When Blood Potassium is too High
Magnesium controls at least 300 bodily functions, and this is just some of them; acid balance, activation of B Vitamins, adrenal function, alcoholism, anxiety, arthritis, asthma, arteriosclerosis, brain function, bone formation, bone loss prevention, calcium utilization, cancer, carbohydrate metabolism, C vitamin utilization, cell formation, cholesterol, depression, diabetes, digestion, energy production, efficient enzyme production, epilepsy, fatigue, fatty acid formation, fibromyalgia, headaches, heart function, heart attack survival, heart disease, heart function, high blood pressure, insomnia, irregular heart beats, kidney function, kidney stones, leg cramps, migraines, muscle cramps, muscle function, muscle spasms, muscle tremors, nervousness, nervous system, osteoporosis, , PMS, rapid heartbeat, relaxation of muscles, seizures, serotonin function, sodium balance, strokes potassium balance (many of the above operate through potassium), Mg also supports the control of acidity and alkalinity in the body. As you can see there is a lot more to magnesium, that helps to prevent and relieve. (see http://www.jbc.org/cgi/content/abstract/246/2/455 ). We should receive twice as uch magnesium as calcium.
Inositol may be similar to magnesium in its affect [Bian] [Allard].. Furthermore there is evidence from rats that excess chloride can increase increased blood pressure (hypertension). However, kidney lesions are prevented by potassium chloride supplements by an unknown mechanism, [Ellis] and such lesions are, otherwise than aneurisms, the most important affect of high blood pressure.
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patient/site visitor and his/her existing physician or nutritionist. XIII. High blood potassium
When attempting to increase our potassium intake to treat or cure rheumatoid arthritis, it is desirable to know which foods are high in potassium. It is not sufficient to know the amount of potassium in a given weight of food. What determines how much food we eat is largely determined by the number of calories contained in it. We eat until our appetite is sated by a sufficient intake of food energy, and then we tend to lose our appetite. Therefore information on potassium in foods is much more useful if it is expressed as weight of potassium per calorie [Weber 1974]. The justification for using Calories contributed by fat or oil in the potassium in foods table depends on the assumption that fat and oil contribute as much to appetite suppression as do carbohydrates. This is not the case short term [Blundell]. However this approach is still justified because trained muscles burn fat as well as carbohydrates [Saltin] and everyone except chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS or CFIDS) victims should get as much exercise as possible for there is said to be no damage to the joints [from a dead URL]. While moderate to heavy exercise has been shown to be beneficial to fibromyalgia (probably a CFS variant) [Hadhazy], exercise in a pool has been shown to give improvement in pain, anxiety, depression, and number of good feeling days were more evident than land exercise [Jentoft]. I suspect that many short sessions of mild exercise across the day would be the best way, probably for rheumatoid arthritis also. Furthermore the foods which I recommend are low in fat and under such circumstances a high proportion of the fat is either burned or stored in the body's fat cells [Westertape] anyway. Therefore ultimately most of the fat and oil in a healthy diet contributes to appetite suppression long term and therefore probably no useful purpose would be obtained by attempting to compute a weighted factor against the fat contribution. A diet high in fat and oil is disadvantageous for other reasons, so no net problem should arise including fat calories. It is customary to designate potassium in milligrams. If potassium content is expressed as milligrams per Calorie (mg/Cal), most foods lie between 0 and 10, and none are higher than 20. These are convenient numbers, easy to read, and make a good comparison for foods when assessing their relative potassium contents. Such a designation is much more useful in attempting to decide which foods to eat than a "per serving" designation which gives very little hint as to relative value and is actually misleading for dry foods. For a food content table for potassium in such a format, see an alphabetical table (as above). A table like that is unobtainable elsewhere in that format. This same table may be viewed in descending potassium concentration at this table. The Table from which these values were computed 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 all the amino acids. It is available in a PDF printable form for potassium only also. There are also links to PDF types of printouts from the table for other individual nutrients available here Just click on the “A” or “W” button for the nutrient that you wish. 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. 1. MEAT, FISH, and EGGS, which we depend on for high quality protein (especially methionine and lysine), sodium, chloride, iodide and vitamin B-12. Vitamin B12 is said to be also present in spirulina, or blue green algae, but is thought to be an analogue of B-12 which may make a deficiency worse. Fermenting vegetables will not provide adequate vitamin B-12 [Rauma 1995 with comments in 1997]. Red Star T-6635+ yeast is said to be rich in vitamin B-12 derived from bacteria. All vitamin B-12 comes from micro-organisms and is not harmful in excess. 2. VEGETABLES, which we depend on for vitamin A, vitamin C, and potassium. They are also good sources of all the other vitamins and minerals except those listed under meat above, and vitamin D, which is not really a vitamin, but a hormone. To the extent that it is de facto a vitamin for those working and studying inside, it is present in liver, sardines, irradiated milk, cod liver oil (However there should not be more than 10 times as much vitamin A in any supplement since, while sufficient vitamin A is thought to be essential to vitamin D’s proper functioning, too much is thought to interfere with vitamin D.), and tablets. For recommended amounts see the last of this site. It is said that a naked white man receives 20,000 IU within a few minutes of bright sunlight, well before tan or burn. It is necessary in the body to guard against tuberculosis [Wilkinson], to gain calcium for avoiding bone loss, to possibly inhibit cancers, and to retain magnesium. It has been proposed that vitamin D has an affect dampening the immune system, especially with regard to multiple sclerosis [Cantorna] and thus dampening inflammation during rheumatoid arthritis as suggested by an epidemiological study [from a dead URL], It is more likely that the affect on magnesium is involved, and thus indirectly powers the potassium pumps [Grace] or by powering the calcium pumps affects pain. The optimal values in the blood are proposed as 45-50 ng/ml or 115-128 nmol/liter of vitamin D.
For a summation of potassium and copper, click
here. 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.. Potassium
Nutritional Requirements -- IX. Potassium in Food – -- X. Processing Losses -- . Losses in the kitchen --
XI. Potassium Supplementation -- XII
Side Effects and Heart Disease -- XIVPotassium and thiamin in heart disease -- Strategies for Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and fibromyalgiaINTRODUCTION
Our food can be divided into three main categories: Take a look at a marvelous site that gives average RDR multiples for most of the essential elements in graphical form from several food groups along with average costs. Vegetables are the winners.
It has been proposed that vitamin D accentuates the symptoms of sarcoidosis (thought to be a bacterial infection), and supplements or sunlight probably should not be used then. Antibiotics have been used successfully against sarcoidosis. Those authors believe that a mycoplasmin like bacteria is responsible for that disease, and suggest that similar bacteria may be involved in rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases like it by infecting white blood cells and causing autoimmunity. So it is also possible that the vitamin D is having a direct affect on arthritis if arthritis is indeed an intracellular infection, for it has been discovered that vitamin D activates a cell receptor that activates antimicrobial peptide (cathelicidin), which is involved in killing of intracellular bacteria such as tuberculosis bacteria [Liu]. Apparently epidemiological studies and circumstantial evidence show lower rates of multiple sclerosis, hypertension, osteoarthritis, and colorectal, prostate [Chan], inflammation, influenza, tuberculosis, breast, and ovarian cancer when vitamin D is adequate [Tavera-Mendoza].
3. GRAINS and FRUIT, which are primarily cheap or tasty sources of calories. Grain price is made even lower since 90% of subsidy payments are made to farmers of corn, wheat, oil seeds, rice, and cotton [Doyle]. Grains also provide a fair amount of Vitamin E and B vitamins (other than B-12). Fruits are usually fair sources of potassium and vitamin C.
Foods that contain 1 milligram per Calorie or better of potassium, as do whole grains, would probably meet the minimum daily requirement for most young people. This assumes a man in good health who burns 2,500 Calories per day, which would yield the 2,500 milligrams per day or so mentioned in Chapter VIII. It also assumes no drains on potassium from stress, disease (such as diarrhea), perspiration or other losses. The only time that it would be necessary to eat grains would probably be if the only vegetables eaten were leafy ones low in calories and heavy work were being performed, for it is said that celery has negative calories, for instance. That is, it takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than the celery has in it to begin with. It is said to be the same with apples. These last statements may be exaggerated somewhat.
Lean meat low in fat has fairly consistent amounts of potassium, usually about 2 mg/Cal. It can range from 1 to 3 mg/Cal. Since fats or oils have no or little water to dissolve potassium, and since they are high in calories, they are very low in potassium, approaching zero. Therefore meat with much fat in it will be lower in potassium per calorie than lean meat. It is important not to eat charred part of meat since there is evidence that chemicals there can cause cancer. Milk compares to meat as a source of potassium, and has the same dependence on fat content. The lactose in milk is difficult to digest for adults outside of the Caucasian and Semitic races and causes digestive upsets. That problem can probably be solved by adding the proper enzyme to the milk. Also, milk is very low in copper, and copper is necessary to repair cartilage damaged by arthritis to achieve maximum strength.
Eggs, like meat, are an excellent source of protein, and for normal people should make a good adjunct to the diet. You should bear in mind, however, if you are in the throes of recovering from a deficiency, that they are low in potassium. This would be expected, since the developing chick is trapped inside the egg. It has no way of excreting potassium and must end up with the correct amount, after burning some energy and making some feathers. Eggs have been given some bad press because of the cholesterol hypothesis. However there are tribes, which eat large amounts of eggs in Africa, that have a much lower heart disease rate than we do. The Masai tribe members have low cholesterol [Brown p8-9] even though heart disease is a problem with them. Low cholesterol diet has little affect on cholesterol (or this site), since the high blood cholesterol is probably due to impaired conversion of cholesterol to bile acid [Mann p647], probably usually caused by a copper deficiency, and an egg a day has no affect on cholesterol [Slater][Hu] and Cholesterol lowering drugs give a higher death rate [Mann p646], and the cholesterol level is normal in the average heart attack victim. In fact, too little cholesterol in the body can cause health problems. A higher cholesterol intake increases sterilization of tuberculosis bacteria by the body [Perez-Guzman], so must be desirable in immunity. High sodium chloride (table salt) intake for 1-4 years has been found to frequently cause high blood cholesterol [Dahl]. The erroneous attitude toward cholesterol has been ascribed to misinterpretation of the data and lack of precision in semantics [Stehbens]. Nicotinic acid (vitamin B3a) is said to have the affect of lowering the undesirable form of cholesterol. For some side effects of cholesterol lowering drugs see links in this site. Golomb and Marcella have written a review of the affects of statin drugs on the body and have concluded the bad side effects of those drugs are because of inhibition of mitocondrial activity.
Nicotinic acid and niacinamide (vitamin B3b) reduce the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis somewhat, probably because of involvement with cortisol synthesis. Niacin is the name for the two vitamin Bs, and is most likely to be deficient in people who eat a lot of corn or millet leading to pellagra. It is also thought to be involved in diabetes.
There have been effective treatments rejected in the past solely because they did not conform to mistaken accepted hypotheses [Goodwin]. So eggs should make a reasonable source of protein for everyone. It is probable that most of the problem with cholesterol these days is from a pervasive copper deficiency. It is said that prolonged salt intake can also raise cholesterol, as mentioned above.
Most of the potassium is concentrated in the white of the egg. Egg whites are comparable to meat in content, and are in fact higher than most meat. One way to make a slight gain in potassium intake, if you are the only one deficient in your family, is to have your portion of the egg high in the whites.
Glucosamine has become popular as helpful in osteoarthritis. If it proves to have an equivalent affect on rheumatoid arthritis, I suspect the interference with potassium excretion by the ammonia generated or from the acid anion usually associated with it will prove to be a considerable part of its efficacy.
Vegetables low in starch are the best sources of potassium. They rarely go below 5 mg/Cal., and range up to 20 mg/Cal. or more. The seaweeds are poor sources of potassium. I can not recommend them as a substantial replacement for vegetables, however, because of their high salt content and because they contain bromine and arsenic (22 milligrams of arsenic per 1000 grams) in it, both largely as organic compounds. Between 0.2 to 1.0 milligrams per day of arsenic is ingested [from a dead URL] by the Japanese daily. Inorganic arsenic is a risk factor for liver cancer. However hijiki seaweed has only 0.3 milligrams per 1000 grams of arsenic as arsenate, the remainder being organic, which is only mildly toxic. The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) issued advice to consumers to avoid eating seaweeds.Iodide is an antidote for bromide and fluoride poisoning. Of course the best way to avoid fluoride poison is to not drink fluoridated water. The Japanese average 13.8 milligrams per day iodide from seaweed [Nagataki]. Stadel proposed that the low incidence of breast cancer in the Japanese (Iceland also has a low rate and high iodide intake) is due to their high iodide intake [Stadel] and has been confirmed [Funahashi].
If you wish to increase the variety or taste of the vegetables which you eat by growing your own perennials there is a site which lists growth parameters of trees and shrubs. --or-- This site discusses wild vegetables which are edible, and some evolutionary aspects of vegetable eating. One thing folks can do to help with vegetables that form from flowers, even if you aren't a beekeeper, is to make your yard bee friendly. Plant a flowering herb garden. Bees use herbs medicinally and your plants can help make a difference. It has been suggested to use rosemary, sage, THYME (lots of it), marjoram, chives, basil, all the mints and other herbs with flowers.
You may see a site that discusses many ways to make vegetables more palatable, starting with children, here.
Grain (see evolution of seeds as food) is a major part of the World’s calories Wheat alone provides 20% of the calories [Uauy]. Grains are the lowest in potassium of the major categories, and will usually run about 1 mg/Calorie of potassium. Nuts are similar to grain. The bean, peanut and legume seeds are a fairly good source, usually running about 3-4 mg/Calorie. They along with chocolate and some other nuts are high in arginine amino acid which apparently should not be eaten when suffering from a herpes viral infection such as chicken pox, shingles, genital herpes [McCune] or fever sores (see further discussion below). When first recovering from rheumatoid arthritis and attempting to build up your body's potassium, it would be well to use whole wheat bread and cake sparingly (and no refined flour products at all). Substitute wheat germ and yeast for some of it and vegetables for the rest. People who are intolerant of gluten protein should eat no wheat at all. A very important consideration is to eat extremely sparingly of foods containing large amounts of sugar, starch, or fat, regardless whether the sugar, starch, or fat was placed there naturally or by the hand of man because no potassium is associated with those substances. Refined flour is extremely low in potassium but is not part of this discussion since no one should ever be using that useless rubbish under any circumstances because of a number of other deficiencies. It is too bad that the aristocracy's adoption of white flour in days of yore got all of us peasants hooked on that junk. How it happened is a testament to our admiration for the rich and famous. It happened even though whole wheat tastes much better than that bland junk in my opinion. A diet high in protein has been touted as superior to carbohydrates and for people who have not lost kidney function or have gout it is probably acceptable. However, the main reason why carbohydrates have received a bad perception is probably because the criminally incompetent jerks in the processed food industry have evolved clever ways to remove or destroy essential nutrients in carbohydrates, sometimes 100% of them (white sugar, for instance).
When people speak of a balanced diet, they usually mean that you should get a fair share of each category of food each day. By so doing you make it unlikely that there will be too little or too much of any essential nutrients. If you get about equal calories from each of the three categories, you should have a reasonably balanced diet as defined by the crude definition at the beginning of this paragraph and most people will be reasonably healthy. However grain and fruit are not essential. You can probably get all your nourishment from meat and vegetables, and it is undoubtedly a superior way to eat [LaVecchia et al]. [Van Duyn]. This is a case history in which using vegetable juice and vegetables healed a woman of rheumatoid arthritis There was also a study which used a so called vegan diet with vegetables and legumes to cure diabetes, but no refined food, meat, or milk which showed substantial improvement including much less loss of protein from the kidneys. There also has been a study which showed a strong negative correlation for rheumatoid arthritis with a usual diet versus with cooked vegetables in Greece [Linos]. A similar diet, the so called mediterranean diet, showed marked improvement in Sweden [Skoldstam] and in Finland [Hanninen]. In addition, there is a suspicion that some unessential compounds in vegetables can have desirable affects against other diseases.
It is desirable to have variety in the vegetables, as almost every plant has a different mild poison or another and variety prevents difficulty from any one of them. For instance parsnip root and diseased celery have a phototoxic poison [Ivie], a poison in soy beans inhibit the thyroid gland and capsaicin in chili pepper placed on the nerves surrounding the insulin cells in mice kills the nerves and may cause type I diabetes [Weber 2008]. Each plant family is usually different from the others. Therefore, it is important to vary your menu. If you concentrate on one particular plant, you may find yourself in the embarrassing position of the man who turned orange from eating too many tomatoes and carrots, or have a vital food element tied up in the digestive tract as the oxalic acid in spinach and rhubarb is alleged to do to calcium, have your thyroid secretion decreased by something in canola oil, turnips, peanuts, soy nuts, pine nuts, uncooked, unfermented cruciferous vegetables (such as cabbage, broccoli, kale, and cauliflower, or much worse, to be badly sickened by alkaloids as the poor people in India are sometimes when they eat only a local wild pea during a famine. Most of these toxic substances are only mildly toxic and present in small amounts in cultivated plants so variety should solve the problem satisfactorily for edible plants for most people. You can see which foods belong to which families in order to rotate and maximize the advantage at; this site. One way to achieve variety is to find recipes for good tasting mixtures of food. You may see a link to a trail mix recipe in this site. A fringe benefit is that mixtures of vegetables almost always taste better than individual vegetables, in my opinion. Soup is an especially tasty way to eat vegetables. A recipe for a Korean blend of vegetables called Kimchi similar to sauerkraut may be seen here. Be sure to go very easy on the salt though. Another recipe, for a blended vegetable drink which Harris calls a ‘smoothie” is here and here. His suggestion to use a 50 milligram zinc supplement is dangerous and should not be taken though, because excess zinc interferes with copper. I lost a relative from a brain hemorrhage who took large zinc supplements but no copper.
There are no toxic meats in normal commerce, so that variety in meat is probably not essential to take care of the above circumstance about poisons. It has been proposed that red meat is unhealthy, but this is an invalid myth, and people with adequate kidneys or do not suffer from hemochromatosis (inability to excrete iron) can eat large amounts of red meat safely. Eating red meat is unhealthy is an incorrect perception probably produced by charred meat producing cancer causing chemicals and processed meats containing numerous poisonous additives. There are tribes in Africa whose members make meat a major part of their diet in which degenerative diseases are very rare. Tribes that ate both meat and plant food were healthiest, So meat should be acceptable nutritionally to most who do not have quasi religious aversion to it. Epidemiological studies have linked red meat to rheumatoid arthritis [Pattison]. I suspect that the largest part of this correlation arises from a tendency for arthritics to be more allergic to some proteins, so this should disappear when the rheumatoid arthritis disappears. An exception is fish. Salt water fish can contain unacceptable amounts of mercury (scroll down) and tropical fish contain ciguatera toxin. This ciguatera is a poison of many carbon rings generated by algae, which toxin can not be degraded by heat and which is thought to bind to sodium cell wall pumps. It remains in the body for a long time. It gives symptoms similar to chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS or CFIDS). Mannitol has been proposed as a treatment [Karlin]. Since fish migrate and in addition are transported all over the world, eating oceanic fish (especially large reef fish) or pigs or chickens (it is said that chickens receive only 2% fishmeal) fed such fish may not be worth the risk even for healthy people (Tyson Inc. claims no use of fish). I suspect that cod-liver oil is safe since it is a northern fish and is a good source of vitamin D and omega 3 oil. Fish oils are safe from mercury, since they contain only minute amounts of mercury [Foran]. A recurrence of neurological symptoms from ciguatera may be brought on by consumption of alcohol (probably not the alcohol itself, but poisons associated with it) or certain foods such as other fish, fish-flavored food products, meat such as chicken and pork , and peanut butter or nut oils.
Another exception can be eating shellfish. There are two algae that have a poison not degradable by heat that are filtered by shellfish. They produce diseases called paralytic shellfish poisoning and paralytic shellfish poisonings are present throughout the world when the appropriate bloom materializes [Silver]. There is hope that they will become forestalled in the future by development of robots that can detect the DNA of the poisonous algae and monitor the bay water.
It is also said to be important to receive at least a small amount of meat or dairy products at every meal for adults since these are quality proteins. Many nutritionists believe that you should eat more than the 50 grams of protein in a 2000 Calorie diet, which the US government recommends, as much as double that amount or more. [from a dead URL]. I can not help with advice on this for sure, but I suspect the governments recommendation is a minimum. Much of the usefulness of quality protein (protein high in lysine and methionine amino acids) is said to be lost if it is eaten even as little as two hours after the main meal [I have lost the reference]. Lysine can have some additional importance because arginine amino acid accentuates the symptoms of an attack of the herpes type of virus [McCune] (such as chicken pox, shingles, infectious mononucleosis, roseola). Thus an attack of shingles, which disease is a resurgence of chicken pox virus from the pain nerves near the spine where they have been dormant, will be accentuated and perhaps even triggered by foods high in arginine. These foods are said to include peanuts (peanuts are 50% higher than cashews, but which last are substantial nevertheless), other nuts and non grass seeds, and chocolate. See here for a table which gives lysine and arginine values by weight of food and lysine\arginine ratios. Lysine helps to mute the effects of the virus, significantly reducing the occurrence (when taken routinely during the disease), severity, and healing time of herpes simplex virus [Griffith]. You can recognize shingles by large patches of a painful rash which appears on one side of the body in people under emotional stress [Irwin], older people, or people whose immune system has been compromised. There is a potassium chloride table salt on the market that contains lysine to mask the potassium flavor. It may prove to be a good source.
It is said that injections of adenosine monophosphate and interferon gamma will also help heal herpes infections [Nikkels].
Since whatever long lasting infection (70 to 80 % retrovirus signs [DeFreitas] ) or/and poison [Bell 1998][Racciati] or/and small adrenal glands [Scott & Dinan] or/and disruption of the brain-pituitary axis [Scott & Svec & Dinan] (but beyond any reasonable doubt not hypochondria or mass hysteria from reading newspapers) is causing chronic fatigue syndrome (also called CFS, postinfectious neuromyasthenia, chronic virus infection, myalgic encephalomyelitis, chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome, CFIDS, fibromyalgia, FM, ME, PVFS) seems to make people more susceptible to herpes virus with 77% of CFS patients containing antibodies to HHV-6 EA as IgM and IgG [Patnaik] it may be prudent for these CFS people also to eat sparingly of high arginine foods continuously after CFS or maybe until tests determine that the immune peptide hormones [Patarca] are all normal again. The symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome are impaired sleep, loss of memory, sore throat, muscle and joint aches, headache, cough, photophobia, extreme long lasting fatigue after physical exertion, night sweats, [Evengard] depression that has much lower ACTH and cortisol secretion than other types of depression [Demitrack], lymph node pain, eye pain and fibromyalgia (muscle pain) [Bell 1994] as well as white spots on MRI brain scans and sometimes loss of fingerprints, a chronic low level activation of the immune system [Cannon] which last may be accounting for many of the symptoms, but all symptoms highly variable, possibly because the part of the brain attacked varies or because there are different varieties of virus or both. Whole body potassium in CFS averages a little lower than other healthy people which themselves are low in potassium in our society. The CFS average was two thirds of the highest values of "normal" people [Burnett]. The affect of potassium would bear investigation. When it is, magnesium should be part of the experiment since there was significant improvement of a patient from magnesium injections [Takahasha]. Potassium should be used with caution and under a doctor’s care since when a patient thought to be exhibiting symptoms of fibromyalgia was brought to 5.0 mEq/l of potassium in her blood (which is about normal), she contracted paralysis [Gotze]. This may be because experiments have shown that people who have CFS with muscle pain have normal extra cellular potassium and so fibromyalgia must be a different subset of CFS or caused by a different virus species. 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 normal nerve transmission, but the serum potassium does not drop [Manitius p38]. During a magnesium deficiency cellular muscle potassium drops but not liver potassium [Petersen] and a large potassium intake does not prevent this (scroll down) [Manitius]. Grace and O'Dell are of the opinion that this disturbance of potassium metabolism is due to the dependence of the sodium pump on ATPase which in turn depends on the magnesium [Grace], possibly by virtue of a calcium inactivation of the enzymes [Heggtveit]. If a magnesium deficiency does develop, half a year of supplements can be required for complete normalization of magnesium and potassium - sodium pumps [Anonymous], so experiments involving supplements must be long term. A high potassium intake in sheep [Newton], large amounts of vitamin D, and wheat phytic acid increase magnesium need although calcium has little affect at 10 mg of magnesium per kilogram of body weight [Seelig]. Seelig recommends 7-10 mg of magnesium per kilogram of body weight. (See this site for FAQ and links about CFS) and this site far some possible strategies for CFS and fibromyalgia. This site shows how to increase magnesium in the diet. Magnesium is probably one of the most widespread deficiencies in our society (USA) probably partly because it is impractical to include it in vitamin tablets. Magnesium is involved in depression.
Potassium has a wider margin of error in timing when eaten than the above two amino acids may have, but you should avoid any deficiency or starvation which lasts more than 2 or 3 days if at all possible when you are replete in order to remain in top notch shape, and you should make a considerable effort to avoid any deficiency in food at all when you have a deficiency in potassium or have rheumatoid arthritis. There is an excellent article on practical ways to get more potassium from food. It is possible that eating smaller amounts at five or more meals each day would enable you to retain a larger fraction of the total potassium since surges would be avoided. There seem to be advantages with weight control and other problems from such a procedure also. However if fasting is ever contemplated, it should not be prolonged because muscle wasting during arthritis is dangerous and weight reduction is not a factor in amelioration from vegetarian diets.
Of course, even when you are receiving a "balanced diet" (as defined by the food pyramid), you should still give some reasonable attention to each of the other essential nutrients. Magnesium is directly related since the body can not absorb potassium easily during a magnesium deficiency. Magnesium supplements can take up to six months to normalize the magnesium, potassium, and sodium pumps. It may not happen at all if vitamin D is deficient since the kidneys depend on vitamin D to reabsorb magnesium [Ritchie]. Krispin Sullivan, clinical dietitian, has written an excellent article on magnesium deficiency. Agar seaweed is a very rich source of magnesium since a hundred grams dry weight contains 770 milligrams. It is also very rich in copper. Magnesium appears to be especially important when suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, or some asthmas. Magnesium activates some of the dozen or so electrolyte pumps, a defficiency is said to inhibit the potassium chloride cotransport pump, blocks some pumps, and is said to increase the potassium pore permeability [Bara]. To imagine that the housewife (or house husband if he prepares the food) can get on top of all that in addition to bizarre large additions of nutrients such as chloride and phosphate placed there by the criminally incompetent junk food processors on her way out to the food store and adjust the food destruction with pills is dream like. The top researchers and dietitians of the world can not. So her only real chance is to acquire a wide array of unprocessed food and hope her family has no serious genetic defects. Medications are not a satisfactory substitute for food, indeed are usually harmful. The following is a statement in a long term research into effect of rheumatoid arthritis medicines; "It was in 1988 that Pincus suggested that short-term studies may give rise to false expectations, and that radiological and laboratory values are overemphasized at the expense of long-term outcomes of functional status and death," Dr. Gibson and colleagues comment. "Perhaps our study serves to reinforce this message." [Gibson]
Extra copper may be necessary when recovering from rheumatoid arthritis. It is reasonable to suspect that healing would be more effective if all the other nourishment is adequate. Arthritics are deficient in pyridoxine, zinc, and magnesium versus the recommended daily allowance and copper and folate versus the typical American diet [Kremer 1997] (which itself is not sensational). They also have inadequate calcium, vitamin E and selenium [Stone]. Brazil nuts are rich in selenium. You should pay particular attention to vitamin A on a series of bright sunny days
You should pay attention to vitamin vitamin B-1 if you eat many foods made with sulfur dioxide (which destroys B-1 in the intestines [Fitzhugh][Amerine p487] ) 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, and some dried fruits.. A vitamin B-1 deficiency is especially dangerous to the heart and kidneys when potassium becomes replete because heart disease can not materialize when both potassium and vitamin B-1 are deficient [Folis] See this site. (wine can be obtained without the sulfur dioxide and is said to be advantageous as part of the so called “Mediterranean diet”, probably because of a poison in wine that inhibits potassium excretion).
Vitamin C may be desirable if you have been cooking most of your food or have been eating stale food and are pregnant. Pregnancy is important because vitamin C deficiency is thought to be involved as a synergistic affect with the arsenic and antimony poisons used to fire proof mattresses and now known to cause SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). [from a dead URL] Extra vitamin C is also desirable if you have a viral infection. A considerable part of this last is probably because cortisol is tripled throughout the circadian cycle by a vitamin C deficiency (guinea pigs) [Wilber]. Eating large amounts of vitamin C (ascorbic acid or ascorbate) is thought to interfere with utilization of copper within the body [Harris][Underwood p71] although Evans thinks the problem is absorption is decreased [Evans 1973b]. Vitamin C causes ruptures of the aorta in copper deficient animals [Owen]. I do not know what the mechanisms are, but anyone taking excessive vitamin C routinely had better make certain copper is adequate. Vitamin C accentuates copper affect on lysyl oxidase if given 75 minutes later, but, strangely, if given at the same time inhibits the affect [Di Silvestro, 1981]. Possibly vitamin E to protect the heart (say wheat germ) may be desirable. Maybe linolenic (omega-3 fatty) acid, should be supplemented, which is essential to construct cell walls, if you have been eating hydrogenated foods especially, (which is definitely not recommended). Magnesium has been found to ameliorate the bad affects of hydrogenated oils on the heart somewhat [Kumarov], but there is no substitute for not eating them in the first place. The ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 oils should be one, but modern diets are much higher [Simopoulos]. Supplements may be in order if you are afflicted with depression, since a negative correlation has been established. and maybe also for attention deficit disorder, post partum depression. Fish oils are high in omega 3 as is flax seed, which is said to mute rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. A recent law permits processors to claim zero trans (partially hydrogenated) oils even when 2.2 grams is contained and fully hydrogenated oil still implies a loss of the omega vitamins. A compound related to omega 3 and omega 6 oils is cetyl meristoleate and is said to improve rheumatoid arthritis symptoms [Kremer 2000] but I know of no supportive theory other than that prostaglandin hormones may be increased and dampen immunity in some way. If so this would be a dubious strategy. The chemistry of fats and oils is very complicated. Ratios of omega 6 to omega 3 oils less than 4 to 1 have been associated with reduced inflammation during rheumatoid arthritis. This is one more indication that only whole, unprocessed foods should be eaten. You should give some thought to calcium if you have been subject to cramps, spasms (spasms are more likely on a high potassium intake in the absence of calcium), probably tuberculosis [Wilkinson], or tooth decay. Vitamin D is necessary in conjunction with the calcium and is probably important for magnesium absorption also. However it is very important to have adequate magnesium along with the calcium or a dangerous imbalance can result. Equally important is to keep the teeth sound with adequate intakes of calcium, phosphate, magnesium, copper, and vitamin D. Copper is especially important for small children with developing teeth. Vitamin D is especially important for people who must be inside away from sunlight. Vieth argues that the 200 international units (IU) RDR (or RDA) is too low. He maintains that 200 IU merely prevents osteoporosis after a fashion. He recommends 800 to 1,000 IU total per day. Apparently he claims that epidemiological studies and circumstantial evidence show lower rates of multiple sclerosis, hypertension, osteoarthritis, and colorectal, prostate, breast, and ovarian cancer from increased vitamin D. Since naked Africans receive 10,000 IU, he suggests that concerns of toxicity are inappropriate [Vieth]. It has also been discovered that vitamin D activates a cell receptor that activates antimicrobial peptide (cathelicidin), which is involved in killing of intracellular bacteria such as tuberculosis bacteria [Liu]. However, it has been proposed that vitamin D accentuates the symptoms of sarcoidosis (thought to be a bacterial infection), and supplements or sunlight probably should not be used then. For complete safety iodide must be supplemented or sea weed eaten in the absence of seafood and table salt, but not excessively because it is toxic in excess [Izzeldin]. Potassium iodide free of elemental iodine is the safest way. Vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine) deficiency has been found to increase tumor necrosis factor (TNF) in rheumatoid arthritis [Roubenoff]. TNF stimulates parts of the immune system which have to do with inflammation, among other things. There is a suspicion that vitamin B-6 can permit reabsorption of rheumatoid nodules [McCarty]. Vitamins B-6, B-1, and B-12 were found by Vetter et al to lower pain somewhat more when combined with a painkiller [Vetter]. However vitamin B-1 supplements are very dangerous to the heart during a potassium deficiency.
Vitamin B-3 (niacinamide) has been used as far back as earlier than 1955 to mute the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. It is conceivable that a metabolite of this vitamin helps power the potassium pumps.
Fruits are not a good source of nourishment. They generally contribute little besides vitamin C and potassium as you can verify by looking at the USDA Handbook #8 from the US Govt. Printing Office, and are not even sensational in these as a rule. The plants which have formed the fruits have endowed them with lovely attractive color pigments, seductive aromas, and titillating flavors. These attractants are a snare and a delusion designed to persuade animals to eat them and then scatter the bitter, hard, even poisonous seeds far and wide. They tend to be high in sugars such as fructose (corn syrup) and sucrose, which are attractive to our sweet tooth but which interfere with copper absorption and have other poor health side effecs. When it comes to anything with nutritional value, the plant puts as little in as possible and still form the fruit since vitamins and minerals are tasteless. The only exceptions are vitamin C and potassium with which they are moderately endowed (although acerola berries, jujube dates {Chinese dates}, tropical guava, and kiwi fruit are outstandingly high in C). See this site for a discussion of fruit. The usefulness that I see for fruit is as a clever technique for making less palatable food more attractive, such as raisins for bran or carrots, apples for salad, or apple juice for oatmeal for instance.
A wide spread fallacy is that bananas are a rich source of potassium. As you can clearly see from the table, they are only a moderate source, about the same as potatoes. I have a feeling this is a classic case of the success plants have had in fooling the primates or possibly also the success of advertising campaigns. Today there are monolithic stands of banana trees as far as the eye can see probably because of banana oils (but no doubt with considerable assistance from fruit company ads). Even so, bananas are a 3 or 4 times better source of calories than most whole grain, for arthritics at least.
I have seen a hypothesis that plants containing pectins such as apples cause a favorable intestinal flora to grow and so may be worth eating for that reason. Also an experiment has disclosed that copper is absorbed enough more efficiently if apples are eaten with the meal to cause a considerable net increase of copper absorbed, much more than enough to compensate for the apple's lower copper content [Sable-Amplis]. This could be the reason that apples seem to lower cholesterol. I have heard that cherries have a favorable affect on rheumatoid arthritis [Blau]. It could be that they have a poison which retards potassium excretion or that they have an acid which is absorbed but which can not be metabolized. If interference with potassium is the mechanism, it is likely that increasing potassium would be a superior strategy than use of cherries. A study gave kiwi fruit a high nutritional rating, including magnesium and potassium [from a dead URL]. However, in any case, I will stay with my contention that fruits in general are of marginal value until someone comes up with crisp evidence to the contrary. We tend to put considerable weight on instincts and emotional feelings of pleasure when evaluating food, so that fruit will continue to be eaten in large amounts regardless of what I say, as I will in moderation, and people in good health should be able to do so with little problem. However you should be aware of fruit's true nutritional content. In fact you should be aware of the true nutritional value of all the food that you eat, almost as much aware as you are aware of the quality of oil that you put in your car.
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 [Economic Research Service]. After processing losses and uneaten food is subtracted from the total [Adelson], my best guess is that the average daily intake is about 2,000 milligrams per day. Keep in mind that half the people are eating less than the average. Old people have an intake less than the average [Dall & Gardner] [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 [Grim 1970,1980]. 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 [Khaw], osteoporosis, and kidney stones. Potassium has been endorsed for use against stroke and high blood pressure by the FDA.
For a long time it has been assumed that it was the sodium in salt that contributed to high blood pressure. I have always had the suspicion that they were ignoring the chloride, and thus taking the chance of barking up the wrong tree, and now it looks as if my suspicions were in order. Now it is known that sodium must be combined with chloride to raise blood pressure. Sodium alone causes blood pressure to fall in salt sensitive people. [McCarty 2004]. Sodium bicarbonate lowered blood pressure 5mm of mercury [Luft], perhaps so little because the subjects were probably already on high salt intake (along with most of the rest of the country ). Also see; [Boegshold]. This must be intimately involved with pH regulation in some way, because adding sodium bicarbonate to potassium chloride neutralizes the affect of potassium chloride on pressure [McCarty]. This should have the same net affect as adding a sodium chloride supplement to a normal diet high in potassium. It has been known for a long time that higher potassium to sodium molar ratios have an inhibiting affect on blood pressure from salt hypertension [Dahl 1972]. The link to pH regulation is plausible because 18 OH-DOC is deeply involved in one of the, at least three, forms of hypertension [Melby] and 18OH-DOC is probably the steroid hormone that regulates hydrogen ion excretion. There is no significant risk of cardiovascular disease statistically for serum potassium between 4.1 and 5.3 Meq per liter (4.8 is what the body aims for), but the incidence of hypertension is 3% in a 4.1 meq average, to 2% in a 4.5 meq average, to 1% in 4.8 meq average or 5.1 meq average [Walsh]. With at least three different forms of high blood pressure, as above, and all the other nutrients wildly varying in people’s diet, the situation is hopelessly complicated.
Potassium has been found to increase bone density [Tucker].
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 [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 [Gitlin]. They can ill afford for processors to deliberately destroy any of their food (or yours).
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 or magnesium removed by food processors and completely fund all Medicare, Medicaid, 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. 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 and there were runoff elections. 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. 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).
Continue to Chapter X, PROCESSING LOSSES
and LOSSES IN THE KITCHEN
Back to Chapter I, RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS INTRODUCTION.>
The author, Charles Weber, has a degree in chemistry and a masters degree in soil science. He has researched copper for over 30 years, primarily a library research. He has cured his own slipped disc and other symptoms with copper supplement. 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, 2007, 2008).
The author recommends that you seek a second opinion on any medical problems from competent professionals before making any substantive changes in any of your procedures. The author does not use testimonials. Any information, including names and addresses, from readers to this author is held in confidence and not relayed to third parties, nor are cookies used. The privacy laws of the USA are followed. This site does no advertising and is funded solely by the author.
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. His curriculum vitae is available from me. Isoptera1 at yahoo.com
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 well over 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, 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) (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.
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. It is a prescription medicine in the USA. Cris Kerr of Case Health, Australia produced this free ebook “Those Who Suffer Much, Know Much”. It contains 51 patient testimonies of health success using low dose naltrexone (LDN) as a treatment option (30 for multiple sclerosis). Supporting information is included; interviews and perspectives from 19 health professionals, an explanatory article, and comprehensive scientific and advocate reference lists.
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 amino acid 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. You may see a discussion of the practical aspects of supplementation with taurine and food sources, including possible use for high blood pressure, migraine headache, and depression here.
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 and other nuts), 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 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.
In a lighter more humorous vein,
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” on it is excellent for all types of references.
You may find useful and easy to use a search for abstracts of medical journal references, "Gateway".
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