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Is Potassium Chloride safe to supplement?

potassium chloride electrolytes supplement dose nosalt salt substitute

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#1 protoject

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Posted 08 February 2021 - 02:22 AM


Is it okay to take a full dose of potassium chloride safely if you take it with a good amount of water and you're not deficient in other electrolytes?

Does it do anything negative to chloride levels in the body / does that matter?

Can the human body handle more than the recommended intake fairly easily as long as you're not going too far over?

 

 

........And a random question for fun: Did anyone notice strange effects when combining calcium and potassium? I swear one time I thought i was having some sort of seizure with twitching, but i had been doing a lot of "substances" for 3 months so maybe it had nothing to do with the supplements. It was so wierd though. It just felt like all my neural networks were firing off and then i got massive twitches all over but it wasn't enough for me to call 911. And i didn't take a massive dose of anything I was just on a normal cacium dose, probably like 50% of potassium, and 10 x the vitamin d needed (I have deficiency so sometimes I have to take that for like a week and then stop for a bit). I also interpreted this as "hypercalcemia" but I'm not sure that it actually fit the category of hypercalcemia, i think that must be more serious

 



#2 pamojja

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Posted 08 February 2021 - 10:30 AM

With full dose you mean the RDA in one go? - I think that would be dangerously too much.

 

But well desolved and divided troughout the day, after slowly having build up intake from very low doses, gradually increased over weeks, months and years, while monitoring symptoms and electrolytes with blood-work -  and adjusting intakes of all other electrolytes too - that could be savely possible.



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#3 Danniel

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Posted 08 February 2021 - 12:26 PM

https://en.wikipedia...ethal_injection

 

Hope you know what you're doing



#4 hamishm00

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Posted 09 February 2021 - 04:21 AM

It is safe in theory in low doses. I would switch to potassium citrate and only take 100-200mg max with water alone (i.e. outside of meal times). With a meal, potentially you can go higher than this, but it has the potential to harm stomach lining. If you don't have health issues, there have been studies showing you can safely handle up to 13grams of potassium intake (from food) - I would not attempt anything more than a gram a day from supplements given the risk to the stomach, and also the spikes you can get in your blood levels of potassium can cause the body to flush more potassium than you would like, resulting in lower potassium levels in the body than you started with. 


Edited by hamishm00, 09 February 2021 - 04:23 AM.


#5 elc202

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Posted 15 February 2021 - 09:25 AM

i have never seen potassium supplements with more than 99mg per capsule.



#6 pamojja

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Posted 15 February 2021 - 11:36 AM

Then see them for the first time, for example here: https://purebulk.com...uct&q=potassium

 

With potassium powders (bicarbonate, citrate, chloride..) its important to start with very low doses, disolved very well in a glass of water, and increase only slowly while monitoring serum electrolyts levels. Keep them balanced.

 

Sadly one other mineral very often deficient is magnesium, which wont be found with the usual serum-testing. Only a RBC-test could catch it. Or right away supplement it.


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#7 protoject

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Posted 16 February 2021 - 08:26 PM

Experience report:
I've been taking almost  60%-100% per day for a few days but broken up by dose and dissolved in tons of water. At first it was a bit hard on the stomach sometimes, which is definitely helped with more water for dissolving it [it's a pain to drink all that honestly lol I already drink a lot of other liquids]. . I've been tolerating it well but one thing that I've noticed is that this stuff irritates my lower bowel pretty badly.  Like to the point I'm getting the shits. So I think I might just do 20%  x 2 doses  = 40% per day maybe....  Anyone know of any good capsules that have a reasonably large dose of potassium of another kind that is safer? The potassium citrate on purebulk is such a tiny dose. 3% .

 

I don't feel so much that I definitely "need" this supplement but I always like to have the option available for experiments or for supplementing when I need it. 



#8 pamojja

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Posted 17 February 2021 - 09:25 AM

 Anyone know of any good capsules that have a reasonably large dose of potassium of another kind that is safer? The potassium citrate on purebulk is such a tiny dose. 3% .

 

That's why pills and capsules over the counter are limited to only 99mg. Anything bigger could damage your stomach walls in its concentrated form even worse. Not a good idea at all.
 


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#9 Lady4T

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Posted 18 April 2021 - 08:57 PM

I take a mineral mix that I prepare myself. It contains (among other things) about 350mg of potassium chloride per dose. I've been taking this for years.

 

I take this in addition to my preferred mineral drink (which I can't always obtain, and shall remain unnamed here).


Edited by Lady4T, 18 April 2021 - 09:17 PM.

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#10 hamishm00

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Posted 20 April 2021 - 07:40 AM

Most concerning side effects of chronic supplementation with potassium supplements in healthy people: 1) stomach damage / irritation; 2) bowel irritation (as noted by a user above); 3) bladder and urethral pain (potassium flushed by the kidneys due to potassium blood spikes from potassium tablets can cause tissue damage to the bladder). 

 

If you have to supplement (e.g. to counter electrolyte depletion from drugs for example), best to take very small amounts of potassium supplements, with food only, and with lots of water.



#11 hamishm00

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Posted 20 April 2021 - 07:42 AM

That's why pills and capsules over the counter are limited to only 99mg. Anything bigger could damage your stomach walls in its concentrated form even worse. Not a good idea at all.
 

 

They are limited to 99mg due to doctor and FDA concerns relating to hyperlakemia in compromised people. I doubt considerations relating to stomach lining had any influence on this limitation, but it should have. 


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#12 pamojja

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Posted 20 April 2021 - 09:35 AM

They are limited to 99mg due to doctor and FDA concerns relating to hyperlakemia in compromised people. I doubt considerations relating to stomach lining had any influence on this limitation, but it should have. 

 

True, that's the usual explanation. Though hyperkalemia can be easily avoided by monitoring potassium levels and increasing dose only slowly. Also LPI mentiones ulceration especially with high-dose slow-release prescription potassium, and is therefore the real danger of high-dose potassium in otherwise not compromised people: https://lpi.oregonst...otassium#safety

 

 

Safety Toxicity

Abnormally elevated serum potassium concentrations are referred to as hyperkalemia. Hyperkalemia occurs when potassium intake exceeds the capacity of the kidneys to eliminate it. Acute or chronic kidney failure, the use of potassium-sparing diuretics, and insufficient aldosterone secretion (hypoaldosteronism) may result in the accumulation of potassium due to a decreased urinary potassium excretion. Oral doses of potassium >18 g taken at one time in individuals not accustomed to high intakes may lead to severe hyperkalemia, even in those with normal kidney function (6, 50). Hyperkalemia may also result from a shift of intracellular potassium into the circulation, which may occur with the rupture of red blood cells (hemolysis) or tissue damage (e.g., trauma or severe burns). Symptoms of hyperkalemia may include tingling of the hands and feet, muscular weakness, and temporary paralysis. The most serious complication of hyperkalemia is the development of an abnormal heart rhythm (cardiac arrhythmia), which can lead to cardiac arrest (51). A meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies showed that heart rate in healthy adults was unlikely to be affected by the chronic use of supplemental potassium doses of 2 to 3 g/day (52).

See the section on Drug interactions for a discussion of the medications that increase the risk of hyperkalemia.

Adverse reactions to potassium supplements

Gastrointestinal symptoms are the most common side effects of potassium supplements, including nausea, vomiting, abdominal discomfort, and diarrhea. Intestinal ulceration has been reported after the use of enteric-coated potassium chloride tablets. Taking potassium with meals or taking a microencapsulated form of potassium may reduce gastrointestinal side effects (50). Rashes may occasionally occur. The most serious adverse reaction to potassium supplementation is hyperkalemia, yet is rare in subjects with normal kidney function (see Toxicity). Individuals with abnormal kidney function and those on potassium-sparing medications (see Drug interactions) should be monitored closely to prevent hyperkalemia (50, 53).

 

(red emphasis added by me)
 

Also consider this contrarian perspective about high dose supplementation: https://www.bibliote...d_potassium.htm

 

Personally went up to 2.5g per day of elemental potassium without ever experiencing hyperkalemia, beside 4.4g intake already from diet.


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#13 hamishm00

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Posted 20 April 2021 - 10:08 AM

True, that's the usual explanation. Though hyperkalemia can be easily avoided by monitoring potassium levels and increasing dose only slowly. Also LPI mentiones ulceration especially with high-dose slow-release prescription potassium, and is therefore the real danger of high-dose potassium in otherwise not compromised people: https://lpi.oregonst...otassium#safety

 

 

(red emphasis added by me)
 

Also consider this contrarian perspective about high dose supplementation: https://www.bibliote...d_potassium.htm

 

Personally went up to 2.5g per day of elemental potassium without ever experiencing hyperkalemia, beside 4.4g intake already from diet.

 

Good information, thanks. Hyperlakemia isn't a risk in healthy people. Intakes of 13mg per day (from food) have been tested on healthy people without any issues being found. 

 

I think that potassium supplementation beyond 300-500mg in a single dose is problematic, and it's clear to me that the body immediately flushes some (or maybe even most) of a higher dose into the urine due to the spike in serum potassium that this causes - do this long enough and it will injure the bladder (you can see from this study the damage potassium can do: https://pubmed.ncbi.....gov/9598476/).If you have a very large meal, it's conceivable that doses up to 1 gram might be able to be absorbed by the buffer provided by food, but it's unknown to me. Equally, sustained release potassium has its own ulceration issues which you have highlighted. This is a very unfortunate situation, given the high RDA for potassium which is almost unobtainable without going on a very specialized diet. 


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#14 pamojja

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Posted 20 April 2021 - 10:24 AM

.. and it's clear to me that the body immediately flushes some (or maybe even most) of a higher dose into the urine due to the spike in serum potassium that this causes - do this long enough and it will injure the bladder (you can see from this study the damage potassium can do: https://pubmed.ncbi.....gov/9598476/).

 

Conclusions: Chronic diffusion of urinary potassium into the bladder interstitium may induce sensory symptoms, damage tissue and be a major toxic factor in the pathogenesis of interstitial cystitis.

 

Interestingly had interstital cystitis before any supplementation 12 years ago. Healed since, guess mainly due to high ascorbic acid intake.

 

By the way, my kidney markers been also consistent with CKD stage 1 before supplementing comprehesively. Also reversed.

 


Edited by pamojja, 20 April 2021 - 10:29 AM.


#15 Lady4T

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Posted 21 April 2021 - 11:32 PM

. . .

 (you can see from this study the damage potassium can do: https://pubmed.ncbi.....gov/9598476/).If you have a very large meal, it's conceivable that doses up to 1 gram might be able to be absorbed by the buffer provided by food, but it's unknown to me. Equally, sustained release potassium has its own ulceration issues which you have highlighted. This is a very unfortunate situation, given the high RDA for potassium which is almost unobtainable without going on a very specialized diet. 

 

I was shocked when they upped the RDA for potassium to 4,700mg. That's an insane amount, and obviously not obtainable by any reasonable diet. My conspiratorial side tells me something's just not right. Maybe it's a way to make people consume more vegetable matter -- a great way to wreck the digestive system.
 


Edited by Lady4T, 21 April 2021 - 11:33 PM.


#16 Phoebus

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Posted 22 April 2021 - 12:53 AM

Oh no! Scary potassium!!

 

 

https://www.health.h...atio of 1 to 16.

 

Our Paleolithic hunter-gatherer ancestors took in about 11,000 milligrams (mg) of potassium a day from fruits, vegetables, leaves, flowers, roots, and other plant sources, and well under 700 mg of sodium. That's a sodium-to-potassium ratio of 1 to 16. Today, we get more sodium (3,400 mg) than potassium (2,500 mg), for a ratio of 1.36 to 1.

 


Edited by Phoebus, 22 April 2021 - 12:54 AM.

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#17 CarlSagan

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Posted 28 July 2021 - 05:40 PM

Not sure about extreme doses but in general yeah. idk about other effects of chloride itself but supplementing potassium as a good chunk of RDA looks to be fine.

 

the gastrointestinal side effects are way overblown it seems (20 / 26 studies reviewed did not show gastrointestinal distress from between 500mg - 3000mg potassium chloride,  and of the 6 that did only 2 of them were in healthy individuals, and in 1 of those it matched the control group anyway)

 

The only consideration is if you have kidney problems / are on stuff that increases potassium absorption. if not it's good and can split the doses if still concerned. personally I would elevate the doses day to day to be on the safe side still.

 

A separate meta-analysis of 22 RCTs in individuals with normal kidney function that specifically searched for and recorded all available data on potential adverse effects concluded that there were no increased adverse effects, minor complaints, or major adverse events in the increased-potassium groups compared with the control groups in both adults and children.24 The intake of potassium in these trials ranged from less than 3500 to greater than 6000 mg (<90 to >155 mmol/d) and was from both diet and supplements

In (kidney disease) patients, safety concerns associated with potassium supplementation require medical supervision. Otherwise, in healthy adults who are the target of any UL value, there have been no reports of hyperkalemia.4 Clinical trials including potassium supplementation as high as 15600 mg (400 mmol/d) for several weeks and 4500 mg (115 mmol/d) for up to a year reported increased plasma concentrations but not beyond the reference range (3.5–5 mmol/L).69,70 Similar results were observed in a recent RCT comparing the bioavailability of potassium from potatoes and potassium supplement in healthy men and women. Supplementation with 2300 mg (60 mmol) of potassium gluconate added to a controlled diet containing 2300 mg (60 mmol/d) of potassium increased the plasma concentration from 3.6 to 4.1 mmol/L, but the increase was transient, lasting for approximately 4 hours, and followed immediately by increased renal potassium excretion.71 These findings suggest that the body is able to efficiently adapt to high potassium intake 
 

https://www.ncbi.nlm...s/PMC6181280/  

 

 

It doesn't have to be potassium chloride, if you don't want to raise your chloride levels. i just started taking potassium bicarbonate as bicarbonate may have some separate health benefits too.

there's a clinical trial that used 2.6g potassium bicarbonate with meals x3 daily, for 82 days. which is like 1 gram elemental potassium after each meal. didn't report adverse effects. 

 

so I keep it to 900mg/1000mg elemental potassium at a time from 2.2g - 2.4g potassium bicarbonate (2x flat 1/4 tsp scoop) to be on the safe side, and I sip it slowly. I just leave about 30 / 40 mins after a meal to let it digest a bit, as idk how much the 1.4g alkaline bicarbonate could dilute stomach acid (??) 

https://www.nejm.org...99406233302502 The potassium bicarbonate was given orally for 18 days in doses (60 to 120 mmol per day) that nearly completely neutralized the endogenous acid.

 

^ 60 - 120 mmol is about 6 - 12 grams potassium bicarbonate, which they said nearly completely neutralized their renal acid.  wonder if <2.5 grams significantly hinders stomach acid though ?

 

there's about 500mg potassium in 250ml of orange juice 
 
post above apparently our systems were designed around high intakes of potassium. but i'd like to know how they figured out that amount as >10,000mg. another one here says they were on 4x more potassium than our average intakes at like 2.5 grams https://pubmed.ncbi....h.gov/17275582/


Also I found higher potassium bicarbonate intake may prevent muscle wasting during periods of physical inactivity (through reducing nitrogen excretion or other mechanisms)
 
In a separate paper,6 researchers studying the effect of an oral potassium bicarbonate supplement (60–120 mmol/day for 18 days) in 14 healthy postmenopausal women found that the supplements reduced urinary nitrogen excretion [*good for gainz?] , an indicator of preserved lean body mass. The authors concluded that “[t]he magnitude of the KHCO3[potassium bicarbonate]-induced nitrogen sparing effect is potentially sufficient to both prevent continuing age-related loss of muscle mass and restore previously accrued deficits.” The amount of potassium bicarbonate supplement used in this study was 6 to 12 grams per day, which supplied 2.34 to 4.68 grams of potassium per day.

another one https://pubmed.ncbi....gov/29739680/  Alkalinization during long-term inactivity is associated with improved glutathione status, anti-inflammatory lipid pattern in cell membranes and reduction in protein catabolism at whole body level. This study suggests that, in clinical conditions characterized by inactivity, oxidative stress and inflammation, alkalinization could be a useful adjuvant therapeutic strategy.

examine: When it comes to potassium, benefits are seen when it comes to circulatory disorders such as cardiovascular disease and particularly stroke when potassium intake is increased.
This benefit is seen when potassium is consumed in minor increases (additional 500 mg a day) or large increases of a few grams over the course of the day, has similar protective effect regardless of the form of potassium consumed (food or supplemental), and shows benefit even if sodium is held constant.

Any beneficial effect of potassium on CVD is likely due to its antihypertensive effects. However, some research shows a benefit even when blood pressure is accounted for. For example, a 2016 meta-analysis of 16 cohort studies with a total of 639,440 participants found that those with the highest potassium intakes (median 103 mmol [4,027 mg] per day) had a 15% lower risk of stroke than those with the lowest potassium intakes (median 52.5 mmol [2,053 mg] per day). In addition, participants who consumed 90 mmol potassium/day (approximately 3,500 mg) had the lowest risk of stroke
In a review assessing studies using potassium supplements and whether or not they can induce hyperkalemia, it was found that doses of 50-75 mmol (1,950-2,925 mg) taken in divided doses over the course of the day increased serum potassium in a manner which did not appear dose dependent; no side-effects were reported in the review while biomarkers of renal function (urinary and serum sodium and creatinine) were unaffected.     
 

Edited by CarlSagan, 28 July 2021 - 05:57 PM.

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#18 CarlSagan

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Posted 24 January 2022 - 05:11 PM

 

Not sure about extreme doses but in general yeah. idk about other effects of chloride itself but supplementing potassium as a good chunk of RDA looks to be fine.

 

the gastrointestinal side effects are way overblown it seems (20 / 26 studies reviewed did not show gastrointestinal distress from between 500mg - 3000mg potassium chloride,  and of the 6 that did only 2 of them were in healthy individuals, and in 1 of those it matched the control group anyway)

 

The only consideration is if you have kidney problems / are on stuff that increases potassium absorption. if not it's good and can split the doses if still concerned. personally I would elevate the doses day to day to be on the safe side still.

 

A separate meta-analysis of 22 RCTs in individuals with normal kidney function that specifically searched for and recorded all available data on potential adverse effects concluded that there were no increased adverse effects, minor complaints, or major adverse events in the increased-potassium groups compared with the control groups in both adults and children.24 The intake of potassium in these trials ranged from less than 3500 to greater than 6000 mg (<90 to >155 mmol/d) and was from both diet and supplements

In (kidney disease) patients, safety concerns associated with potassium supplementation require medical supervision. Otherwise, in healthy adults who are the target of any UL value, there have been no reports of hyperkalemia.4 Clinical trials including potassium supplementation as high as 15600 mg (400 mmol/d) for several weeks and 4500 mg (115 mmol/d) for up to a year reported increased plasma concentrations but not beyond the reference range (3.5–5 mmol/L).69,70 Similar results were observed in a recent RCT comparing the bioavailability of potassium from potatoes and potassium supplement in healthy men and women. Supplementation with 2300 mg (60 mmol) of potassium gluconate added to a controlled diet containing 2300 mg (60 mmol/d) of potassium increased the plasma concentration from 3.6 to 4.1 mmol/L, but the increase was transient, lasting for approximately 4 hours, and followed immediately by increased renal potassium excretion.71 These findings suggest that the body is able to efficiently adapt to high potassium intake 
 

https://www.ncbi.nlm...s/PMC6181280/  

 

 

It doesn't have to be potassium chloride, if you don't want to raise your chloride levels. i just started taking potassium bicarbonate as bicarbonate may have some separate health benefits too.

there's a clinical trial that used 2.6g potassium bicarbonate with meals x3 daily, for 82 days. which is like 1 gram elemental potassium after each meal. didn't report adverse effects. 

 

 

Update to this I actually found potassium bicarbonate gave me stomach issues. switched to potassium citrate + 1 cup orange juice or coconut water a day and its been much better tolerated surprisingly.   taken straight after food, with decent amount of water, and kept to 300mg per meal. 



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#19 gallan

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Posted 24 January 2022 - 05:29 PM

The product called Lite Salt has a good sodium/potassium ratio.  I use that in water with some Mio falvoring as an electrolyte drink. 







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