Good Eats: Go Bananas

Potassium is needed to maintain the body’s fluid balance, is involved in nerve and muscle control as well as regulating blood pressure. Your body needs potassium in order to perform cell, tissue and organ functions; skeletal and muscle movement; and sodium regulation.

Potassium is the most prevalent electrolyte inside your cells. Being an electrolyte means potassium conducts electricity. Your body relies on potassium to conduct electrical impulses for your nerves and muscles to function at their best.

Good thing yummy bananas are chalk full of potassium. An average sized banana has 105 calories and about 422 milligrams which is (11% DV) 11 percent of the 4,700 milligrams adults should aim to get daily.

Benefits of eating potassium-rich foods:
• combat low levels of potassium which can worsen MG symptoms
• improve muscle contraction
• normalize blood pressure
• trigger the kidneys to excrete more sodium.
• combat the Prednisone side-effects of chipmunk cheeks (aka moon-face, Cushinggold) as steroids can impact your sodium and potassium levels.
• decease Prednisone risk for osteoporosis because fruits and vegetables -- which are rich in potassium -- also contain high levels of bicarbonate. If the environment in the body becomes too acidic, bicarbonate can work to neutralize it. This is important for bone health because too much acid can cause calcium to be pulled from the bones, weakening them.

Other great paleo sources of potassium: Avocado, dried apricots, cantaloupe, peaches, prunes, raisins, salmon, spinach, swiss chard, squash, sweet potatoes, white mushrooms, flax and chia seeds! An average sweet potato with the skin has 540 mg of potassium per serving. Raisins have 598 mg per 1/2 cup serving, while one medium banana has 422 mg of potassium.

So go bananas on potassium-rich foods!

Reference: sources-of-potassium