There are some studies that point to the link between autoimmune diseases involving bone and joint, ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and potassium deficiency. It is unclear whether this deficiency is a consequence of the disease or rather an adverse effect of medication, corticosteroids and NSAIDs. This potassium deficiency leads to exacerbation of pain, as well as cardiovascular complications and osteoporosis known to be associated with these two debilitating diseases, AS and RA. Also, unexplained fatigue, palpitations, muscle weakness, and muscle aches may also be due to potassium deficiency or imbalance. The recommended daily dose of potassium is 3.5 grams per day, but for those with AS and RA it is recommended up to 5-6 grams per day. Taking potassium supplements can be dangerous and can further upset the balance of electrolytes in the body, but we do not need supplements if our diet naturally contains this mineral. There are a lot of foods that contain potassium and that we can include in our daily diet. It seems that the largest amount of potassium is found in beets, both the root and especially the leaves, but also spinach, avocado, nuts, tomatoes, bananas, green beans, zucchini, sweet potatoes, parsley, apricots, melons, tuna, salmon, pork and other goodies.
When the proper balance between calcium, sodium and potassium is not maintained, our heart, kidneys, muscles and bones suffer. But modern people eat too much salt. This would not be the end of the world, but it consumes too little potassium, which helps maintain salt balance. In raw, unprocessed foods, the sodium-potassium balance exists naturally. That is, if we eat a salad or a fruit, we also have salt and potassium in them, we do not have to bother with the acid-base balance, osmotic pressure and protein anabolism. Nature has put everything in vegetables and fruits. But in processed foods there is too much salt and too little potassium. Thus, salt accumulates in the body and is no longer eliminated, and from there begin all the diseases that now grind humanity: high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune diseases and others.
As I said about sugar and sweet taste, salt is addictive too. There are people who put salt in their food without first tasting it, it’s like an automatism. We are used to eating very salty, and salt covers all other tastes. When I had covid, for a few days I could only feel the salty or bitter taste of the food. One morning I ate a piece of ham and felt like I had put a spoonful of salt in my mouth. It was awful. That made me reconsider my relationship with salt. We should consume no more than 3-5 grams of salt per day, ie a well-shaken teaspoon. All foods contain salt naturally, all natural foods and especially processed ones. In vain did the WHO recommend that processors reduce the salt in their products, they can no longer do that because no one would buy them anymore, people are already addicted to salt, plus those products would have no taste. Nature knows what to put in its products, no one can imitate it.
Well, what do we do? As with sugar addiction, learning is gradual. First, stop adding salt to your vegetables. The vegetables taste great, they don’t need enhancers. When you eat an onion, a tomato or a cucumber, you don’t need to add salt and pepper. Then buy less salty nonsense, stop putting salt in your food before you taste it, eat a raw vegetable at every meal for potassium intake, use spices instead of or with less salt. As in anything in life, there are methods, just be open to them. The food has an infinite number of flavors, but most of us just feel sweet and salty. Well, isn’t that a pity?