Potassium supplementation in summer will keep you healthy! 6 foods that protect the heart and strengthen the spleen

In summer, the body sweats more, and electrolytes in the body are lost, especially potassium. Excessive loss may lead to hypokalemia.

Hypokalemia can affect muscles, heart and even breathing. In severe cases, it can induce arrhythmia and cause cardiac arrest.

Symptoms of potassium deficiency in the body:

1. Muscle weakness, especially in the lower limbs, which is also the earliest symptom;
2. Decreased heat tolerance;
3. Palpitations and heart discomfort;
4. Cramps;
5. Anorexia, nausea, poor appetite, etc.

Three reasons for potassium deficiency in summer

• Sweating a lot: Under normal circumstances, the proportion of potassium excreted by sweat is very small, about 3%, but when sweating a lot, the amount of potassium excreted will increase significantly.
• Easy to diarrhea: In summer, the temperature is high, and people are prone to diarrhea and vomiting due to unclean or stale food, which will cause a lot of dehydration in the body, causing electrolyte disorders and a large loss of potassium.
• Loss of appetite: Many people lose their appetite on hot days, and the body consumes relatively more energy, so potassium is over-excreted and insufficiently supplemented. For various reasons, potassium deficiency is more likely to occur in summer.

7 types of people need potassium supplements

Compared with ordinary people, some people need to pay special attention to potassium supplements.

1. Hypertensive patients;
2. People who need to lose weight;
3. People with frequent diarrhea;
4. People who sweat;
5. Diabetic patients;
6. People with osteoporosis;
7. Heart failure patients.

• Eat 6 more foods to supplement potassium

Bananas

Bananas are potassium-rich fruits, with about 256 mg of potassium in every 100 grams of bananas.

Chinese medicine believes that bananas are cold in nature and sweet in taste, and have the effect of clearing heat and moistening the intestines and promoting gastrointestinal motility.

In addition, the magnesium element in bananas also helps relax muscles, relieve fatigue, and keep people in a good mental state in hot weather.

Potatoes

Potatoes are high-potassium and low-sodium foods.

According to Chinese medicine, potatoes are mild in nature and sweet in taste, and have the effects of strengthening the spleen and stomach, invigorating qi and regulating the middle, and relieving pain.

Eating potatoes properly can not only supplement potassium, but also strengthen the spleen and appetite, and enhance digestive function.

Spinach

Spinach is high in potassium, with about 560 mg of potassium in every 100 grams of spinach.

In Chinese medicine theory, spinach is cool in nature and sweet in taste, and has the effects of nourishing yin and calming the liver, relieving cough and moistening the intestines.

Hot weather can easily make people irritable and increase liver fire. Eating spinach in moderation can help calm liver fire and keep a good mood.

Beans

Bean foods are all good sources of potassium.

Various beans have their own strengths. Eating them in rotation in summer can supplement nutrition, enhance physical fitness, and be of great benefit to the body.

Nori

As a seaweed food, nori is a veritable high-potassium vegetable.

In summer, eating seaweed soup or seaweed rice rolls can not only supplement potassium, but also calm the mind, clear away heat and dampness, help expel moisture from the body, and reduce the impact of summer heat on the body.

Tomato

Tomato is a "potassium supplement vegetable" on the summer table. Every 100 grams of tomatoes contains about 163 mg of potassium, and is rich in vitamin C and lycopene. Chinese medicine believes that tomatoes are slightly cold in nature, sweet and sour in taste, and enter the liver, spleen and stomach meridians. They have the effects of promoting fluid and quenching thirst, strengthening the stomach and digestion, and cooling blood and calming the liver.

In summer, using tomatoes to scramble eggs or boil tomato soup can not only replenish electrolytes consumed by sweating through potassium, but its natural fruit acid can also stimulate gastric juice secretion and improve the loss of appetite caused by summer heat and dampness. Raw and mixed sugar tomatoes can play a more therapeutic role in clearing heat and relieving restlessness.