Potassium Bicarbonate Dosage

[NickC]

Can anyone suggest a safe but effective daily dosage of potassium bicarbonate, I am thinking that 1g per day might be a reasonable amount but would appreciate confirmation of that.

Thanks,

 

[charlie]

 

[David PS]

I take about a third to a half a teaspoon of potassium bicarbonate in my coffee. I drink coffee 2 or 3 times a day. It works to lower blood pressure among other things.

 

[David PS]

Here is link to the full text of the rat study discussed in the video.
http://www.advancedalternativescenter.com/v/vspfiles/pdf/Diet-Evolution-Aging.pdf

 

[charlie]

take about a third to a half a teaspoon of potassium bicarbonate in my coffee. I drink coffee 2 or 3 times a day. It works to lower blood pressure among other things.

Thank you! How long have you been supplementing it and have you noticed any benefit?

 

[David PS]

Thank you! How long have you been supplementing it and have you noticed any benefit?

I have been taking it daily for years. My Amazon.com order history indicated that I first ordered potassium carbonate in October of 2012.
Here is the product that I happen to be using. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0064GZPU4/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It is hard to remember any benefits other than lowering my blood pressure. My blood pressure is now 116/68 and I am 64 years young.

[edit] It also changed the ph of my urine. I think that monitoring your blood pressure and urine ph will provide feedback that you might find helpful.

 

[Captain_Coconut]

I take 1 teaspoon a day along with sodium. It makes me generally feel less stiff and recover faster from physically demanding work.

 

[yerrag]

I have been taking it daily for years. My Amazon.com order history indicated that I first ordered potassium carbonate in October of 2012.
Here is the product that I happen to be using. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0064GZPU4/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It is hard to remember any benefits other than lowering my blood pressure. My blood pressure is now 116/68 and I am 64 years young.

[edit] It also changed the ph of my urine. I think that monitoring your blood pressure and urine ph will provide feedback that you might find helpful.

Just noticed that you meant potassium bicarbonate and not potassium carbonate. Potassium carbonate produces a strong alkaline solution. I'm not sure if I can call it caustic. I didn't have access to potassium bicarbonate, but I have potassium carbonate. Potassium carbonate easily dissolves in water, and I can carbonate the liquid, shake, and the product is potassium bicarbonate.

 

[yerrag]

Can anyone suggest a safe but effective daily dosage of potassium bicarbonate, I am thinking that 1g per day might be a reasonable amount but would appreciate confirmation of that.

Thanks,

I think that you have to consider both the maximum daily for both potassium and bicarbonate, and then go with the least of these two as your basis.

I've been giving magnesium bicarbonate to two women- one in her early 60s and another in her early 70s. They have been going 2 months on daily magnesium bicarbonate supplementation at 4,000mg/day, and they are feeling better. I could have increased the dosage but I felt I didn't want to complicate matters such as risking diarrhea or alkalosis, as negative experiences would scare them away. I would be monitoring them to make sure they're not having side-effects. I would ask them if they have been urinating more or urinating less, and they feel nothing has changed urination-wise. I plan on keeping them on this for 6 months, in order for their magnesium stores to build up.

I've been on higher levels myself, at 6,000mg magnesium bicarbonate/day, but feel 5,000mg mag bicarbonate/day will just be fine for me. I dialed back the dosage for them, which is why they're at 4,000mg/day of magbicarb.

The corresponding bicarbonate portion of 4,000mg per day of magbicarb is 3,333mg/day. In potassium bicarbonate terms, this would translate to 5.200mg/day. This is based on what I feel to be a tolerable level of bicarbonate daily intake. This isn't the final answer yet though.

As for potassium, we know that the recommended daily allowance (RDA) is 4,700mg. So we know this can't be exceeded when we don't take any food that has potassium in it. But we do, in the form of meat, and fruits, and vegetables. So definitely, the value we want for potassium has to be lower than this.

We also know that excessive potassium in the blood can be dangerous, or even fatal. This has an effect on our heart, and it is common to have arrhythmia with excess potassium. Even though our kidneys should be able to excrete excess potassium, that doesn't always happen, as there are people with kidney problems that make it difficult for their kidney to excrete potassium. Hence, there is a risk for taking potassium supplementation. In fact, potassium pills or tablets are limited to just 100mg, in order to keep the entire population safe from problems arising from kidney issues. The downside to this is that it renders potassium supplementation to be ineffectual for people who can benefit from higher potassium supplementation.

There are studies shown in this thread (https://raypeatforum.com/community/...carbonate-in-improving-calcium-balance.23680/ ) It shows that patients have benefited from the intake of 60 mmol of potassium bicarbonate/day for 12 days. This translates to 6,000mg of KHCO3 taken daily, of which 2,350mg is elemental potassium.

Based on this, I can say that for a limited period (12 days is the length of the study referenced), one could have a daily supplementation o 6,000mg of potassium bicarbonate. But since this value is higher than the value based on bicarbonate, I would just use 5,200mg of potassium bicarbonate daily, for 12 days.

But if I were to take potassium bicarbonate for a longer period, I would feel safe cutting the dosage to half of it at 2,600mg/day. Since this comes down to only 1,000mg of elemental potassium, and is far off from the 4,700mg value of RDA, I would just make sure I eat potassium-rich foods such as fruits and vegetables, in addition to meat.

This, of course, assumes the person does not have kidney disease and isn't taking medication that affects the electrolyte balance in the body. One of the ladies I mentioned above took Ciprofloxacin and the next day she was at the ICU. Blood tests show she was high in potassium. It affected her heart, having arrhythmia and tachycardia.

 

[Mito]

Potassium Bicarbonate, Natural, Highest Purity, Food Grade, (Eco-Friendly Packaging)

 

[Owen B]

I'm interested in using some potassium bicarb. But I'm confused about the numbers. On one hand, it's bad to take over 99 mgs. of potassium itself, and OTOH it's OK to take a quarter tsp of potassium bicarb that has 390 mgs of potassium. 390 mgs sounds like a lot compared to the 99 mgs.

Could someone break down these numbers for me?

 

[yerrag]

It isn't bad to take over 99 mg potassium. Consider that guys who subscribe to Paleo here would even take 15,000 mg/day of it thru intake of fruits.

The problem is that the medical establishment likes to give hard and fast rules because in this lawsuit-centric world, people could take more potassium and end up harming themselves because of their condition. People with kidney problems who can't excrete potassium, and people taking some medications that messes with their electrolyte balance - they have to be careful in not taking in more potassium.

So, the establishment just simply forbids the manufacture of potassium pills that don't exceed 100mg. But maybe it's a good thing, as I'd end up eating a banana instead of downing 5 of those pills. Or a cup of coconut water.

But if you limit yourself to 100mg potassium a day, you're going to be in a world of hurt. The RDA is 4700mg, and that's already a low target.

Not that you'll get zero potassium with what you normally eat . Meat has a lot of potassium, for example.

 

[ecstatichamster]

Chemical potassium has a different effect than potassium in food.

I used to get toe and other muscle cramps. KCl as NoSalt gets rid of cramps reliably but eating potassium rich foods does not.

 

[Rafael Lao Wai]

I personally find potassium bicarbonate really safe,as long as you dissolve it in some water before drinking it. Also putting some sugar in the water helps to avoid the hypoglycemia that potassium causes.

I normally put a teaspoon of potassium bicarb. in 300 mL of mineral water, as well as a teaspoon of sodium bicarb., and drink that first thing in the morning with sugar syrup. I buy carbonated mineral so that I can make magnesium bicarb water, so my first water of the day that I drink has 3 very important electrolytes: magnesium, sodium and potassium. Good stuff