion thus an artificial potassium deficiency is created. REFERENCES – see them below at the end

IDEAL POTASSIUM INTAKE
If every one had an average intake of potassium equal to his fair share of the as grown potassium, they would receive about 3,500 milligrams per day. After processing losses and uneaten food is subtracted from the total [37 Adelson], my best guess is that the average daily intake is about 2,000 milligrams per day [38 Economic]. Keep in mind that half the people are eating less than the average. Old people have an intake less than the average [39 Dall & Gardner]. [40 Dall, et al], which is no doubt at least partly due to a lower caloric intake. Black people in Georgia average 1,500 milligrams per day, while their white neighbors average 2,000 milligrams [41Grim 1970] [42 Grim 1980]. I say the above is an unacceptably high loss. Anyone taking a pay cut like that would be very, very unhappy.
Low potassium intake is also somewhat implicated in high blood pressure, stroke, osteoporosis [35], and kidney stones. Potassium ingested as the chloride can actually raise blood pressure (hypertension) slightly. Potassium has been found to increase bone density [43 Tucker].
POLITICS of POTASSIUM
The health of people in the USA is abysmal , and a major part of it is poor nutrition. As the 12th century physician, trying to cure by diet before he administers drugs, said; “No illness that can be treated by diet should be treated by any other means" or as Hippocrates expressed it in 460 - 377BC; "If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health." It would seem that a healthy life style has been known for a long time. It is my belief that an unprocessed, unfrozen, not canned, high in vegetables diet would keep a large majority of people reasonably healthy and without the need for fad diets. The World Health Organization of the UN agrees with this, and maintains that the majority of deaths are from nutrition preventable chronic diseases. 80% of Americans do not eat adequate vegetables, but even though 72% of Americans take vitamin or mineral supplements daily or sometimes [44 Sardi p148], their health is atrocious, especially old people. Those who don't smoke, eat five servings of fruits and vegetables daily, exercise regularly and maintain a normal weight account for ONLY 3 PERCENT of the adult population in the United States, according to the report in the April 25 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. And now people with primitive diets are switching over to up to date destroyed diets world wide with corresponding decline in health.
One third of the world’s children are under weight and malnourished. 20,000 die of hunger each year [45 Gitlin]. We can ill afford to deliberately destroy any of our food by processors.
I would suggest that a partial solution to the problem of poor potassium nutrition would be to place a tax on all food that has had potassium removed by food processors and completely fund all Medicare, Medicaid, and workman’s compensation for injuries and disease that relate to rheumatoid arthritis, gout, heart disease, and high blood pressure. This would also take the onerous tax burden now incurred for them and place it on the shoulders of those who cause the problem. And this tax burden is not the only burden. Half the bankruptcies in the USA are caused by medical bills. Achieving this would be much more likely if the money was removed from politics by public funding of election campaigns and there were runoff elections. It would be the best bargain for use of public funds we would ever have made. The Health Freedom Foundation is currently attempting to solve the problem by lobbying government legislatures to change the laws and agencies organizations. Michael Jacobson and Kelly Brownell of the Center for Science in the Public Interest have proposed a small tax on soft drinks and candy to finance public nutrition education. This would be a small step in the correct direction, but inadequate by itself. Another idea to help the nutrition of our society by Dan O’Keefe is to require all supermarkets to provide a computer that tells a shopper which brands should not be eaten for each of the degenerative diseases (for instance food containing sulfite not to be eaten by those suffering from beri-beri caused heart disease).

EPILOGUE
Dr. Reza Rastmanesh from Iran has performed a large controlled clinical trial testing potassium supplements against rheumatoid arthritis with dramatic decreases in pain in all subjects and increases of cortisol [46 Rastmanesh]. He would now like to continue his clinical research testing potassium in conjunction with other nutrients, especially magnesium, in an English speaking country. His credentials are impressive. If you know of any rheumatology department able to employ him, please contact me at; isoptera at att.net , and I will send you his curriculum vitae.
SOME HEALTH INFORMATION
. You may see here the way to acquire a very comprehensive book about potassium nutrition and physiology. It is called “POTASSIUM NUTRITION in Heart Disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Gout, Diabetes, Metabolic Shock (hyperkalemia), and High Blood Pressure”. The table of contents and the introduction are shown as well as a link to the first two chapters.
Electrolyte regulation (sodium and potassium) -- Purpose of cortisol -- Copper nutrition and physiology -- Strategies for Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and fibromyalgia There is an article discussing anacardic acids in cashew nuts to cure a tooth abscess and other gram positive bacteria infections that might prove useful.
There is also an article that proposes ameliorations for diabetes and a possible cause from chili pepper.
There is evidence that cell phones can produce tumors. Using remote ear phones would seem to be a good idea.
It has been proposed that large amounts of vitamin D will cause a dramatic reduction in the heart disease rate [61]. I suspect this may be from making magnesium absorption more efficient.
The pioneering efforts about potassium for arthritis by Charles de Coti-Marsh enabled him to form a foundation currently active in England that promotes the use of potassium for arthritis and it has helped more than 3500 people.
Fluoride in city water will cause fluorosis discoloration of teeth, weakened bones, damage to the kidneys, thyroid, and immune system, bone cancer, and, worst of all, damage to the nerves resembling Alzheimer’s disease. It will also cause damage to ligaments resembling arthritis. For a forum that discusses iodide (an antidote for fluoride) access this site.

See this site for some links to health articles.
For a procedure that discusses tetrathiomolybdate for removing copper and thus preventing further solid cancer growth and Hodgkin’s, see this site. This might buy some time until you can persuade a doctor to try tumor necrosis factor or interferon or an opioid antagonist drug called Naltrexone (Naltrexone in the large 50mg size, originally manufactured by DuPont under the brand name ReVia, is now sold by Mallinckrodt as Depade and by Barr Laboratories under the generic name naltrexone) that blocks some endorphin receptors. Said blockage is thought to cause the body to temporarily secrete more endorphins, especially after midnight at night. These endorphins are thought to stimulate the immune system. It appears to be especially effective for minimizing symptoms and retarding progression of multiple sclerosis (MS) (also see these sites; this site and this site and a trial). A few doctors have had encouraging results in Crohn's Disease and CFIDS, and even to some extent in cancer. Low doses of Naltrexone (LDN), 1.5 to 4.5 milligrams, at bedtime is used (timing is important, and it is important not to buy slow release forms). It is said to have no known bad side effects at those doses other than insomnia the first week or two in some. There is also reports from an extensive survey in this site. I think some clinical studies on Naltrexone are in order, and it should not be a prescription drug. Though side effects appear unlikely, it is not proven over longer periods. If you try it (it is a prescription medicine in the USA), it seems likely that you should discontinue if you get a bacterial infection in view of its inhibition of antibacterial response. It is being explored for AIDS by Dr. Bernard Bihari, 29 W 15th St. New York, NY 10011, 212) 929-4196 who is still prescribing Naltrexone for HIV/AIDS. (and currently Executive Director of the Community Research Initiative). Dr. Gale Guyer of Advanced Medical Center located in Zionsville, Indiana also is using it for cancer. Dr. Bihari has shown promising results for a large percentage of his cancer patients.
Olive leaf extract has shown clinical evidence of effectiveness against a wide range of viruses, including AIDS [Bihari], herpes, and cold viruses. It sometimes produces a Herxheimer or pathogen die off symptoms (from effectiveness against bacteria?). There is evidence that it is synergistic (reinforce each other) with Naltrexone. There have been a few case histories of improvement in what were probably arthritis patients and CFIDS patients. The active ingredient is said to be oleuropein or enolate. There has been very little follow up research done on it.
Also it has been found that curcumin in turmeric or curry powder will inhibit several forms of cancer, including melanoma. People who live in India where these spices are eaten, have one tenth the cancer elsewhere. It must be used with caution because it can sometimes aggravate the situation [Stix].
Here is an article with anecdotal evidence for pressurized oxygen, zinc, vitamin B6, and vitamin C after head injuries. They also claim a fair percentage of prison inmates from psychiatric disorders after head injuries.
See this site for evidence of a correlation between magnesium deficiency and cancer. The taurate has been proposed as the best magnesium supplement. Since taurine is physiologically active, this may prove to not be the case long term. Taurine or 2-aminoethanesulfonic acid is an acidic chemical substance sulfonated rather than carboxylated found in high abundance in the tissues of many animals (metazoa), especially sea animals. Taurine is also found in plants, fungi, and some bacterial species, but in far less abundance. It is an amine with a sulfonic acid functional group, but it is not an amino acid in the biological sense, not being one of the twenty protein-forming compounds encoded by the universal genetic code. Small polypeptides have been identified as containing taurine, but to date there has been no report of a transfer RNA that is specifically charged with taurine [from Wikipedia]. It is essential to babies and is the most abundant brain amino acid at birth. With maturation babies start to synthesize taurine and glutamate becomes the most abundant in the brain of adults. It is essential to adult cats. It has been found that supplements of the amino acid, taurine, will restore the abnormal electrocardiogram present during a potassium deficiency by an unknown mechanism. This information has been used in several case histories by George Eby to control a long standing type of cardiac arrhythmia called pre atrial contractions (PACs), a benign but irritating and nerve racking heart problem, with 2.5 grams of taurine with each meal. Taurine is said to be low in the diets of vegetarians. The 2.5 grams recommended by the American Heart Association causes diarrhea in some people and should probably be reduced in those people.
There is strong evidence that taurine could have beneficial affects on type I diabetes, and could reduce organ peroxidation and plasma lipids. The retina, lens, and nerves respond better to taurine than other organs [Franconi]. Taurine has been used for high blood pressure [Fujita], migraine headache (I suspect that less than 1000 milligrams can remove the headache or eye ache caused by allergy to peanuts), high cholesterol, epilepsy, macular degeneration, Alzheimer’s disease, liver disorders, alcoholism, and cystic fibrosis, and depression. Keep in mind that some people may have a genetic defect that limits the amount of taurine tolerated and that adequate molybdenum may be desirable. Taurine may make a copper deficiency worse, based on a single case history [Brien Quirk, private communication]. This may be because taurine may be mobilizing copper and zinc into the plasma [Li]. So if you should decide to take taurine, make sure your copper intake is more than adequate, as well as your zinc. Taurine may be obtaind from health food stores as capsules.
A site is available which shows. foods which are high in one nutrient and low in another (including calories). This last site should be especially useful for a quick list of foods to consider first, or for those who must restrict another nutrient because of a genetic difficulty with absorption or utilization
You may find useful for definitions and easy to use a search for abstracts of journal references, "Gateway". You must click on “ MEDLINE/PubMed” or for definitions click on "find terms". or a list of medical search engines and also a site with several links to potassium nutrition articles.
The very extensive USDA Handbook #8 may be seen here. To access the information you must press "enter" to search, and then divide Kcal into milligrams of potassium. This last table is very comprehensive, is used in search mode, and even lists the amino acids. There are also links in it to PDF types of printouts from the table for individual nutrients available here Just click on the “A” or “W” button for the nutrient you desire. A table that has already done the potassium calculation is here in descending concentration -- or -- in alphabetical order. You may see a movie of the mechanical means by which the heart pumps blood in this site.
There is a free browser called Firefox, which is said to be less susceptible to viruses or crashes, has many interesting features, imports information from Iexplore while leaving Iexplore intact. You can also install their emailer. A feature that lists all the URLs on a viewed site can be useful when working on your own site.
---Google’s “scholar search site” is excellent for all types of journal references.
There is a free program available which tells on your site what web site accessed you, which search engine, statistics about which country, statistics of search engine access, keywords used and their frequency. It can be very useful.
The author has a degree in chemistry and a master of science degree in soil science. He has researched this subject for 40 years, primarily library research. He has cured his own early onset of rheumatoid arthritis. He has published articles on allied subjects in; The Journal of Theoretical Biology (1970, 1983), The Journal of Applied Nutrition (1974) which gained the best article of the year award, Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology (1983), and Medical Hypotheses (1984, 1999, 2007, 2008) This article is solely funded by the author and no advertisements are knowingly included.

Send email to Charles Weber; ----- isoptera at att.net - or; phone = 828 692 5816 (USA)
All printed rights to this article are reserved. Electronic rights are waived.
There is a directory of rheumatologists in the USA with links to directories of other doctors, medical schools, hospitals, and health plans at this site.

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----32. Ifudu O, Markell MS, Friedman EA. Unrecognized pseudohyperkalemia as a cause of elevated potassium in patients with renal disease. American Journal of Nephrology 12: 102-104, 1992.
----33. Sokolov EI. Disorders of electrolyte metabolism in cases of rheumatic valvular heart disease (Russian). VOP. Revmatizma 1: 55-58 from; Arthritis and Rheumatic Diseases Abstracts 3: 526, 96, 1966.
----34. Hanninen SA Darling PB Sole MJ Barr A Keith ME 2008 The prevalence of thiamin deficiency in hospitalized patients with congestive heart failure. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 47; 354-361.
----35. He and MacGregor 2001 Fortnightly review: Beneficial effects of potassium BMJ. 323; 497-501.
---- 36. Wooley JA 2008 Characteristics of thiamin and its relevance to the management of heart disease. Nutrition in Clinical Practice 27; 487-493.
---- 37. Adelson SF et al 1963 Discard of edible food in households. Journal Home Economics 55; 633.
---- 38. Economic Research Service 1971 Food consumption supplement for 1970 to Agricultural Economic Report #138 USDA, Wash. DC. ---- 39. Dall & Gardner HS 1971 Dietary intake of potassium by geriatric patients. Gerontol. Clinic 13; 119-124.
---- 40. Dall JLC Paulose S & Ferguson JA 1971 Potassium intake of elderly patients in hospital. Gerontol. Clinic 13; 114.
---- 41. Grim CE et al 1970 On the higher blood pressure of blacks: A study of sodium and potassium intake and excretion in a bi-racial community. Clinical Research 18; 593.
---- 42. Grim CE, Luft FC, Miller JZ, Meneely GR, Battarbee HD, Hames CG, Dahl LK 1980 Racial differences in blood pressure in Evans County, Georgia: relationship to sodium and potassium intake and plasma renin activity. J Chronic Dis. 33(2):87-94.
---- 43. Tucker KL Hannan ML Chen H Cupples A Wilson PWF Kiel DP 1999 Potassium, magnesium, and fruit and vegetable intakes are associated with greater bone mineral density in elderly men and women. Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, Apr 1999; 69: 727 - 736.
---- 44. Sardi B 2003 The New Truth About Vitamins and Minerals. Here and Now Books, 457 West Allen Ave. #117, San Dimas, CA 91773.
---- 45. Gitlin JD 2006 Distributing nutrition. Science 314; 1252-1253.
---- 46. Rastmanesh R 2008 A pilot study of potassium supplementation in treatment of hypokalemic patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a randomized, double-blinded, placebo controlled trial. The Journal of Pain 9; 722.
---- 47. Studdert, et. al. 1991 Thiamin deficiency in cats and dogs associated with feeding meat preserved with sulphur dioxide, Australian Veterinary Journal, Vol 68, issue 2, p 54-57.
---- 48. Hilker, et. al. 1958 Antithiamin factors in blueberries. Intern J. Vitamin Res., 38: 387.
---- 49. Chaudhuri DK. 1962 Antithiamine factor of rice-bran. Sci. Cult. 28: 384-5.
---- 50. Howard L Wagner C Schenker S 1974 Malabsorption of Thiamin in Folate-deficient Rats, J. Nutr.
---- 60. Knights KM Mangoni AA 2006 Non-selective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and cardiovascular events: is aldosterone the silent partner in crime? British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 61; 738-740.
---- 61. Vacek LV et al American Journal of Cardiology Volume 109, Issue 3 , Pages 359-363, 1 February 2012

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frannybananny · Aug 18, 2022

Peatness said:
POTASSIUM and THIAMIN (VITAMIN B-1) in HEART DISEASE
by Charles Weber, MS

Source

http://charles_w.tripod.com/kandthiamin.html

I recommend that you seek additional advice before using any information in this article.

ABSTRACT
Insufficient potassium and vitamin B-1 (thiamin) can not damage the heart significantly when both are deficient. This has very important implications when supplementing each during heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis.
INTRODUCTION
Cardiovascular disease remains as the #1 cause of mortality. About 50% of heart failure patients will perish in 5-years. At age 40, life time risk of developing heart failure is 1 in 5.Diastolic dysfunction heart failure prevalence has increased to 50% of all heart failure. Most of the heart disease in western societies is probably either caused by or is greatly enhanced by a potassium deficiency. Potassium has been used in heart disease therapy since 1930 [1]. Potassium enriched table salt almost halved the mortality from cardiovascular disease of retired men studied in China over a 31 month period [2]. Permanent damage can be inflicted on the heart and kidneys of animals by potassium restriction [3].
However it is possible for a dangerous imbalance with respect to thiamine (vitamin B-1) can arise from potassium supplements if animal experiments are an indication. If potassium supplements are given during the wet heart disease of beri beri (vitamin B-1 deficiency), the heart disease is made much worse [4][5]. Wet heart disease of beri-beri is impossible if potassium is also deficient [6]. Instead a muscular atrophy similar to that from vitamin E deficiency appears [7][8]. Hove and Herndon suspect that muscular dystrophy is a potassium deficiency since body potassium is low during muscular dystrophy [7]. During a vitamin B-1 deficiency the heart loses potassium [4]. This may be why heart damage in beriberi resembles that in a potassium deficiency. The chemistry of vitamin B-1 in the body is extremely complicated and determining its status by chemical tests is very difficult (this article shows the chemistry in great detail)[36 Wooley]. One symptom of a vitamin B-1 deficiency is lactic acid acidosis [9]. Why the heart should be protected by a deficiency of both potassium and vitamin B-1 is strange, and I know no explanation for it.
Some of the symptoms of heart disease are shortness of breath, swelling of the legs and ankles and occasionally the abdomen, fatigue and weakness, loss of appetite and nausea, reduced urination, and persistent cough which sometimes produces mucus or blood tinged sputum. DISCUSSION
It could be the sulfur dioxide in most wines might be part of the reason why wine statistically protects people from the more prevalent potassium deficient heart disease because sulfites in most wines destroy vitamin B-1 in the intestines. Wine also has a poison in it that interferes with potassium excretion [10], and this would intensify the problem with vitamin B-1 destruction for those who start to take potassium supplements. Please keep in mind that the necrosis of heart tissue discussed here is not the same as cardiovascular disease of blood vessels, which is probably usually from a copper deficiency.
It is obvious that if potassium supplements are given, it is very important that the vitamin B-1 intake must be adequate at the same time, and one third of heart disease patients are deficient in thiamin [34].
. You may see here the way to acquire a very comprehensive book about potassium supplementation, nutrition and physiology. It is called “POTASSIUM NUTRITION in Heart Disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Gout, Diabetes, Metabolic Shock (hyperkalemia), and High Blood Pressure”. The table of contents and the introduction are shown.
Potassium supplements are also called sodium free table salt, Morton’s Lite salt, Stirling’s Half and Half (the above combination salts contain about one atom of potassium to two of sodium as the chloride), sodium free baking powder (potassium bicarbonate or tartrate), oral rehydration therapy (ORT) for diarrhea, glucose-insulin-kalium (GIK) salt, and potassium softened water [11]. Leafy vegetables low in starch are high in potassium, some so much so that they are virtually a supplement. Ammonium chloride is equivalent to a potassium supplement since ammonium interferes with excretion of potassium in the kidneys. Glucosamine is a biological reaction product of fructose-6-phosphate sugar and glutamic amino acid, sold as the sulfate. Glutamic acid breaks down forming ammonium ion in the body, so glucosamine acts to increase body potassium by ammonium interference with excretion. Some commercial glucosamine products are also a direct potassium supplement, since they contain large amounts of potassium chloride. Potassium was considered inert, or largely so in the past but definitely is not. In addition to potassium, ammonium and choline molecules were also used in salt substitutes. These molecules may not be useless. Choline is a biologically active material similar to vitamins but made by the body. Its long-term effects as a supplement are unknown to me. However choline supplements increase memory ability in baby rats when administered either before or after being born, probably from an increase in brain cell size [12]. Ammonium, at least, may interfere with potassium excretion if it is absorbed in the intestines and has been used to protect the kidneys [13]. So far as I know, reasonable amounts of the substitutes above are reasonably harmless for healthy people who have normal blood pressure. Ammonium is even synthesized by the kidneys during a potassium deficiency from glutamine, and this is probably a strategy of the body, the purpose of which is to prevent potassium loss. Eating glutamine increases ammonia excretion and decreases potassium excretion [14]. However, if ammonium chloride is used during a potassium deficiency a dangerous taurine depletion occurs resulting in lethal heart disease in cats [15], so should be avoided by humans until there is more information. Sulfate is an excretory product, so the sulfate as the anion with potassium should be, at the least, useless. I suspect that potassium as the sulfate may have the same effect on high blood pressure (hypertension) as the chloride has in increasing pressure, but I know of no evidence. In patients on adequate potassium and low sodium, there is no significant change of blood pressure from potassium supplements. “Urinary potassium was 77±16, 122±25, and 125±27 mmol/24 hours after 4 weeks on placebo, potassium chloride, and potassium bicarbonate, respectively. There were no significant differences in office blood pressure among the 3 treatment periods, and only 24-hour and daytime systolic blood pressures were slightly lower with potassium chloride. Compared with placebo, both potassium chloride and potassium bicarbonate significantly improved endothelial function as measured by brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation, increased arterial compliance as assessed by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, decreased left ventricular mass, and improved left ventricular diastolic function. There was no significant difference between the 2 potassium salts in these measurements. The study also showed that potassium chloride reduced 24-hour urinary albumin and albumin:creatinine ratio, and potassium bicarbonate decreased 24-hour urinary calcium, calcium:creatinine ratio, and plasma C-terminal cross-linking telopeptide of type 1 collagen significantly. These results demonstrated that an increase in potassium intake had beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system, and potassium bicarbonate may improve bone health. Importantly, these effects were found in individuals who already had a relatively low-salt and high-potassium intake.” Potassium citrate should have an affects similar to potassium bicarbonate because citrate is used by the body to provide energy. Potassium citrate has been found to effectively prevent kidney uric acid stones. This is probably related to producing a less acid urine. I suspect that the citrate or the carbonate are the safest long term potassium supplements.
Adding potassium sulfate to a processed food diet should have the same effect as adding sulfuric acid to a normal diet, whatever that is. In any case, sulfate and phosphate increases potassium excretion [16]. Phosphate is probably very dangerous for those with heart disease. Excess phosphate has caused 100 per cent mortality during heart disease [13], so potassium probably should not be provided as the phosphate. Soft drinks often are high in phosphoric acid.
Potassium bicarbonate has been shown to be not as quick as the chloride in relieving a deficiency both as to reducing cell sodium content and raising plasma levels of potassium [16][17]. However, potassium as the chloride should have the same affect on heart disease as potassium from unprocessed food coupled with hydrochloric acid supplements, whatever that is. There are times when this might be disadvantageous. However, even so, potassium chloride reduces blood pressure in sodium loaded spontaneously hypertensive rats and protects them from kidney damage [18] (and no doubt from heart disease).This may be because of difficulty in handling hydrogen ion (acid) in some forms of high blood pressure. Support is given to this possibility since sodium bicarbonate lowered blood pressure 5 mm of mercury while sodium chloride had no affect [19], possibly partly because sodium chloride was already high in their diet. Any designation of high blood pressure must be by comparing the pressure to the average among low sodium chloride intake people [20]. Both sodium and chloride are necessary for pressure augmentation [21]. This phenomenon may be involved with 18 hydroxy deoxycorticosterone steroid hormone (18 OHDOC) because that hormone is raised in one of the forms of high blood pressure [22] and that hormone is the hormone used by the body to increase acid excretion. Chloride as the potassium salt increases blood pressure somewhat though. All these complications are arguments to eat only undamaged food and get as much nourishment from food as possible
Even if the patient is eating foods fairly adequate in vitamin B-1, the patient could still possibly have a problem with vitamin B-1 deficiency if also eating foods that have sulfites in them since sulfites degrade vitamin B-1 in the intestines [23] [24] Such foods are wine, vinegar, pickles, olives, salad dressing, canned clams, fresh, frozen, canned, or dried shrimp, frozen lobster, scallops, dried cod, gelatin, pectin jelling agents, cornstarch, modified food starch, spinach pasta, gravies, hominy, breadings, batters, noodle/rice mixes, shredded coconut, vegetable juice, canned vegetables (including potatoes), pickled vegetables (including sauerkraut), dried vegetables, instant mashed potatoes, frozen potatoes, potato salad, corn syrup, maple syrup, fruit toppings, and high-fructose syrups such as corn syrup and pancake syrup, instant tea, liquid tea concentrates, beer, bottled lemon juice, some baked goods, some dried fruits, and some meat in dog and cat food [47]. Extruding wheat flour at temperatures approaching 100 degrees C can cause losses of vitamin B-1 as high as 34%. Using diuretics can cause loss of vitamin B-1 [25], loop diuretics, for instance [36 Wooley]. There is something in tea leaves that antagonizes vitamin B-1 [26]. Phenolic compounds in blueberries [48] and rice bran [49] destroy vitamin B-1. Also, the symptoms of a vitamin B-1 deficiency can materialize even if vitamin B-1 is adequate if magnesium is deficient, say from Chron’s disease [27]. A folate deficiency prevents thiamin absorption in rats. Folate is the most common B vitamin deficiency in the world. [50] Tea leaves and betel nuts destroy vitamin B-1. Consumption of food high in tannins can cause thiamin deficiency. The reaction was biphasic, having a rapid initial phase which was oxygen-independent, followed by a slower phase which was oxygen concentration-dependent. Ascorbic acid completely inhibited the reaction if present at the beginning of the reaction and could partially reverse the reaction if added during the first 30 min. It is possible that low hydrochloric acid in the stomach of diabetics causes destruction of vitamin B-1. The diet can vary widely as to vitamin B-1. Vitamin B-1 deficiency may be suspected in refugee immigrants, critically ill patients and alcoholics. Vitamin B-1 deficiency can result in cardiac failure, neuropathy, or Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, which last can not be cured with oral supplements even though classic thiamine deficiency symptoms do not show [28].
Diabetics should keep in mind a new discovery that type 1 diabetics excrete vitamin B-1 four times normal people and type 2 three times, which leads to a vitamin B-1 content in plasma one fourth as high in diabetics. This is due to a malfunction of thiamin absorption in the proximal kidney tubules. Erythrocyte (red blood cells) vitamin B-1 was normal in diabetics, probably because there were increased thiamin transporters THTR-1 RFC-1 in the cell wall. Therefore erythrocyte thiamin can not be used to determine thiamin status [29].
Since diabetics are usually deficient in potassium, it seems that it is highly probable that they should never use potassium unless they correct the vitamin B-1 at the same time and the reverse.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
The reverse is also the case. Vitamin B-1 supplements should be dangerous for people with low potassium. Since cell potassium is always low in rheumatoid arthritis [30], such people should not take vitamin B-1 without potassium. This may be part of the reason why people with rheumatoid arthritis (but not osteoarthritis) have a much higher heart disease rate than others [31]. It is not possible to rely on plasma or serum potassium determinations because when the blood of arthritics is drawn the platelets release potassium into the plasma [32]. Even so, 80% of people with rheumatic heart disease have low blood plasma potassium content [33].
All purpose vitamin capsules contain no potassium but usually contain vitamin B-1. Some contain 1,000% of the recommended daily intake and one even contains 5,000%. This is -dangerous for most heart disease in the absence of potassium supplements, but I do not know what definitive affect it has on rheumatoid arthritis.
CONCLUSION
It is extremely important to determine what kind of heart disease a patient has because of the potassium / vitamin B-1 imbalance. As much of essential vitamins and minerals should be obtained from food as possible in or out of a hospital, because nutrient interactions are complicated and correcting deficiencies is difficult for doctors and sometimes dangerous. For patients it is almost impossible to get it correctly. Food is usually safe and balanced for people with no genetic defect if unprocessed, varied, and free of poison. Food processors have no legitimate excuse for destroying or poisoning the food. They have PhDs in nutrition and food technology.
It is probable that the increased mortality during heart disease from taking non steroid anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that Mangoni and Knights mention is because of NSAIDs’ affect in inhibiting aldosterone degradation [60], so that the build up in aldosterone causes inappropriate potassium excretion thus an artificial potassium deficiency is created. REFERENCES – see them below at the end

IDEAL POTASSIUM INTAKE
If every one had an average intake of potassium equal to his fair share of the as grown potassium, they would receive about 3,500 milligrams per day. After processing losses and uneaten food is subtracted from the total [37 Adelson], my best guess is that the average daily intake is about 2,000 milligrams per day [38 Economic]. Keep in mind that half the people are eating less than the average. Old people have an intake less than the average [39 Dall & Gardner]. [40 Dall, et al], which is no doubt at least partly due to a lower caloric intake. Black people in Georgia average 1,500 milligrams per day, while their white neighbors average 2,000 milligrams [41Grim 1970] [42 Grim 1980]. I say the above is an unacceptably high loss. Anyone taking a pay cut like that would be very, very unhappy.
Low potassium intake is also somewhat implicated in high blood pressure, stroke, osteoporosis [35], and kidney stones. Potassium ingested as the chloride can actually raise blood pressure (hypertension) slightly. Potassium has been found to increase bone density [43 Tucker].
POLITICS of POTASSIUM
The health of people in the USA is abysmal , and a major part of it is poor nutrition. As the 12th century physician, trying to cure by diet before he administers drugs, said; “No illness that can be treated by diet should be treated by any other means" or as Hippocrates expressed it in 460 - 377BC; "If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health." It would seem that a healthy life style has been known for a long time. It is my belief that an unprocessed, unfrozen, not canned, high in vegetables diet would keep a large majority of people reasonably healthy and without the need for fad diets. The World Health Organization of the UN agrees with this, and maintains that the majority of deaths are from nutrition preventable chronic diseases. 80% of Americans do not eat adequate vegetables, but even though 72% of Americans take vitamin or mineral supplements daily or sometimes [44 Sardi p148], their health is atrocious, especially old people. Those who don't smoke, eat five servings of fruits and vegetables daily, exercise regularly and maintain a normal weight account for ONLY 3 PERCENT of the adult population in the United States, according to the report in the April 25 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. And now people with primitive diets are switching over to up to date destroyed diets world wide with corresponding decline in health.
One third of the world’s children are under weight and malnourished. 20,000 die of hunger each year [45 Gitlin]. We can ill afford to deliberately destroy any of our food by processors.
I would suggest that a partial solution to the problem of poor potassium nutrition would be to place a tax on all food that has had potassium removed by food processors and completely fund all Medicare, Medicaid, and workman’s compensation for injuries and disease that relate to rheumatoid arthritis, gout, heart disease, and high blood pressure. This would also take the onerous tax burden now incurred for them and place it on the shoulders of those who cause the problem. And this tax burden is not the only burden. Half the bankruptcies in the USA are caused by medical bills. Achieving this would be much more likely if the money was removed from politics by public funding of election campaigns and there were runoff elections. It would be the best bargain for use of public funds we would ever have made. The Health Freedom Foundation is currently attempting to solve the problem by lobbying government legislatures to change the laws and agencies organizations. Michael Jacobson and Kelly Brownell of the Center for Science in the Public Interest have proposed a small tax on soft drinks and candy to finance public nutrition education. This would be a small step in the correct direction, but inadequate by itself. Another idea to help the nutrition of our society by Dan O’Keefe is to require all supermarkets to provide a computer that tells a shopper which brands should not be eaten for each of the degenerative diseases (for instance food containing sulfite not to be eaten by those suffering from beri-beri caused heart disease).

EPILOGUE
Dr. Reza Rastmanesh from Iran has performed a large controlled clinical trial testing potassium supplements against rheumatoid arthritis with dramatic decreases in pain in all subjects and increases of cortisol [46 Rastmanesh]. He would now like to continue his clinical research testing potassium in conjunction with other nutrients, especially magnesium, in an English speaking country. His credentials are impressive. If you know of any rheumatology department able to employ him, please contact me at; isoptera at att.net , and I will send you his curriculum vitae.
SOME HEALTH INFORMATION
. You may see here the way to acquire a very comprehensive book about potassium nutrition and physiology. It is called “POTASSIUM NUTRITION in Heart Disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Gout, Diabetes, Metabolic Shock (hyperkalemia), and High Blood Pressure”. The table of contents and the introduction are shown as well as a link to the first two chapters.
Electrolyte regulation (sodium and potassium) -- Purpose of cortisol -- Copper nutrition and physiology -- Strategies for Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and fibromyalgia There is an article discussing anacardic acids in cashew nuts to cure a tooth abscess and other gram positive bacteria infections that might prove useful.
There is also an article that proposes ameliorations for diabetes and a possible cause from chili pepper.
There is evidence that cell phones can produce tumors. Using remote ear phones would seem to be a good idea.
It has been proposed that large amounts of vitamin D will cause a dramatic reduction in the heart disease rate [61]. I suspect this may be from making magnesium absorption more efficient.
The pioneering efforts about potassium for arthritis by Charles de Coti-Marsh enabled him to form a foundation currently active in England that promotes the use of potassium for arthritis and it has helped more than 3500 people.
Fluoride in city water will cause fluorosis discoloration of teeth, weakened bones, damage to the kidneys, thyroid, and immune system, bone cancer, and, worst of all, damage to the nerves resembling Alzheimer’s disease. It will also cause damage to ligaments resembling arthritis. For a forum that discusses iodide (an antidote for fluoride) access this site.

See this site for some links to health articles.
For a procedure that discusses tetrathiomolybdate for removing copper and thus preventing further solid cancer growth and Hodgkin’s, see this site. This might buy some time until you can persuade a doctor to try tumor necrosis factor or interferon or an opioid antagonist drug called Naltrexone (Naltrexone in the large 50mg size, originally manufactured by DuPont under the brand name ReVia, is now sold by Mallinckrodt as Depade and by Barr Laboratories under the generic name naltrexone) that blocks some endorphin receptors. Said blockage is thought to cause the body to temporarily secrete more endorphins, especially after midnight at night. These endorphins are thought to stimulate the immune system. It appears to be especially effective for minimizing symptoms and retarding progression of multiple sclerosis (MS) (also see these sites; this site and this site and a trial). A few doctors have had encouraging results in Crohn's Disease and CFIDS, and even to some extent in cancer. Low doses of Naltrexone (LDN), 1.5 to 4.5 milligrams, at bedtime is used (timing is important, and it is important not to buy slow release forms). It is said to have no known bad side effects at those doses other than insomnia the first week or two in some. There is also reports from an extensive survey in this site. I think some clinical studies on Naltrexone are in order, and it should not be a prescription drug. Though side effects appear unlikely, it is not proven over longer periods. If you try it (it is a prescription medicine in the USA), it seems likely that you should discontinue if you get a bacterial infection in view of its inhibition of antibacterial response. It is being explored for AIDS by Dr. Bernard Bihari, 29 W 15th St. New York, NY 10011, 212) 929-4196 who is still prescribing Naltrexone for HIV/AIDS. (and currently Executive Director of the Community Research Initiative). Dr. Gale Guyer of Advanced Medical Center located in Zionsville, Indiana also is using it for cancer. Dr. Bihari has shown promising results for a large percentage of his cancer patients.
Olive leaf extract has shown clinical evidence of effectiveness against a wide range of viruses, including AIDS [Bihari], herpes, and cold viruses. It sometimes produces a Herxheimer or pathogen die off symptoms (from effectiveness against bacteria?). There is evidence that it is synergistic (reinforce each other) with Naltrexone. There have been a few case histories of improvement in what were probably arthritis patients and CFIDS patients. The active ingredient is said to be oleuropein or enolate. There has been very little follow up research done on it.
Also it has been found that curcumin in turmeric or curry powder will inhibit several forms of cancer, including melanoma. People who live in India where these spices are eaten, have one tenth the cancer elsewhere. It must be used with caution because it can sometimes aggravate the situation [Stix].
Here is an article with anecdotal evidence for pressurized oxygen, zinc, vitamin B6, and vitamin C after head injuries. They also claim a fair percentage of prison inmates from psychiatric disorders after head injuries.
See this site for evidence of a correlation between magnesium deficiency and cancer. The taurate has been proposed as the best magnesium supplement. Since taurine is physiologically active, this may prove to not be the case long term. Taurine or 2-aminoethanesulfonic acid is an acidic chemical substance sulfonated rather than carboxylated found in high abundance in the tissues of many animals (metazoa), especially sea animals. Taurine is also found in plants, fungi, and some bacterial species, but in far less abundance. It is an amine with a sulfonic acid functional group, but it is not an amino acid in the biological sense, not being one of the twenty protein-forming compounds encoded by the universal genetic code. Small polypeptides have been identified as containing taurine, but to date there has been no report of a transfer RNA that is specifically charged with taurine [from Wikipedia]. It is essential to babies and is the most abundant brain amino acid at birth. With maturation babies start to synthesize taurine and glutamate becomes the most abundant in the brain of adults. It is essential to adult cats. It has been found that supplements of the amino acid, taurine, will restore the abnormal electrocardiogram present during a potassium deficiency by an unknown mechanism. This information has been used in several case histories by George Eby to control a long standing type of cardiac arrhythmia called pre atrial contractions (PACs), a benign but irritating and nerve racking heart problem, with 2.5 grams of taurine with each meal. Taurine is said to be low in the diets of vegetarians. The 2.5 grams recommended by the American Heart Association causes diarrhea in some people and should probably be reduced in those people.
There is strong evidence that taurine could have beneficial affects on type I diabetes, and could reduce organ peroxidation and plasma lipids. The retina, lens, and nerves respond better to taurine than other organs [Franconi]. Taurine has been used for high blood pressure [Fujita], migraine headache (I suspect that less than 1000 milligrams can remove the headache or eye ache caused by allergy to peanuts), high cholesterol, epilepsy, macular degeneration, Alzheimer’s disease, liver disorders, alcoholism, and cystic fibrosis, and depression. Keep in mind that some people may have a genetic defect that limits the amount of taurine tolerated and that adequate molybdenum may be desirable. Taurine may make a copper deficiency worse, based on a single case history [Brien Quirk, private communication]. This may be because taurine may be mobilizing copper and zinc into the plasma [Li]. So if you should decide to take taurine, make sure your copper intake is more than adequate, as well as your zinc. Taurine may be obtaind from health food stores as capsules.
A site is available which shows. foods which are high in one nutrient and low in another (including calories). This last site should be especially useful for a quick list of foods to consider first, or for those who must restrict another nutrient because of a genetic difficulty with absorption or utilization
You may find useful for definitions and easy to use a search for abstracts of journal references, "Gateway". You must click on “ MEDLINE/PubMed” or for definitions click on "find terms". or a list of medical search engines and also a site with several links to potassium nutrition articles.
The very extensive USDA Handbook #8 may be seen here. To access the information you must press "enter" to search, and then divide Kcal into milligrams of potassium. This last table is very comprehensive, is used in search mode, and even lists the amino acids. There are also links in it to PDF types of printouts from the table for individual nutrients available here Just click on the “A” or “W” button for the nutrient you desire. A table that has already done the potassium calculation is here in descending concentration -- or -- in alphabetical order. You may see a movie of the mechanical means by which the heart pumps blood in this site.
There is a free browser called Firefox, which is said to be less susceptible to viruses or crashes, has many interesting features, imports information from Iexplore while leaving Iexplore intact. You can also install their emailer. A feature that lists all the URLs on a viewed site can be useful when working on your own site.
---Google’s “scholar search site” is excellent for all types of journal references.
There is a free program available which tells on your site what web site accessed you, which search engine, statistics about which country, statistics of search engine access, keywords used and their frequency. It can be very useful.
The author has a degree in chemistry and a master of science degree in soil science. He has researched this subject for 40 years, primarily library research. He has cured his own early onset of rheumatoid arthritis. He has published articles on allied subjects in; The Journal of Theoretical Biology (1970, 1983), The Journal of Applied Nutrition (1974) which gained the best article of the year award, Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology (1983), and Medical Hypotheses (1984, 1999, 2007, 2008) This article is solely funded by the author and no advertisements are knowingly included.

Send email to Charles Weber; ----- isoptera at att.net - or; phone = 828 692 5816 (USA)
All printed rights to this article are reserved. Electronic rights are waived.
There is a directory of rheumatologists in the USA with links to directories of other doctors, medical schools, hospitals, and health plans at this site.

REFERENCES
----1. Sampson JJ, Anderson, EM. The therapeutic use of potassium in certain cardiac arrhythmias. Proceedings of the Society of Experimental Biology & Medicine 28: 163, 1930.
----2. Chang HY, Hu YW, Yue CSJ, Wen YW, Yeh WT, Hsu LS. Effect of potassium-enriched salt on cardiovascular mortality and medical expenses of elderly men, l, Am J Clin Nutr, 83(6): 1289-96, 2006.
----3. Rubini ME, Chojnacki RE. Principles of parenteral therapy. Am. Clin. Nutr. 25: 96-113, 1972.
----4. Mineno T. Effect of some vitamins and other substances on K metabolism in the myocardia of vitamin deficient rats - Experiemtal investigation. J. Nagoya Med. Assoc. 92: 80-95, 1969.
----5. Gould SE, ed Pathology of the Heart and Blood Vessels - 3rd ed. Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Ill p 508 1968.
----6. Folis RH. Myocardial necroses in rats on a potassium low diet prevented by thiamine deficiency. Bulletin Johns Hopkins Hosp.71: 235-241, 1942.
----7. Hove EL, Herndon JF. Potassium deficiency in the rabbit as a cause of muscular dystrophy. J Nutr. 55: 363-374, 1953.
----8. Blahd WH, Cassen B, Lederer M. Body potassium content in patients with muscular dystrophy - body composition part 1. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 110: 282-290, 1963.
----9. Romanski SA, McMahon MM. Metabolic acidosis and thiamine deficiency. Mayo Clin Proc. 1999 Mar;74(3):259-63, 1999.
----10. McDonald JT, Margen S. Wine vs ethanol in human nutrition. Fluid sodium and potassium balance. American journal of Clinical Nutrition 32: 817-822, 1979.
----11. Williams CL Meck WH Heyer DD Loy R Hypertrophy of basal forebrain neurons and enhanced visuospatial memory in perinatally choline supplemented rats. Brain Research 794: 225-238, 1998.
----12. Weber CE, Potassium supplements as affecting rheumatoid arthritis, diarrhea, hypertension, and heart disease. Available from URL http://charles_w.tripod.com/arthritis11.html
----13. Selye H, Sylvester O, Hall CE, Leblond CP. Hormonal production of arthritis. J. Am. Med. Assoc 124: 201, 1944.
----14. Tannen RL. Relationship of renal ammonia production and potassium homostasis. Kidney International 11: 453-465, 1977.
----15. Dow SW, Fettman MJ, Smith KR, Ching SV, Hamar DW. Taurine Depletion and Cardiovascular Disease in Cats Fed a Potassium-Depleted, Acidified Diet. American Journal of Veterinary Research, 53(3):402-405, 1992.
----16. Giebisch G. 1979 Renal potassium transport, Chapter 5 in; Membrane Transport in Biology. p215-298 Giebisch G editor. Springer Verlag, Berlin, NY
----17. DeLand EC, Villamil MF, Maloney Jr JV. A theoretical and experimental study of ionic shifts induced by K depletion and replacement. Journal of Theoretical Biology 76: 31-51, 1979.
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Peatness · Aug 18, 2022

POTASSIUM NUTRITIONAL LOSSES and RECOMMENDED DAILY REQUIREMENT

by Charles Weber, MS

Potassium losses from perspiration, in urine, during diarrhea, from stress, poisons, and disease states are discussed.

CONTENTS of other chapters: Back to INTRODUCTION chapter -- II. Arthritis Research -- III. Arthritis and Potassium -- IV. Roles of Potassium in the Body -- V. Electrolyte regulation (sodium and potassium) -- VI. Purpose of cortisol -- VII. Copper nutrition and physiology -- VIII. Nutritional Requirements -- IX. Potassium in Foods -- X. Processing Losses -- X,cont. Losses in the kitchen -- XI. Supplementation -- Side Effects and Heart Disease -- XIVPotassium and thiamin in heart disease -- Strategies for CFS and fibromyalgia
--------------------- POTASSIUM NUTRITION (a book by Charles Weber) Potassium losses from perspiration, in urine, during diarrhea, from stress, poisons, and disease states are discussed in the book available here, as well as methods to supplement potassium safely, especially as involved in heart disease, gout, high blood pressure, and rheumatoid arthritis, and indirectly in diabetes. It is published by iUniverse publishing company and it is a very comprehensive book about potassium, probably much more so than any other. You may see the table of contents with chapter summaries and the introductory chapter by clicking here.
When Blood Potassium is too High

INTRODUCTION,
The body must continually take in potassium throughout life, for there is no way to prevent loss in the urine and there is no storage in the cells or any organ, other than potassium associated with glycogen (animal starch). Glycogen is really a means of storing glucose sugar. If potassium were to be cut off completely, most mammals would probably be dead in less than two months. Humans would probably not last much longer. The general strategy that the body adopts is to take in more potassium than it needs in food, to absorb most of it from the intestines, and then to adjust the concentration in the blood serum by excreting just exactly the right amount from the kidneys, and to some extent into the lower large intestines.
Before the kidneys have a chance to excrete the excess, the potassium diffuses into any deficient body cells. The cell is essentially a tiny bag of potassium salts. Since the blood serum in which these cells bathe is made up mostly of sodium with only about 187 milligrams of potassium per liter, it is necessary for the cell to have some mechanism for keeping out the sodium. As we have seen the sodium either diffuses in or is pumped in along with the potassium. The current evidence seems to indicate that both a pump or pumps and diffusion are involved, and that the diffusion goes through an enzymatic gate. After they get in, there is a net pumping out of the sodium through the sodium pump on the cell wall. There is evidence that possibly the outward pumping of three sodium ions is coupled with an inward pumping of two potassium ions. If so this coupling would greatly increase the energy efficiency of the pump. I need to examine the literature to establish current thinking more certainly. However the exact configuration of these pumps and gates would not change the matter from seeming to be a true Donnan equilibrium.
The sodium pump operates every hour of the day and night throughout life, powered by 10% of the body's resting energy [Potts p274-275]. Only certain poisons [Post] or cold in the vicinity of freezing [Hendricks] can stop it . If it were to stop in vital cells, death is certain in a short time, perhaps as little as 15 minutes. In the brain the situation is even more serious. If the brain is merely deprived of the oxygen necessary to power this pump for as little as 5 minutes, irreparable damage is likely.
Since the most immediately urgent role of potassium in the body is to act as a counter flow for sodium's role in nerve transmission, the body must put a high priority on regulating the potassium of the blood serum. If the animal is to survive, its nervous system must be in peak performing ability all the time. Too little potassium is normally not a problem, because the cell fluid contains enormous amounts of potassium compared to the plasma. This potassium can be made available merely by allowing sodium to displace 2/3 of that which leaves the cell [Rubini] and the rest moves out with some of the negatively charged ions [Gardner]. Too much potassium is a perennial problem, however. A minor mechanism can be used to help the body cope with an acute emergency. For instance when sugar is stored in the liver as glycogen it always takes one ion of potassium with every molecule of glycogen [Hungerland]. So in an emergency merely by secreting more insulin, the body can unload a fair amount of potassium from the blood [Hiatt]. It may also secrete more glucagon at the same time in order that the blood not be depleted of glucose [Hiatt]. The insulin mechanism is only used at high intakes.

URINE
The main regulator, and the organ on which the body places most of its hopes to keep potassium normal, is the kidney. Aldosterone and deoxycorticosterone (DOC) stimulate the kidneys to excrete potassium. Most of the emergency unloading takes place in the distal and collecting tubules where potassium can be actively excreted in amounts as high as 26000 milligrams per day for persons adapted to a high intake [Peterson 1972 p107,114, or 151]. A healthy young adult male can excrete about 2000 milligrams per day in the urine and still maintain his optimum potassium level [Consolazio 1967]. Since this is the main stream of potassium excretion, it follows that the minimum daily requirement is a little over 2000 milligrams per day for normal young adults who are not perspiring, not subject to fear or anxiety, and do not have diarrhea or vomiting.

SOLID EXCRETION
The potassium can not be completely absorbed by the intestines from the food. Very little is left in the absence of diarrhea, however, of the order of 167 milligrams per day [Consolazio 1963]. Therefore this amount has to be added to the 2000 milligrams above to get the minimum daily requirement. Potassium is primarily absorbed in the large intestine. Under aldosterone stimulation the last part of the large intestine can reverse the normal direction of potassium movement [Edmonds] or at least prevent its reabsorption. The intestines thus assist the kidneys in preventing surges of potassium in the blood serum.
While potassium excretion is normally low in the solid excretion, it can be significantly raised, to as high as 1100 milligrams per day from the usual 300 milligrams per day from a potassium adequate diet, by large amounts of wheat fiber.

PERSPIRATION
Potassium lost in perspiration is usually very low also, since perspiration is itself usually low in volume. The potassium is about the same content as blood serum [Gordon]. When perspiration is excessive the situation changes, and it is possible to conceive of potassium losses rivaling those of minimum kidney losses on a sweltering day and muggy night. The normal loss is one milliequivalent or about forty milligrams of potassium for each six grams of water [Weisberg]. It follows that your potassium requirements are higher in the summer than in the winter. It is possible that the loss of potassium that must be taking place from cool body cells may make winter a little more prone to loss than in spring or fall but I have no data which would establish this.
The frequent saunas or steam baths which the people of Finland take, may be helping to give them one of the highest rates of arthritis in the world [Kellgren] because of the attendant perspiration.

SODIUM The one nutrient which most affects the potassium excretion is sodium. Sodium is one of the most serious limiting minerals in nature for mammals. In the moist tropics where the distant ancestors of man probably evolved, I suspect that it is possible that almost all the sodium is present in the blood streams of vertebrates in some places, because the iron and aluminum hydroxides of tropical soils do not bind it very well, and plants do not concentrate it. In ancient times, salt was one of the most valuable commodities in international trade, even rivaling gold in value [Bloch]. Even today camel caravans loaded with salt bricks from the central Sahara Desert plod across hundreds of miles of desolate terrain to deliver their precious cargo to central Africa. An indication of how important the sodium and chloride in salt were to ancient people is that the word "salary" is derived from salt. The old adage "worth his salt" is another legacy from the past.
Block believes that whole towns died out in Holland because the sea rose slightly and covered salt evaporating pans during the middle ages [Block]. An armed insurrection in India almost happened when the British merely taxed salt and was averted only by a miracle and the personality of Mahatma Gandhi.
Such ripples from the past must seem bizarre and dreamlike to you who read this and are wrestling with the opposite problem. Huge front end loaders, enormous pumps, and excellent transportation have made salt so cheap that it is used in snow melting salt, water softeners, pickling fluids, and is sprinkled liberally on almost every processed food sold.
Rats on low sodium excrete more potassium than controls from all causes, including increasing the sodium intake above normal [Peterson][Wormersley]. There is no net loss of potassium on high sodium intakes less than about 7000 milligrams per day. It would seem that a very high sodium intake, but especially a very low intake, would increase the potassium requirement from the 2200 milligrams plus or so minimum established so far. This could be as much as 500 milligrams (but I have no excellent information), to bring it to as much as 3000 milligrams per day or so. Please keep in mind that this is a bare minimum and makes no allowance for disease, perspiration, emotional storms, mild genetic defects, poisons, odd intakes of other nutrients and old age. Going below such a minimum would not severely degrade health normally, but it would probably make the most optimum performance degraded somewhat. I currently suspect that 1000 to 2000 milligrams per day (a little over two times this amount expressed as table salt) is the desired amount of sodium that would give an approximately equal number of atoms. This amount should keep the body reasonably well conditioned against the heat stroke of profuse perspiration (although 500 milligrams of sodium would be more efficient) and protecting against other circumstances, circumstances that I can not discuss with precision at this time. I am reasonably certain that the 4000 milligrams (9000 milligrams of salt) or so that Americans consume at present is too high. There are recommendations of 500 milligram in the literature [Meneely]. This low a figure would be difficult to obtain but it is a figure some hypertensives should attempt [Abernethy]. It should be kept in mind that it may actually be the chloride in the salt which is at least part of the problem for hypertension since potassium as the chloride raises blood pressure instead of lowering it in rats. However potassium chloride reduces blood pressure in sodium loaded spontaneously hypertensive rats and protects them from kidney damage [Ellis] and lowers blood pressure in sodium loaded humans.. This may be because of difficulty in handling hydrogen ion (acid) in some forms of high blood pressure. Support is given to this possibility since sodium bicarbonate lowered blood pressure 5 mm of mercury while sodium chloride had no affect [Luft], possibly because sodium chloride was already high in their diet. Any designation of high blood pressure must be by comparing the pressure to the average among low sodium chloride intake people [Tekol]. Both sodium and chloride is necessary for pressure augmentation [Boegshold]. High ratios of potassium to sodium should not cause a major problem for people who have intact kidneys. Primitive tribes receive twenty to one ratios without apparent risk. It is possible that people descended from tribes with a long history of eating primarily meat such as Eskimos may need a little more sodium than others. In people who are nourished by unprocessed food, not assaulted by poisons in tobacco and liquor, and living a reasonable life, the regulatory systems should be able to tolerate a fairly wide range of sodium acute intakes. It is possible that chronic high intakes can eventually produce an intractable high blood pressure in some people, possibly arising from emplacement of inflexible collagen in blood vessels by increase deoxycorticosterone secretion. However, this could conceivably arise from the chloride usually associated with sodium supplements as well by some unknown mechanism. Potassium as the chloride should have the same affect as potassium from unprocessed food coupled with hydrochloric acid supplements. There are times when this might be disadvantageous. High blood pressure may prove to be one time, and limited personal experience has me believing that while suffering from pain from some sources may be another. The blood pressure circumstance may be because of difficulty in handling hydrogen ion (acid) in some forms of high blood pressure since 18 OH-DOC (the acid excreting hormone) is deeply involved in one of the at least three forms of hypertension [Melby 1972 p323]. Support is given to this possibility since sodium bicarbonate lowered blood pressure 5 mm of mercury while sodium chloride had no affect [Luft]. Chloride has not had much research into long term affects, but short term it increases blood pressure.

MAGNESIUM
Magnesium is deeply involved in the body's energy metabolism (Krispin Sullivan, clinical dietitian has written an excellent article on magnesium deficiency as well as practical ways to get more potassium from food) . Also see this site about magnesium deficiency. A magnesium deficiency can cause the body to lose potassium [Peterson 1963][MacIntyre][Manitius], possibly because of a poorly understood effect of magnesium on the efficiency of energy supply to the sodium pump [Fischer]. Conversely a potassium deficiency causes magnesium to accumulate [Southon]. I do not know whether this causes any adverse health problems. The nature of a magnesium deficiency on potassium [Grace] suggests to me that the effect should show up most strongly when the magnesium is supplied again. The symptoms of a magnesium deficiency are convulsions, gross muscular tremor, atheloid movements, muscular weakness, virtigo, auditory hyperacusis, aggressiveness, excessive irritability, hallucinations, confusion, semicomma [Bajusz] and depression. It consistently affects the kidneys, usually by calcification at the corticomedullary junction. Potassium content of the cortex does not change, but medulla content of potassium is diminished [Bajusz p 40]. Retinopathy (an eye disease) is associated with magnesium deficiency [Dorlach]. In monkeys the electrocardiogram in magnesium deficiency resembles that of high serum potassium (hyperkalemia) in spite of low serum potassium (hypokalemia) [Manitius p39]. So it is possible that lower cell potassium requires lower serum potassium for adequate nerve transmission, but the serum potassium does not drop [Manitius p38]. There is a fairly extensive review of magnesium nutrition along with foods high and low in magnesium [Seelig]. I suspect that people eating unprocessed food get enough magnesium. If so magnesium should have little affect on potassium requirements for such people. An exception might be people who do not get enough vitamin D which is said to be necessary for magnesium reabsorption or people not synthesizing enough parathyroid hormone (PTH) . Magnesium is needed in order to power the ATPase [Hamil-Ruth] because potassium can not be absorbed effectively during a magnesium deficit [Kohvakka]. If a magnesium deficiency does develop, half a year of supplements can be required for complete normalization of magnesium and potassium - sodium pumps [Anonymous].

COLD
I have already mentioned that the sodium pump dies down near the freezing point of water. I suspect that this is probably the reason for the pain we feel in cold fingers on a freezing day, since excess potassium causes local pain [Ghosh]. Calcium inhibits pain from damaged cells [Benjamin]. This release of potassium from cold tissue cells into the blood stream must surely be causing potassium excretion to rise some, thus raising the minimum requirement somewhat in winter. I have no proof of this concept from the medical literature, but it must be happening this way. It is possible that the greater misery which some arthritics claim to feel on cold days may be partly related to this circumstance. Gubner suggests that cold can lower heart potassium, although his own data does not confirm it [Gubner].
POISON
Alcoholic beverages can cause greater reduction of potassium during delirium tremens [Blay]. This is not the case for wine, which contains a substance that retards potassium excretion [McDonald & Margen]. Wine is not a good way to retard potassium excretion because most wine contains sulfur dioxide, which destroys vitamin B-1 in the intestines. This can be very dangerous to the heart because of an odd imbalance between these two nutrients.

DISEASE STATES
There are several disease states which cause higher excretion, and during which disease states a higher intake is desirable.
The most important and common of these is diarrhea. Certain peptide protein poisons given off by certain intestinal microorganisms prevent the large intestines from absorbing water and therefore also salts [Rowinski][Donowitz]. As a result not only the potassium in the food eaten, but also the 2500 milligrams or more [[Potts p274][Perkins] of potassium in digestive fluids is lost. The body can become dangerously depleted in a short time. Most of the death rate from the more virulent diarrheas in children is from an acute potassium deficiency. The death rate was markedly reduced in one virulent strain using potassium supplements [Darrow][Govan]. The dead babies showed a loss of 40% of their muscle potassium. The dehydration which can take place in diarrhea can cause massive losses of potassium in urine in addition to the losses in the faeces. Every liter of water lost from the cells carries with it 6,500 milligrams of potassium [Weisburg p189]. His estimate is probably a little high, and in addition the net losses are lower because the blood plasma also loses water but those figures are probably not far off. Babies are especially vulnerable to this loss because they have no effective way of informing us of their thirst. Do not let any one in or out of a hospital talk you into drying the intestines to stop the loss of water by withholding water as hospitals used to do (and may still do some places). It is very important to use electrolytes in the water in he form of oral rehydration therapy (ORT). The microbes involved force the intestines to stop absorbing water regardless of intake probably in order to create a favorable environment for themselves. It has been determined that guava fruit or leaves will inhibit the bacteria that cause diarrhea [Lozoya].
You must be careful with supplements because the dehydration causes very high blood plasma potassium contents, even though the cells are becoming deficient. At the same time the aldosterone which stimulates excretion goes away down. The way medical people get around this these days is to administer oral rehydration salts (ORT salts), which are a mixture of sodium and potassium chloride and sodium bicarbonate in water. See this site for a discussion of oral rehydration therapy (ORT salts). The antidotes for too high blood potassium contents will be discussed in the chapter on supplements but especially in an article on high blood potassium (hyperkalemia). Intravenous solution of electrolytes is another life saving technique available in hospitals.
Vomiting which persists can also deplete the body's potassium somewhat [Bartter]. Barter believes the loss of hydrochloric acid is as important as the potassium loss in reducing body potassium. This is because when acid is lost the kidneys excrete more potassium [Welt 1960 p215][Potts p262] thus countering the alkalinity implied in the loss of chloride. The stomach secretes over 500 milligrams of potassium per day.
The balance of evidence would indicate that hostile or fearful emotions can be a cause of excessive loss [Glaz][Davson] such as anxiety over exams [Venning]. Certainly the stress and pain which attends surgery is well established as a time of excessive losses [MacDonald]. Supplements during this condition were becoming increasingly standard procedure in clinical practice [Rubini].
Coeliac (celiac in the USA) disease is a disease afflicting millions of people, in which gluten in grains damages the intestinal lining. It interferes with nutrient absorption, including potassium.
There are several rare diseases which can cause potassium loss. Among these are aldosterone tumors or Conn's syndrome thought to be 5-15% of high blood pressure or hypertension with muscular weakness, paralysis, tetany, polyuria excessive urine, hypertension, hypokalemic alkalosis of the blood, parathesiae. Primary hyperaldosteronism is the cause of hypertension in 5-25% of cases [Strauch]. Also involved are Cushing's syndrome (high cortisol), diabetic coma, and several types of kidney diseases [Wohl p832]. It said that hyperthyroid condition can cause such an acute low potassium that paralysis can occur. In these last cases a person would be under medical care so they are not really proper in a discussion of requirements for normal people.

LOSSES DURING MEDICAL ATTENTION
There is a class of chemicals called diuretics which have the effect of forcing the body to excrete sodium. Since one loses water and therefore weight at the sane time, these chemicals have been used as a weight reducing technique. Unfortunately one loses potassium at the same time in most of them. No fat is lost in this procedure; only water. Trying to lose weight with these chemicals would rank in logic with reducing the weight of a truck full of sand by draining the radiator. More valuable than advising you to increase your potassium intake while taking diuretics, would be to advise you not to attempt to lose weight with them at all. As for their other uses; I doubt if they are very often in order in healthy well fed people. Often they are used to help a patient suffering from edema (expansion of body fluid) who are reluctant to restrict salt. Potassium itself can act as a diuretic [Liddle] to some extent. One must use care about potassium supplements when using potassium sparing diuretics.
There are two other medical procedures which can cause increased losses. These are enemas [Dunning] (enemas lose more potassium when prolonged) and laxatives [Schwartz, ] [Rubini p107]. They are not procedures which should be indulged in routinely. Licorice is also strongly suspected of increasing losses [Kolata]. Licorice (but not the licorice candy which is said to be anise seed extract) contains a chemical called glycyrrhizic acid which hydrolyzes in the intestines to form glycyrretic acid [Stormer] or glycerretinic acid which interferes with degradation of aldosterone and cortisol. 50 grams of licorice sweets are enough to produce hypertension and low serum potassium in some people [Stormer]. Flavenoids in grapefruit are thought to have a similar affect on that enzyme [Lee].
Itraconazole medicine is suspected to cause severe hypokalemia (low blood potassium).
There is evidence that negative ions in the air can increase potassium loss [Olivereau]. If this is proved true it would follow that people living in homes heated by ionizing type of electrical heaters or ionizing generators should have somewhat greater needs.
Sometimes cortisone or other steroids are prescribed for arthritis. One side effect of this therapy is the loss of potassium This is hardly a problem anyone would have who has already cured the arthritis by diet. There are a number of medicines that cause losses of potassium. Beta-adrenergic agonists such as Epinephrine are examples. So are decongestants, bronchdilators, tocolytic (labor suppressing) agents.
These medicines increase losses (scroll down to bottom); Beta-adrenergic agonists such as Epinephrine, - Decongestants such as Psuedoephedrine and phyenylpropanolamine, - Bronchodilators such as Albuterol, terbutaline, pirbuterol, isoetharine, fenoterol, ephedrine, isoporterenol, metaproternenol, and theophylline, - Tocolytic (labor suppressing) agents such as Ritodrine and nylidrin, - Diuretics such as Acetazolamide, thiazides, chlorthalidone, indapamide, metolazone, quinethazone, bumetanide, ethycrinic acid, furosemide, and torsemide, - Mineralocorticoids such as Fludrocortisone, - Substances with mineralocorticoid effects such as Licorice, carbenoxolone, and gossypol, - High-dose glucocorticoids, High-dose antibiotics such as Penicillin, nafcillin, and carbenicillin, - Other substances such as Caffeine, phenopthalein, and sodium polystyrene sulfonate.
Surgery and injury cause increased losses [Randall][Selye p197-198]. This is probably because of secretion of steroids. [Elman]. Release of potassium into the blood from metabolic shock resulting from burns or injury is the chief cause of mortality in those states [Fox]. The release of potassium into the blood can be massive, and the corresponding losses as the kidneys attempt to clear this dangerous excess can be large.
There is a medicine called bitter root (wild ipecac, spreading dogbane, rheumatism weed) which is said to increase potassium excretion. If all the above increases in losses were to operate simultaneously it would place one in grave danger of heart failure, a disease to be discussed later.

ESTIMATE OF THE RECOMMENDED DAILY REQUIREMENT (RDR or RDA or AI))
Considering all the ways in which losses of a healthy person can be increased, it must be obvious that a preferred requirement must be higher than the bare minimum of 2200 milligrams per day or so excreted by the kidneys and colon on a mild day mentioned earlier. I do not see how the actual minimum average could be much below 3000 milligrams. Lane, et al, believe that over 3000 grams per day is necessary for athletes on a hot day to prevent negative balance [Lane]. However for a recommended amount I would suggest more than 4000 milligrams even on mild days. Hopefully this would provide most people with a reasonable margin of error. Almost no one has a way of monitoring his body's status and excretion. So if you seek optimum performance (not just freedom from arthritis symptoms) it would be best to err on the side of high. A high potassium intake is not possible if kidney function has been destroyed though.The amount should not be predicated on losses on balmy days spent with congenial friends. It is losses during summer heat and winter cold, the stress of battle and stormy emotions, and disease that should be determining since these conditions can never be predicted. Of course when recovering from a deficiency the amounts would ideally be higher yet, but not while dehydrated, at least not without plenty of water and sodium chloride salt, ideally as ORT salts.
There is another reason to set it on the high side. When the intake is high the kidneys gradually undergo modifications which make them much more efficient at excreting potassium [Wright]. It is thought that the distal tubules are involved normally and the collecting tubules when there is sodium deprivation [Silva].There is also a reduction in number of pumping sites on the muscle cell membrane in a deficiency [Nogaard]. Thus the muscle cells would presumably be less able to reabsorb potassium during metabolic shock as they do before the cells become saturated [Miller]. Thus a high intake should help guard one against a future low intake and, paradoxically, a future high plasma level as well.
Another reason for eating generous amounts of essential nutrients in general is that there is considerable variation in individual peoples’ requirements and very little ability to determine the variations.
Reaching this high intake using supplements may not be the best way because potassium interferes with magnesium absorption in some animals [Sheehan]. There is nothing like food. It tastes good too. There is extremely wide variation in the amounts of potassium per calorie each kind of food supplies so there are plenty of options.
Chapter IX , POTASSIUM and SODIUM in FOODS, will discuss this variation. It gives a link to a food content table expressing potassium as milligrams per Calorie in descending order. The very extensive USDA Handbook #8 may be seen here but from which one must compute the weight of potassium per Calorie. To access the information you must press "enter" to search, and then divide Kcal into milligrams of potassium. This last table is very comprehensive, is used in search mode, and even lists the amino acids.
It should be possible to lift oneself out of even a severe deficiency in only a month or two using food alone with proper selection. Using potassium chloride supplements it could be as short as several weeks or less if magnesium, and perhaps inositol and vitamin D are adequate. There is danger of imbalances with respect to other nutrients using such supplements only, to be discussed later. However, there should be little chance of danger in people with reasonably healthy kidneys if a gram or two per day of potassium is used in conjunction with an unprocessed diet high in leafy vegetables for a few weeks.
EPILOGUE
Dr. Reza Rastmanesh from Iran has recently performed a large controlled clinical trial testing potassium supplements against rheumatoid arthritis with dramatic decreases in pain in all subjects and increases of cortisol [Rastmanesh]. He would now like to continue his clinical research testing potassium in conjunction with other nutrients, especially magnesium, in an English speaking country. His credentials are impressive. If you know of any rheumatology department able to employ him, please contact me with isoptera at att.net , and I will send you a copy of the article he has submitted to a journal.
The health of people in the USA is abysmal , and a major part of it is poor nutrition. As the 12th century physician, trying to cure by diet before he administers drugs, said; “No illness that can be treated by diet should be treated by any other means" or as Hippocrates expressed it in 460 - 377BC; "If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health." It would seem that a healthy life style has been known for a long time. It is my belief that an unprocessed, unfrozen, not canned, high in vegetables diet would keep a large majority of people reasonably healthy and without the need for fad diets. 80% of Americans do not eat adequate vegetables, but even though 72% of Americans take vitamin or mineral supplements daily or sometimes [Sardi p148], their health is atrocious, especially old people..
I would suggest that a partial solution to the problem of poor potassium nutrition would be to place a tax on all food that has had potassium removed by food processors and completely fund all Medicare and workman’s compensation for injuries and disease that relate to rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, and high blood pressure. This would also take the onerous tax burden now incurred for them and place it on the shoulders of those who cause the problem
The author, Charles Weber, has a degree in chemistry and a masters degree in soil science. He has researched potassium for 45 years, primarily a library research. He has cured his own early onset arthritis (33 years old). He has published articles on allied subjects in; The Journal of Theoretical Biology (1970, 1983), The Journal of Applied Nutrition (1974), Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology (1983), and Medical Hypotheses (1984, 1999).
All printed rights to this article are reserved. Electronic rights are waived.
Email to; isoptera at att.net or 1 828 692 5816 (USA)
SOME LINKS TO HEALTH ARTICLES

There is an article discussing cashew nuts to cure a tooth abscess Which might prove useful
There is also an article which proposes some speculation about diabetes.
The pioneering efforts about potassium for arthritis by Charles de Coti-Marsh enabled him to form a foundation currently active in England that promotes the use of potassium for arthritis and it has helped 3500 people.
Fluoride in city water will cause fluorosis discoloration of teeth, weakened bones, damage to the kidneys, thyroid, and immune system, bone cancer, and, worst of all, damage to the nerves resembling Alzheimer’s disease. It will also cause damage to ligaments resembling arthritis. For a forum that discusses iodide (an antidote for fluoride) access this site.
See this site for some links to health articles.
It has been determined that adequate selenium will cut cancer rsk of several cancer types in half. For a procedure that discusses tetrathiomolybdate for removing copper and thus preventing further solid cancer growth and Hodgkin’s, see this site. This might buy some time until you can persuade a doctor to try tumor necrosis factor or interferon or an opioid antagonist drug called Naltrexone (Naltrexone in the large 50 mg size, originally manufactured by DuPont under the brand name ReVia, is now sold by Mallinckrodt as Depade and by Barr Laboratories under the generic name naltrexone) that blocks some endorphin receptors. Said blockage is thought to cause the body to temporarily secrete more endorphins, especially after midnight at night. These endorphins are thought to stimulate the immune system, and in particular to stimulate the TH-1 or type 1 antiviral response by decreased interleukin-4 and with increased gamma interferon and interleukin-2 and a simultaneous decrease of type 2 anti bacterial response [Sacerdote]. It appears to be especially effective for minimizing symptoms and retarding progression of multiple sclerosis (MS) There are drugs listed in this site that should not be taken with low dose Naltrexone, including cortisol. Advice how to proceed if you have been taking cortisol may be seen here. (also see these sites; this site and this site and a trial) . A few doctors have had encouraging results in Crohn's Disease, and even to some extent in cancer. Low doses of Naltrexone (LDN), 1.5 to 4.5 milligrams, at bedtime is used (timing is important, and it is important not to buy slow release forms). It is said to have no known bad side effects at those doses other than insomnia the first week or two in some. There is also reports from an extensive survey in this site. and an extensive discussion at this site. I think some clinical studies on Naltrexone are in order, and it should not be a prescription drug (I have a petition to make Naltrexone an over the counter drug with the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research FDA Rockville MD 20857, Re; Docket No. 2006P-0508-CPI. Perhaps if enough people wrote supporting the petition it could be enacted). Though side effects appear unlikely, it is not proven over longer periods. If you try it (it is a prescription medicine in the USA), it seems likely that you should discontinue if you get a bacterial infection in view of its inhibition of antibacterial response. It is also being explored for AIDS by Dr. Bernard Bihari, 29 W 15th St. New York, NY 10011, 212) 929-4196 who is still prescribing Naltrexone for HIV/AIDS. (and currently Executive Director of the Community Research Initiative). Dr. Gale Guyer of Advanced Medical Center located in Zionsville, Indiana also is using it for cancer. Dr. Bihari has shown promising results for a large percentage of his cancer patients.
Olive leaf extract has shown clinical evidence of effectiveness against a wide range of viruses, including AIDS [Bihari], herpes, and cold viruses. It sometimes produces a Herxheimer or pathogen die off symptoms (from effectiveness against bacteria?). There is evidence that it is synergistic (reinforce each other) with Naltrexone. There have been a few case histories of improvement in what were probably arthritis patients and CFIDS patients. The active ingredient is said to be oleuropein or enolate. There has been very little follow up research done on it.
. Also it has been found that curcumin in turmeric or curry powder will inhibit several forms of cancer, including melanoma. People who live in India where these spices are eaten, have one tenth the cancer elsewhere. It must be used with caution because it can sometimes aggravate the situation [Stix].
Here is an article with anecdotal evidence for pressurized oxygen, zinc, vitamin B6, and vitamin C after head injuries. They also claim a fair percentage of prison inmates from psychiatric disorders after head injuries.
See this site for evidence of a correlation between magnesium deficiency and cancer. The taurate has been proposed as the best magnesium supplement. Since taurine is physiologically active, this may prove to not be the case long term. Taurine or 2-aminoethanesulfonic acid is an acidic chemical substance sulfonated rather than carboxylated found in high abundance in the tissues of many animals (metazoa), especially sea animals. Taurine is also found in plants, fungi, and some bacterial species, but in far less abundance. It is an amine with a sulfonic acid functional group, but it is not an amino acid in the biological sense, not being one of the twenty protein-forming compounds encoded by the universal genetic code. Small polypeptides have been identified as containing taurine, but to date there has been no report of a transfer RNA that is specifically charged with taurine [from Wikipedia]. It is essential to babies and is the most abundant brain amino acid at birth. With maturation babies start to synthesize taurine and glutamate becomes the most abundant in the brain of adults. It is essential to adult cats. It has been found that supplements of the amino acid, taurine, will restore the abnormal electrocardiogram present during a potassium deficiency by an unknown mechanism. This information has been used in several case histories by George Eby to control a long standing type of cardiac arrhythmia called pre atrial contractions (PACs), a benign but irritating and nerve racking heart problem, with 2.5 grams of taurine with each meal. Taurine is said to be low in the diets of vegetarians. The 2.5 grams recommended by the American Heart Association causes diarrhea in some people and should probably be reduced in those people.
There is strong evidence that taurine could have beneficial affects on type I diabetes, and could reduce organ peroxidation and plasma lipids. The retina, lens, and nerves respond better to taurine than other organs [Franconi]. Taurine has been used for high blood pressure [Fujita], migraine headache (I suspect that less than 1000 milligrams can remove the headache caused by allergy to peanuts), high cholesterol, epilepsy, macular degeneration, Alzheimer’s disease, liver disorders, alcoholism, and cystic fibrosis, and depression. Keep in mind that some people may have a genetic defect that limits the amount of taurine tolerated and that adequate molybdenum may desirable. Taurine may make a copper deficiency worse, based on a single case history [Brien Quirk, private communication]. This may be because taurine may be mobilizing copper and zinc into the plasma [Li]. So if you should decide to take taurine, make sure your copper intake is more than adequate, as well as your zinc. Taurine may be obtaind from health food stores as capsules.
A site is available which shows. foods which are high in one nutrient and low in another (including calories). This last site should be especially useful for a quick list of foods to consider first, or for those who must restrict another nutrient because of a genetic difficulty with absorption or utilization
You may find useful for definitions and easy to use a search for abstracts of journal references, "Gateway". You must click on “ MEDLINE/PubMed” or for definitions click on "find terms". or a list of medical search engines .
The very extensive USDA Handbook #8 may be seen here. To access the information you must press "enter" to search, and then divide Kcal into milligrams of potassium. This last table is very comprehensive, is used in search mode, and even lists the amino acids. There are also links in it to PDF types of printouts from the table for individual nutrients available here Just click on the “A” or “W” button for the nutrient you desire. A table that has already done the potassium calculation is here in descending concentration -- or -- in alphabetical order.
There is a free browser called Firefox, which is said to be less susceptible to viruses or crashes, has many interesting features, imports information from Iexplore while leaving Iexplore intact. You can also install their emailer. A feature that lists all the URLs on a viewed site can be useful when working on your own site.
There is a tool bar by Google that enables you to search the internet from the page viewed, mark desired words, search the site, give page rank, etc.---Google’s “scholar search site” is excellent for all types of references.
You may find useful and easy to use a search for abstracts of medical journal references, "Gateway".
-
There is a free program available which tells on your site what web site accessed you, which search engine, statistics about which country, statistics of search engine access, keywords used and their frequency. It can be very useful.
The author has a degree in chemistry and a master of science degree in soil science. He has researched this subject for 40 years, primarily library research. He has cured his own early onset of rheumatoid arthritis. He has published articles on allied subjects in; The Journal of Theoretical Biology (1970, 1983), The Journal of Applied Nutrition (1974) which gained the best article of the year award, Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology (1983), and Medical Hypotheses (1984, 1999) This article is solely funded by the author and no advertisements are knowingly included.

Send email to Charles Weber; ----- isoptera at mchsi.com - or; phone = 828 692 5816
Confidentiality of data relating to individual patients and visitors to a medical/health Web site, including their identity, is respected by this Web site. The Web site owner undertakes to honor or exceed the legal requirements of medical/health information privacy that apply in the USA.
All printed rights to this article are reserved. Electronic rights are waived.

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Baj usz E, ed 1966 Electrolyte and Cardiovascular Diseases: Physiology, Parthology, Therapy, vol. 2 The Williams & Wilkins Co., Baltimore.
Bartter FC 1980 Clinical problems of potassium metabolism - contributions to nephrology p21 in: Disturbances of Water and Electrolyte Metabolism (Bahlmamn J & Brod J, editors) . S. Karger, Basil & NY
Benjamin F 1959 Release of intracellular potassium as the physiological stimulus for pain. Journal of Applied Physiology 14;643
Bihari B 1995 Efficacy of low dose Naltrexone as an immune stabilizing agent for treatment of HIV/AIDS [letter] AIDS Patient Care 9; 3.
Blay, S. L., et al.1981 Plasma electrolyte changes in chronic alcoholic patients with and without delirium tremens. Acta Psiquiatr Psicol Am Lat. 27(4-5):311-314,
Bloch MR 1963 The social influence of salt. Sci. Am. 209; 88-98
Boegshold M Kotchen TA 1991 Importance of dietary chloride for salt sensitivity of blood pressure. Hypertension 17 (auppl) I 158-I161.
Consolazio CF et al 1963 Excretion of sodium, potassium, magnesium, and iron in human sweat and the relation of each to balance and requirements. Journal Nutrition 79; 407
Consolazio CF et al 1967 Metabolic aspects of acute starvation in normal humans. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 20; 672
Darrow DC 1946 Retention of electrolyte during recovery from severe dehydration due to diarrhea. Journal Pediat. 28; 515
Donowitz M & Binder HJ 1976 Infect. Dis. 134; 5
Dorlach J & Collery P 1984 Magnesium and potassium in diabetes and carbohydrate metabolism; Review of the present status and recent results. Magnesium 3; 315-23
Dunning MF & Plum F 1956 Potassium depletion by enemas. American Journal Medicine 20; 789
Edmonds CJ & Richards P 1970 Measurement of rectal electrical potential difference as an instant screening test for hyperaldosteronism. Lancet 2; 624
Ellis D Banner B, Janosky JE Feig PU 1992 Potassium supplementation attenuates experimental hypertensive renal injury. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, Vol 2, 1529-1537.
Elman R et al 1952 Intracellular and extracellular potassium deficits in surgical patients. Ann. Surgery 136; 111-131
Fischer PW Giroux A 1987 Effects of dietary magnesium on sodium-potassium pump action in the heart of rats. J Nutr, 117(12):2091-5
Fox CL & Baer H 1947 Redistribution of potassium, sodium, and water in burns and trauma and its relation to phenomena of shock. American Journal Physiology 151
Gardner LI 1953 Experimental potassium depletion. J. Lancet 73; 190-191
Ghosh HN et al 1963 The effect of intra-arterial potassium chloride infusions on vascular reactivity in the human hand. Journal of Physiology, London 168
Glaz E & Vecsei P 1971 Aldosterone. Pergamon Press, New York
Gordon RS Jr. & Andrews HL 1966 Potassium depletion under heat stress. Fed. Proc. 25; 1372-1374
Govan CD Jr. & Darrow DC 1946 The use of potassium chloride in the treatment of the dehydration of diarrhea in infants. Journal Pediat. 28; 541549
Grace ND & O'Dell BL 1970 Effect of magnesium deficiency on the distribution of water and cations in the muscle of the guinea pig. Journal of Nutrition 100; 45-50
Gubner RS & Behr DJ 1957 Role of electrolytes in origin of ischemic cardiac pain and associated electro-cardiographic abnormalities. Circ. 16; 889
Hamill-Ruth RJ & McGary R 1996 Magnesium repletion and its effect on potassium homeostasis in critically ill adults: results of a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial. Critical Care Medicine. 24; 38-45.
Hendricks SB 1964 Salt transport across cell membranes. American Scientist 52; 318
Hiatt N et al 1972 The effect of potassium chloride infusion on insulin secretion in vivo. Hormone Metabolism Research 4; 64
Hungerland H 1963 Significance of the food supply of potassium in the potassium retention in infants and correlations with body weight destruction of cells by hunger (journal to follow)
Johnson S 2001 the multifaceted and widespread pathology of magnesium deficiency. Medical Hypotheses 56; 163-170.
Kellgren JH 1966 Epidemiology of RA. Arth. & Rheum. 9;658
Knochel JP 1977 Role of glucoregulatory hormones in potassium homeostasis. Kidney International 11; 443-452
Koch AR et al 1956 American Journal Physiology 86; 350
Kohvakka A Luurila O Gordin A & Sundberg S 1989 Magnesium. Magnesium 8; 71-76 Kramer P et al 1962 The effect of specific foods and water loading on the ileal excreta of ileostomized human subjects. Gastroenterology 42; 535
Lane HW et al 1978 Effect of physical activity on human potassium metabolism in a hot and humid environment. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 31; 838-843
Lee YS Lorenzo BJ Koufis T Reidenberg MM 1996 Grapefruit juice and its flavenoids inhibit 11 beta - hydroxy steroid dehydrogenase. Clin. Pharmacol. Ther. 59; 62-71
Liddle GW et al 1953 The prevention of ACTH induced sodium retention by the use of potassium salts: a quantitative study. Journal of Clinical Investigation 32; 1197-1207
Lozoya X, Reyes-Morales H, Chavez-Soto MA, Martinez-Garcia Mdel C, Soto-Gonzalez Y, Doubova SV. 2002 Intestinal anti-spasmodic effect of a phytodrug of Psidium guajava folia in the treatment of acute diarrheic disease J Ethnopharmacol. 2002 Nov;83(1-2):19-24.
Luft FC Zemel MB Sowers JA Fineberg NS Weinberger MH 1990 Sodium bicarbonate and sodium chloride: effects on blood pressure and electrolyte homeostasis in normal and hypertensive man. Journal of Hypertension 8; 663-670.
MacIntyre I & Davidson D 1958 The production of secondary potassium depletion, sodium retention, nephrocalcinosis and hypercalcemia by magnesium deficit. Biochem. Journal 70; 456-462
Manitius A 1965 Some physiological effects of magnesium deficiency p28. in: Electrolytes and Cardiovascular Diseases, Bajusz E, editor. S. Karger, New York
Melby JC et al 1972 18-hydroxy 11 deoxycorticosterone (18 OH-DOC) secretion in experimental and human hypertension. Recent Progress in Hormone Resarch. 28; 287-351
McDonald JT Margen S 1979 Wine vs ethanol in human nutrition. Fluid sodium and potassium balance. American journal of Clinical Nutrition 32; 817-822
McDonald GO 1964 Treatment of electrolyte deficiencies in surgery. Surg. Clin. n. aMER. 44;125
Miller HC & Darrow DC 1940 Relation of muscle electrolyte to alterations in serum potassium and to the toxic effects of injected potassium chloride. American Journal of Physioology 130; 747
Nogard et al 1981 Potassium depletion decreases the number of 3H-oubain binding sites and the active Na-K transport in skeletal muscle. Nature 293 ; 739-741
Olivereau JM 1973 Actions de le ionization atmospherique artificielle sur l'excretion urinaire du sodium et du potassium. C.R. Hebdomidaire Es Seances de le Acad. Sci. 276;777-780
Pearson PB 1948 High levels of dietary potassium and magnesium and grawth of rats. American Journal of Physiology 153; 432-435
Perkins JG Petersen AB & Riley JA 1950 Renal and cardiac lesions in potassium deficiency due to chronic diarrhea. American Journal Medicine 8; 115
Petersen VP 1963 Potassium and magnesium turnover in magnesium deficiency. Acta Med. Scand. 174; 595-604
Peterson CG 1972 Perspectives in Surgery. Lea and Febiger, Phila
Peterson L & Wright FS 1977 Effect of sodium intake on renal potassium excretion. American Journal of Physiology 233; 225-234
Post RL et al 1960 Membrane adenosine triphosphatase as a participant in the active transport of sodium and potassium in the human erythrocyte. Journal Biol. Chem. 235; 1796-1802
Potts WTW & Parry G 1969 Osmotic and Ionic Regulation in Animals.MacMillan Co. NY
Prunty FTG 1964 Chemistry and Treatment of Adrenocortical Diseases. Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Ill.
Rowinski P 1960 Potassium in the animal organism. Proceedings of the Congress of the International Potash Institute, Amsterdam. 381-433
Randall HT et al !949 Potassium deficiency in surgical patients. Surgery 26; 341
Rastmanesh R 2008 A pilot study of potassium supplementation in treatment of hypokalemic patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a randomized, double-blinded, placebo controlled trial. The Journal of Pain 9; 722.
Rubini ME & Chojnacki 1972 Principles of parenteral therapy.. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition; 25; 96-113
Schwartz WB & Relman MB 1953 Metabolic and renal studies in chronic potassium depletion resulting from overuse of laxatives. Journal of Clinical Investigation 32; 258
Seelig MS 1964 The requirement of magnesium by the normal adult. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 14; 342-390
Selye H 1950 The Physiology and Pathology of Exposure to Stress. Acta Inc., Montreal
Sheehan JP & Seelig MS 1984 Interactions of magnesium and potassium in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease. Magnesium 3; 301-314
Silva P et al 1977 Adaptation to potassium. Kidney International 11; 466
Southon S & Heathen FW 1979 Effect of potassium deficiency on cellular composition. Biochem. Soc. Trans 7; 207-210
Stormer FC Reistad R Alexander J 1993 Glycyrrhizic acid in licorice - evaluation of health hazard. Food Chem. Toxicol. 31; 303-312
Strauch B,, T Zelinka, M Hampf, R Bernhardt and J Widimsky Jr 2003 Prevalence of primary hyperaldosteronism in moderate to severe hypertension in the Central Europe region. Journal of Human Hypertension. 17; 349-462.
Tekol Y 2006 Is systemic hypertension only a sign of chronic sodium chloride intoxication? Medical Hypotheses 67; 630-638.
Venning EH Dyrenfurth I & Beck JC 1957 Effect of anxiety upon aldosterone excretion in man. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 17; 1005
Weisberg HF 1962 Water, electrolyte, and acid base balance. Williams and Wilkins Co., Baltimore
Welt LG HollanderW Jr. Blythe WB 1960 The consequences of potassium depletion. Journal Chronic Disease 11; 213=314.
Wohl MG & Goodhart RS 1968 Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease, 4th edition. Lea and Febiger, Philadelphia
Wormersley RA & Darragh JH 1955 Potassium and sodium restriction in the normal human. Journal of Clinical Investigation 34; 456-461
Wright FS et al 1971 Potassium secretion by distal tubule after potassium adaptation. American Journal of Physiology 221; 437
Lozoya X, Reyes-Morales H, Chavez-Soto MA, Martinez-Garcia Mdel C, Soto-Gonzalez Y, Doubova SV. 2002 Intestinal anti-spasmodic effect of a phytodrug of Psidium guajava folia in the treatment of acute diarrheic disease J Ethnopharmacol. 2002 Nov;83(1-2):19-24.

Peatness · Aug 18, 2022

Arthritis and Potassium

The book

Zsazsa · Aug 18, 2022

Peatness said:
Arthritis and Potassium

The book

View attachment 40714

TL; DR: eat your vegetables

(I own a copy of this book)

yerrag · Aug 18, 2022

I have his book too.

He is very hard to read. He needs an editor.

David PS · Aug 18, 2022

I have this from C. Weber
POTASSIUM DEFICIENCY AS A CAUSE OF RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

Zsazsa · Sep 4, 2022

Masterjohn just did a very helpful series of postings about Sodium and Potassium on IG

Chris Masterjohn (@chrismasterjohn) • Instagram photos and videos

www.instagram.com

Peatress · May 12, 2023

I'm reading Weber's book Potassium Nutrition and in it he says gelatin can block thiamine absorption in the intestines because of sulphites. For those of us using gelatin (powdered) on a daily basis this might be problematic.

frannybananny · May 12, 2023

I

Peatress said:
I'm reading Weber's book Potassium Nutrition and in it he says gelatin can block thiamine absorption in the intestines because of sulphites. For those of us using gelatin (powdered) on a daily basis this might be problematic.

I was wondering about that and if it included powdered collagen hydrolysate which is made from gelatin. The kind of powder that I take is made by a company called Gelpro in Australia. I wonder if I need to up my thiamine intake which I suspect I am low in already. It's always sumthin'....sheeeesh!

Peatress · May 14, 2023

frannybananny said:
I

I was wondering about that and if it included powdered collagen hydrolysate which is made from gelatin. The kind of powder that I take is made by a company called Gelpro in Australia. I wonder if I need to up my thiamine intake which I suspect I am low in already. It's always sumthin'....sheeeesh!

Unfortunately, collagen has sulfite too but I don't know if it's enough to cause problem. I've been using collagen/gelatin for years now - infact I don't tolerate milk without it. At the same time I am now wondering if it is contributing to gut distress. I'm not sure if additional thiamine would be absorbed. If anyone would know it would be @mostlylurking.

CastorTroy · May 14, 2023

I use to take a bicarbonate blend made from 1:1.6 sodium bicarbonate : potassium bicarbonate. I wonder if this may be an ok ratio to avoid mineral imbalances when taking 10gr or so of bicarbonate per day.

mostlylurking · May 15, 2023

Peatress said:
Unfortunately, collagen has sulfite too but I don't know if it's enough to cause problem. I've been using collagen/gelatin for years now - infact I don't tolerate milk without it. At the same time I am now wondering if it is contributing to gut distress. I'm not sure if additional thiamine would be absorbed. If anyone would know it would be @mostlylurking.

All I can say is what I've experienced personally. I've been sensitive to sulfite for many years and carefully avoid it. I've been consuming around 3-4 servings of hydrolyzed gelatin (rounded 1/8th cup = 1 serving) daily for around 8 years and have never had a negative reaction to it. I buy Great Lakes brand collagen. I've never had gut distress from it. Ray Peat said that it would be unusual for someone to experience issues from consuming the hydrolyzed form whereas the regular gelatin needs to be cooked a little bit to make it more digestible.

Regarding thiamine absorption via the gut: If you are taking thiamine hcl orally, a higher dose is needed because it does not get through the intestinal wall very efficiently. The dose of thiamine hcl that I take is 2 grams daily; taken for 7 days this equals to one injection of 100mg thiamine hcl per week (see here). Other options include various other types of thiamine including TTFD, sublingual thiamine mononitrate, et. al. Here's an article about various types of thiamine available.

Peatress · May 16, 2023

mostlylurking said:
All I can say is what I've experienced personally. I've been sensitive to sulfite for many years and carefully avoid it. I've been consuming around 3-4 servings of hydrolyzed gelatin (rounded 1/8th cup = 1 serving) daily for around 8 years and have never had a negative reaction to it. I buy Great Lakes brand collagen. I've never had gut distress from it. Ray Peat said that it would be unusual for someone to experience issues from consuming the hydrolyzed form whereas the regular gelatin needs to be cooked a little bit to make it more digestible.

Regarding thiamine absorption via the gut: If you are taking thiamine hcl orally, a higher dose is needed because it does not get through the intestinal wall very efficiently. The dose of thiamine hcl that I take is 2 grams daily; taken for 7 days this equals to one injection of 100mg thiamine hcl per week (see here). Other options include various other types of thiamine including TTFD, sublingual thiamine mononitrate, et. al. Here's an article about various types of thiamine available.

Thanks @mostlylurking

ddjd · Jul 15, 2023

View: https://twitter.com/drtaubraun/status/1680180519604985856?t=2AV1RkGsUkNafjRM_bdpHw&s=19

BRMarshall · Jul 15, 2023

ddjd said:
View: https://twitter.com/drtaubraun/status/1680180519604985856?t=2AV1RkGsUkNafjRM_bdpHw&s=19

Great, but is this on topic....though I do see a reference to cashews for tooth issues in the postings about Dr. Weber. So does this cashew shell have high potassium and or B-1?

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POTASSIUM and THIAMIN in HEART DISEASE by Charles Weber, MS

Peatness

Guest

POTASSIUM and THIAMIN (VITAMIN B-1) in HEART DISEASE​

by Charles Weber, MS​

I recommend that you seek additional advice before using any information in this article.​

frannybananny

Member

POTASSIUM and THIAMIN (VITAMIN B-1) in HEART DISEASE​

by Charles Weber, MS​

I recommend that you seek additional advice before using any information in this article.​

​

ABSTRACT​

Insufficient potassium and vitamin B-1 (thiamin) can not damage the heart significantly when both are deficient. This has very important implications when supplementing each during heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis.​

INTRODUCTION​

Some of the symptoms of heart disease are shortness of breath, swelling of the legs and ankles and occasionally the abdomen, fatigue and weakness, loss of appetite and nausea, reduced urination, and persistent cough which sometimes produces mucus or blood tinged sputum. DISCUSSION​

It is obvious that if potassium supplements are given, it is very important that the vitamin B-1 intake must be adequate at the same time, and one third of heart disease patients are deficient in thiamin [34].​

Since diabetics are usually deficient in potassium, it seems that it is highly probable that they should never use potassium unless they correct the vitamin B-1 at the same time and the reverse.​

Rheumatoid Arthritis​

CONCLUSION​

​

IDEAL POTASSIUM INTAKE​

Low potassium intake is also somewhat implicated in high blood pressure, stroke, osteoporosis [35], and kidney stones. Potassium ingested as the chloride can actually raise blood pressure (hypertension) slightly. Potassium has been found to increase bone density [43 Tucker].​

POLITICS of POTASSIUM​

One third of the world’s children are under weight and malnourished. 20,000 die of hunger each year [45 Gitlin]. We can ill afford to deliberately destroy any of our food by processors.​

​

EPILOGUE​

SOME HEALTH INFORMATION​

There is also an article that proposes ameliorations for diabetes and a possible cause from chili pepper.​

There is evidence that cell phones can produce tumors. Using remote ear phones would seem to be a good idea.​

It has been proposed that large amounts of vitamin D will cause a dramatic reduction in the heart disease rate [61]. I suspect this may be from making magnesium absorption more efficient.​

The pioneering efforts about potassium for arthritis by Charles de Coti-Marsh enabled him to form a foundation currently active in England that promotes the use of potassium for arthritis and it has helped more than 3500 people.​

​

See this site for some links to health articles.​

Here is an article with anecdotal evidence for pressurized oxygen, zinc, vitamin B6, and vitamin C after head injuries. They also claim a fair percentage of prison inmates from psychiatric disorders after head injuries.​

You may find useful for definitions and easy to use a search for abstracts of journal references, "Gateway". You must click on “ MEDLINE/PubMed” or for definitions click on "find terms". or a list of medical search engines and also a site with several links to potassium nutrition articles.​

---Google’s “scholar search site” is excellent for all types of journal references.​

There is a free program available which tells on your site what web site accessed you, which search engine, statistics about which country, statistics of search engine access, keywords used and their frequency. It can be very useful.​

​

Send email to Charles Weber; ----- isoptera at att.net - or; phone = 828 692 5816 (USA)​

All printed rights to this article are reserved. Electronic rights are waived.​

There is a directory of rheumatologists in the USA with links to directories of other doctors, medical schools, hospitals, and health plans at this site.​

​

REFERENCES​

----1. Sampson JJ, Anderson, EM. The therapeutic use of potassium in certain cardiac arrhythmias. Proceedings of the Society of Experimental Biology & Medicine 28: 163, 1930.​

----2. Chang HY, Hu YW, Yue CSJ, Wen YW, Yeh WT, Hsu LS. Effect of potassium-enriched salt on cardiovascular mortality and medical expenses of elderly men, l, Am J Clin Nutr, 83(6): 1289-96, 2006.​

----3. Rubini ME, Chojnacki RE. Principles of parenteral therapy. Am. Clin. Nutr. 25: 96-113, 1972.​

----4. Mineno T. Effect of some vitamins and other substances on K metabolism in the myocardia of vitamin deficient rats - Experiemtal investigation. J. Nagoya Med. Assoc. 92: 80-95, 1969.​

----5. Gould SE, ed Pathology of the Heart and Blood Vessels - 3rd ed. Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Ill p 508 1968.​

----6. Folis RH. Myocardial necroses in rats on a potassium low diet prevented by thiamine deficiency. Bulletin Johns Hopkins Hosp.71: 235-241, 1942.​

----7. Hove EL, Herndon JF. Potassium deficiency in the rabbit as a cause of muscular dystrophy. J Nutr. 55: 363-374, 1953.​

----8. Blahd WH, Cassen B, Lederer M. Body potassium content in patients with muscular dystrophy - body composition part 1. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 110: 282-290, 1963.​

----9. Romanski SA, McMahon MM. Metabolic acidosis and thiamine deficiency. Mayo Clin Proc. 1999 Mar;74(3):259-63, 1999.​

----10. McDonald JT, Margen S. Wine vs ethanol in human nutrition. Fluid sodium and potassium balance. American journal of Clinical Nutrition 32: 817-822, 1979.​

----11. Williams CL Meck WH Heyer DD Loy R Hypertrophy of basal forebrain neurons and enhanced visuospatial memory in perinatally choline supplemented rats. Brain Research 794: 225-238, 1998.​

----12. Weber CE, Potassium supplements as affecting rheumatoid arthritis, diarrhea, hypertension, and heart disease. Available from URL http://charles_w.tripod.com/arthritis11.html​

----13. Selye H, Sylvester O, Hall CE, Leblond CP. Hormonal production of arthritis. J. Am. Med. Assoc 124: 201, 1944.​

----14. Tannen RL. Relationship of renal ammonia production and potassium homostasis. Kidney International 11: 453-465, 1977.​

----15. Dow SW, Fettman MJ, Smith KR, Ching SV, Hamar DW. Taurine Depletion and Cardiovascular Disease in Cats Fed a Potassium-Depleted, Acidified Diet. American Journal of Veterinary Research, 53(3):402-405, 1992.​

----16. Giebisch G. 1979 Renal potassium transport, Chapter 5 in; Membrane Transport in Biology. p215-298 Giebisch G editor. Springer Verlag, Berlin, NY​

----17. DeLand EC, Villamil MF, Maloney Jr JV. A theoretical and experimental study of ionic shifts induced by K depletion and replacement. Journal of Theoretical Biology 76: 31-51, 1979.​

----18. Ellis D, Banner B, Janosky JE, Feig PU. Potassium supplementation attenuates experimental hypertensive renal injury. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, 2: 1529-1537, 1992.​

----19. Luft FC, Zemel MB, Sowers JA, Fineberg NS, Weinberger MH. Sodium bicarbonate and sodium chloride: effects on blood pressure and electrolyte homeostasis in normal and hypertensive man. Journal of Hypertension 8: 663-670, 1990.​

----20. Tekol Y. Is systemic hypertension only a sign of chronic sodium chloride intoxication? Medical Hypotheses 67: 630-638, 2006.​

----21. Boegshold M, Kotchen TA. Importance of dietary chloride for salt sensitivity of blood pressure. Hypertension 17: (auppl) I 158-I161, 1991.​

----22. Melby JC, Dale SL, Grekin RJ, Gaunt R, Wilson TE. 18-hydroxy 11 deoxycorticosterone (18 OH-DOC) secretion in experimental and human hypertension. Recent Progress in Hormone Resarch. 28: 287-351, on p 323 1972.​

----23. Amerine MA, Ough CS. Recent advances in enology. CRC Critical Reviews in Food Technology 2: 407-515 1972.​

----24. Fitzhugh DG, Knudsen L, Nelson A. The chronic toxicity of sulfites J. Pharm. Exptl. Therap. 86: 37-48 1946.​

----25. Suter PM, Vetter W. Diuretics and vitamin B1: are diuretics a risk factor for thiamin malnutrition? Nutr. Rev. 58:319-323, 2000.​

----26. Baumgartner TG. What the practicing nurse should know about thiamine. Intraven. Nurs. 14: 130-135, 1991.​

----27. Dyckner T, Ek B, Nyhlin H, Wester P.O. Aggravation of thiamine deficiency by magnesium depletion. A case report. Acta Med. Scand. 218: 129-130, 1985.​

----28. Thompson AD. Mechanisms of vitamin deficiency in chronic alcohol misusers and the development of the Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. Alcohol Alcohol Suppl. 35: 2-7, 2000.​

----29. Thornalley P, Babaei JR,-Jadidi R, Al Ali H, Rabbani N, Antonysunil A, Larkin J, Ahmed A, Rayman G, BodmerCW. High prevalence of low plasma thiamine concentration in diabetes linked to a marker of vascular disease. Diabetologia 50:2164–2170, 2007.​

----30. LaCelle PL. An investigation of total body potassium in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Rheumatism Association, Arthritis and Rheumatism 7: 321, 1964.​

POTASSIUM and THIAMIN (VITAMIN B-1) in HEART DISEASE

by Charles Weber, MS

I recommend that you seek additional advice before using any information in this article.

POTASSIUM and THIAMIN (VITAMIN B-1) in HEART DISEASE

by Charles Weber, MS

I recommend that you seek additional advice before using any information in this article.

ABSTRACT

Insufficient potassium and vitamin B-1 (thiamin) can not damage the heart significantly when both are deficient. This has very important implications when supplementing each during heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis.

INTRODUCTION

Some of the symptoms of heart disease are shortness of breath, swelling of the legs and ankles and occasionally the abdomen, fatigue and weakness, loss of appetite and nausea, reduced urination, and persistent cough which sometimes produces mucus or blood tinged sputum. DISCUSSION

It is obvious that if potassium supplements are given, it is very important that the vitamin B-1 intake must be adequate at the same time, and one third of heart disease patients are deficient in thiamin [34].

Since diabetics are usually deficient in potassium, it seems that it is highly probable that they should never use potassium unless they correct the vitamin B-1 at the same time and the reverse.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

CONCLUSION

IDEAL POTASSIUM INTAKE

Low potassium intake is also somewhat implicated in high blood pressure, stroke, osteoporosis [35], and kidney stones. Potassium ingested as the chloride can actually raise blood pressure (hypertension) slightly. Potassium has been found to increase bone density [43 Tucker].

POLITICS of POTASSIUM

One third of the world’s children are under weight and malnourished. 20,000 die of hunger each year [45 Gitlin]. We can ill afford to deliberately destroy any of our food by processors.

EPILOGUE

SOME HEALTH INFORMATION

There is also an article that proposes ameliorations for diabetes and a possible cause from chili pepper.

There is evidence that cell phones can produce tumors. Using remote ear phones would seem to be a good idea.

It has been proposed that large amounts of vitamin D will cause a dramatic reduction in the heart disease rate [61]. I suspect this may be from making magnesium absorption more efficient.

The pioneering efforts about potassium for arthritis by Charles de Coti-Marsh enabled him to form a foundation currently active in England that promotes the use of potassium for arthritis and it has helped more than 3500 people.

See this site for some links to health articles.

Here is an article with anecdotal evidence for pressurized oxygen, zinc, vitamin B6, and vitamin C after head injuries. They also claim a fair percentage of prison inmates from psychiatric disorders after head injuries.

You may find useful for definitions and easy to use a search for abstracts of journal references, "Gateway". You must click on “ MEDLINE/PubMed” or for definitions click on "find terms". or a list of medical search engines and also a site with several links to potassium nutrition articles.

---Google’s “scholar search site” is excellent for all types of journal references.

There is a free program available which tells on your site what web site accessed you, which search engine, statistics about which country, statistics of search engine access, keywords used and their frequency. It can be very useful.

Send email to Charles Weber; ----- isoptera at att.net - or; phone = 828 692 5816 (USA)

All printed rights to this article are reserved. Electronic rights are waived.

There is a directory of rheumatologists in the USA with links to directories of other doctors, medical schools, hospitals, and health plans at this site.

REFERENCES

----1. Sampson JJ, Anderson, EM. The therapeutic use of potassium in certain cardiac arrhythmias. Proceedings of the Society of Experimental Biology & Medicine 28: 163, 1930.

----2. Chang HY, Hu YW, Yue CSJ, Wen YW, Yeh WT, Hsu LS. Effect of potassium-enriched salt on cardiovascular mortality and medical expenses of elderly men, l, Am J Clin Nutr, 83(6): 1289-96, 2006.

----3. Rubini ME, Chojnacki RE. Principles of parenteral therapy. Am. Clin. Nutr. 25: 96-113, 1972.

----4. Mineno T. Effect of some vitamins and other substances on K metabolism in the myocardia of vitamin deficient rats - Experiemtal investigation. J. Nagoya Med. Assoc. 92: 80-95, 1969.

----5. Gould SE, ed Pathology of the Heart and Blood Vessels - 3rd ed. Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Ill p 508 1968.

----6. Folis RH. Myocardial necroses in rats on a potassium low diet prevented by thiamine deficiency. Bulletin Johns Hopkins Hosp.71: 235-241, 1942.

----7. Hove EL, Herndon JF. Potassium deficiency in the rabbit as a cause of muscular dystrophy. J Nutr. 55: 363-374, 1953.

----8. Blahd WH, Cassen B, Lederer M. Body potassium content in patients with muscular dystrophy - body composition part 1. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 110: 282-290, 1963.

----9. Romanski SA, McMahon MM. Metabolic acidosis and thiamine deficiency. Mayo Clin Proc. 1999 Mar;74(3):259-63, 1999.

----10. McDonald JT, Margen S. Wine vs ethanol in human nutrition. Fluid sodium and potassium balance. American journal of Clinical Nutrition 32: 817-822, 1979.

----11. Williams CL Meck WH Heyer DD Loy R Hypertrophy of basal forebrain neurons and enhanced visuospatial memory in perinatally choline supplemented rats. Brain Research 794: 225-238, 1998.

----12. Weber CE, Potassium supplements as affecting rheumatoid arthritis, diarrhea, hypertension, and heart disease. Available from URL http://charles_w.tripod.com/arthritis11.html

----13. Selye H, Sylvester O, Hall CE, Leblond CP. Hormonal production of arthritis. J. Am. Med. Assoc 124: 201, 1944.

----14. Tannen RL. Relationship of renal ammonia production and potassium homostasis. Kidney International 11: 453-465, 1977.

----15. Dow SW, Fettman MJ, Smith KR, Ching SV, Hamar DW. Taurine Depletion and Cardiovascular Disease in Cats Fed a Potassium-Depleted, Acidified Diet. American Journal of Veterinary Research, 53(3):402-405, 1992.

----16. Giebisch G. 1979 Renal potassium transport, Chapter 5 in; Membrane Transport in Biology. p215-298 Giebisch G editor. Springer Verlag, Berlin, NY

----17. DeLand EC, Villamil MF, Maloney Jr JV. A theoretical and experimental study of ionic shifts induced by K depletion and replacement. Journal of Theoretical Biology 76: 31-51, 1979.

----18. Ellis D, Banner B, Janosky JE, Feig PU. Potassium supplementation attenuates experimental hypertensive renal injury. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, 2: 1529-1537, 1992.

----19. Luft FC, Zemel MB, Sowers JA, Fineberg NS, Weinberger MH. Sodium bicarbonate and sodium chloride: effects on blood pressure and electrolyte homeostasis in normal and hypertensive man. Journal of Hypertension 8: 663-670, 1990.

----20. Tekol Y. Is systemic hypertension only a sign of chronic sodium chloride intoxication? Medical Hypotheses 67: 630-638, 2006.

----21. Boegshold M, Kotchen TA. Importance of dietary chloride for salt sensitivity of blood pressure. Hypertension 17: (auppl) I 158-I161, 1991.

----22. Melby JC, Dale SL, Grekin RJ, Gaunt R, Wilson TE. 18-hydroxy 11 deoxycorticosterone (18 OH-DOC) secretion in experimental and human hypertension. Recent Progress in Hormone Resarch. 28: 287-351, on p 323 1972.

----23. Amerine MA, Ough CS. Recent advances in enology. CRC Critical Reviews in Food Technology 2: 407-515 1972.

----24. Fitzhugh DG, Knudsen L, Nelson A. The chronic toxicity of sulfites J. Pharm. Exptl. Therap. 86: 37-48 1946.

----25. Suter PM, Vetter W. Diuretics and vitamin B1: are diuretics a risk factor for thiamin malnutrition? Nutr. Rev. 58:319-323, 2000.

----26. Baumgartner TG. What the practicing nurse should know about thiamine. Intraven. Nurs. 14: 130-135, 1991.

----27. Dyckner T, Ek B, Nyhlin H, Wester P.O. Aggravation of thiamine deficiency by magnesium depletion. A case report. Acta Med. Scand. 218: 129-130, 1985.

----28. Thompson AD. Mechanisms of vitamin deficiency in chronic alcohol misusers and the development of the Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. Alcohol Alcohol Suppl. 35: 2-7, 2000.

----29. Thornalley P, Babaei JR,-Jadidi R, Al Ali H, Rabbani N, Antonysunil A, Larkin J, Ahmed A, Rayman G, BodmerCW. High prevalence of low plasma thiamine concentration in diabetes linked to a marker of vascular disease. Diabetologia 50:2164–2170, 2007.

----30. LaCelle PL. An investigation of total body potassium in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Rheumatism Association, Arthritis and Rheumatism 7: 321, 1964.

----31. Matsuoka Y, Obana M, Mita S Kohno, M Irimajiri S, Fujimori I, Fukuda J. 1981 Studies of death in autopsied cases with rheumatoid arthritis, p 27. in;

New Horizons in Rheumatoid arthritis, (Shiokawa Y Abe T & Yamauchi. Y, eds.). exerpta Medica International Congress Series #535.

----32. Ifudu O, Markell MS, Friedman EA. Unrecognized pseudohyperkalemia as a cause of elevated potassium in patients with renal disease. American Journal of Nephrology 12: 102-104, 1992.

----33. Sokolov EI. Disorders of electrolyte metabolism in cases of rheumatic valvular heart disease (Russian). VOP. Revmatizma 1: 55-58 from; Arthritis and Rheumatic Diseases Abstracts 3: 526, 96, 1966.

----34. Hanninen SA Darling PB Sole MJ Barr A Keith ME 2008 The prevalence of thiamin deficiency in hospitalized patients with congestive heart failure. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 47; 354-361.

----35. He and MacGregor 2001 Fortnightly review: Beneficial effects of potassium BMJ. 323; 497-501.

---- 36. Wooley JA 2008 Characteristics of thiamin and its relevance to the management of heart disease. Nutrition in Clinical Practice 27; 487-493.

---- 37. Adelson SF et al 1963 Discard of edible food in households. Journal Home Economics 55; 633.

---- 38. Economic Research Service 1971 Food consumption supplement for 1970 to Agricultural Economic Report #138 USDA, Wash. DC. ---- 39. Dall & Gardner HS 1971 Dietary intake of potassium by geriatric patients. Gerontol. Clinic 13; 119-124.

---- 40. Dall JLC Paulose S & Ferguson JA 1971 Potassium intake of elderly patients in hospital. Gerontol. Clinic 13; 114.

---- 41. Grim CE et al 1970 On the higher blood pressure of blacks: A study of sodium and potassium intake and excretion in a bi-racial community. Clinical Research 18; 593.

---- 42. Grim CE, Luft FC, Miller JZ, Meneely GR, Battarbee HD, Hames CG, Dahl LK 1980 Racial differences in blood pressure in Evans County, Georgia: relationship to sodium and potassium intake and plasma renin activity. J Chronic Dis. 33(2):87-94.

---- 43. Tucker KL Hannan ML Chen H Cupples A Wilson PWF Kiel DP 1999 Potassium, magnesium, and fruit and vegetable intakes are associated with greater bone mineral density in elderly men and women. Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, Apr 1999; 69: 727 - 736.

---- 44. Sardi B 2003 The New Truth About Vitamins and Minerals. Here and Now Books, 457 West Allen Ave. #117, San Dimas, CA 91773.

---- 45. Gitlin JD 2006 Distributing nutrition. Science 314; 1252-1253.

---- 46. Rastmanesh R 2008 A pilot study of potassium supplementation in treatment of hypokalemic patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a randomized, double-blinded, placebo controlled trial. The Journal of Pain 9; 722.

---- 47. Studdert, et. al. 1991 Thiamin deficiency in cats and dogs associated with feeding meat preserved with sulphur dioxide, Australian Veterinary Journal, Vol 68, issue 2, p 54-57.