The healthy relationship between sodium and potassium in the body is maintained by the 'sodium-potassium pump'!

Up until now, I have covered magnesium and calcium as nutrients that mitigate excessive salt intake, but today I will talk about potassium.

I touched on the balance between magnesium and calcium yesterday, but it seems that potassium has a relationship with sodium.

I also wrote about this in my column on May 12, 2024, but to explain it in more detail, potassium and sodium are both dissolved in body fluids, with sodium on the outside and potassium on the inside of the cell membrane.

Since substances always move in a direction that keeps their concentration constant, sodium tries to enter the cell. To prevent excessive sodium from entering, the body uses energy to keep potassium inside the cell and work to push sodium out of the cell.

This is called the 'sodium-potassium pump,' comparing it to the role of a pump that works against water flowing from a high place to a low place.

What is used at this time is energy generated in the mitochondria called ATP, which is produced by the citric acid cycle.

As for ATP, it is a very important function for human survival, so I would like to talk about it again at a later date.

Returning to the sodium-potassium pump, if this function declines, sodium remains inside the cell, increasing the risk of cancer and other diseases. Since this function deteriorates with age, it is necessary to make an effort to consume potassium.

Needless to say, a diet high in salt causes the balance between sodium and potassium to collapse, leading to physical abnormalities.

However, those with reduced kidney function have difficulty excreting potassium, so they need to be careful about their potassium intake. It is very difficult to maintain balance in the body, isn't it?

As for the daily intake of potassium, it is recommended that adult men consume 3000 mg or more and adult women 2600 mg or more.

As for foods rich in potassium, in my column on May 12, 2024, I mentioned dried persimmons (an image of dried persimmons was posted).

This time, seaweed is indeed a good source, with dried kombu containing 5300 mg per 100g and dried wakame containing 5200 mg, which seems to be a much higher amount of potassium than other foods. However, these are amounts in a dried state, so the amount actually consumed will be less.

Tomorrow, I will return to foods that affect longevity and examine seafood.

The image is of some delicious-looking 'wakame'!