In this video: How to lower your blood potassium level FAST if you have kidney problems.
Today we will take a look at the most effective natural remedies, supplements and treatments
to flush excess potassium from the kidneys quick.
Katherine from 00kidney here, welcome to our journey together to a better kidney health.
Potassium is a very serious matter for people with kidney problems.
It's a key mineral for the heart and the kidneys, and when your kidneys aren't working well,
they cannot remove it like they should.
Having too much potassium in the blood can cause symptoms such as palpitations, shortness
of breath, chest pain... even death.
So it's clear that people with kidney problems should be very careful with their potassium
levels.
Ok guys, I know that I have promised you a fast solution to this problem so, if you're
in a hurry and don't have 5 minutes to spare to learn more about the real cause of high
potassium levels, feel free to use the navigation bar below to skip to the part about the home
remedies.
But, before you go, did you know that high potassium levels are not caused by what you
eat nor by the conditions of your kidneys?
Now, this is a proven medical fact So, if impaired kidneys are not causing high
blood potassium levels and you are not eating 10 bananas every day...
what is actually raising your blood potassium levels?
Drug induced Hyperkalemia It's the medications you're taking.
Yes, what you eat has very little impact on your blood potassium levels.
But wait a moment before eating that banana now,
because there's more about this issue you need to know.
If you are taking medications including Blood pressure drugs called angiotensin-receptor
blockers (ARBs), including losartan, telmisartan, and more
or Blood pressure drugs called ACE inhibitors.
These are blood pressure medications ending in "-il" like lisinopril, enalapril, and so
on.
or beta-blockers such as Sectral, Tenormin.
Ok, if you are taking one of these, you may be suffering from what doctors call Drug induced
Hyperkalemia.
This is just a way of saying that high blood potassium levels, hyperkalemia, is caused
by medications - and not by that half banana you were eating.
Notice that in this slide you see also Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs) and
Antibiotics.
Now, while some of these medications, especially antibiotics and NSAIDs are known to be dangerous
for people with kidney problems, ARBs and ACE inhibitors are often prescribed to treat
high blood pressure.
And in some cases, even overprescribed, unfortunately.
So maybe your doctor told you that you need to avoid potassium in your diet if you want
your heart to keep beating.
What he should have told you instead is "the pills I'm giving you will probably mess your
blood potassium levels up.
So avoid any food containing potassium so you don't make things worse.
I mean, it's not my fault, it's that half banana.
You shouldn't have eaten that."
Ok. this joke maybe isn't funny, but what's even less funny is overprescribing.
So if you take any of these medications and your potassium levels are always too high,
talk to your doctor.
And take steps to lower your blood pressure naturally.
This is key for your kidney health, because the drugs that are known to cause hyperkalemia
are mostly used to keep blood pressure under control.
So, find a way to lower your blood pressure naturally so your doctor can lower your prescriptions
and your kidneys will improve.
The right diet and a healthy lifestyle can help way more than people think.
And also, there are home remedies that work to lower blood pressure.
I know that lowering blood pressure without pills is a lot easier said than done.
I know.
But this is exactly the kind of improvement you want to do to get your kidney function
back.
This is what I talk about mostly here on 00kidney and I know for sure that many of you guys
following me regularly got impressive improvements in terms of managing blood pressure and other
markers.
And for some people, doing changes in their diet, lowering sodium and sugar for example
can be enough to be able to take less pills.
So I have a question for you guys: are you taking steps to control your blood pressure
naturally?
Let's talk about it in comment section, share with everyone what's working for you so others
may learn from your experience!
Now, very important, how can you tell if you have high potassium levels?
As we can see here, Signs and symptoms of high potassium levels may affect the whole
body.
This happens because potassium is used by the body to relay signals from the brain that
stimulate several functions of your body.
When blood potassium levels are out of balance, your brain cannot relay these signals as effectively.
Of these symptoms you can see here, the most common and earliest include
Fatigue, or feeling tired, nausea and muscle cramps.
These symptoms are not specific, so they won't tell you that you have potassium problems.
Many people won't even notice these symptoms, let alone be able to associate them with hyperkalemia.
In fact, your doctor will test your blood for potassium levels if they think your symptoms
are caused by hyperkalemia.
Now, if you have trouble breathing or you think there's a problem with your heart - don't
wait and call for emergency immediately.
As you may already know, hyperkalemia may have very serious consequences.
So, don't forget that you can take action every day to limit your risk for high potassium
levels.
Kidney health tips of the day: how to lower potassium levels The smart way
There are things that you can do on a daily basis to limit the risk of high blood potassium
levels.
These include - Limit foods that are high in potassium.
This is almost the basis of the renal diet.
The idea here is to limit or completely avoid high potassium foods such as bananas, avocado,
prunes, some legumes, tomatoes and more.
I have made this printable list here that you can download from description below.
- If you want to include some high potassium vegetable in your diet, leach or double boil
them before using.
This is a process to remove part of the potassium from the vegetable.
For example, you can leach potatoes and sweet potatoes to greatly reduce the potassium content
by thinly slicing and soaking them.
Then, you cook them, rinse and cook again.
- Also, be very careful with hidden potassium.
What is hidden potassium?
Many supplements, herbal remedies, but even packaged foods are not supposed to have potassium
in them, but they are actually full of it.
As we can see here, sport supplements, bars and sport drinks are full of potassium.
The reason is that people lose potassium during physical activities, so brands put potassium
in supplements to replace it.
Avoid these supplements.
Even herbal and dietary supplements are to be carefully checked for potassium.
- The other thing you should avoid is salt substitutes - because they're made from Potassium
chloride which tastes somewhat like salt but is actually potassium.
And also be careful with packaged food in general.
- Always double check the label of what you're buying.
- Also, remember that almost all foods have some potassium.
The size of the serving is very important.
A large amount of a low potassium food can turn into a high- potassium food.
Now, if this is not enough, your doctor may also prescribe you
Water pills or diuretics to help rid your body of extra potassium.
They work by making your kidney create more urine.
And there are also potassium binders.
Potassium binders are drugs that bind to extra potassium in your bowels.
This excess potassium is then removed from your body through your stool.
These medications often come in a powder that you mix with water and drink with a meal.
Now, these are medications that come with significant side effects.
Potassium binder may cause digestion problems.
So your doctor will only prescribe them if everything else fails.
Ok guys, today I'll show you what you can do to lower your potassium levels quickly,
if you need to.
So, now that we have a better understanding of the potassium problem, let's take a look
at the solution.
However, be very careful if you have reasons to believe your potassium levels are high.
Get checked at regular intervals and follow all the directions your doctor gives you.
Don't rely on home remedies in case of symptoms such as heart palpitations, shortness of breath,
chest pain.
These are symptoms that require immediate medical attention.
Ok guys, sorry for the long warning but high potassium levels are not something you can
take lightly.
So, let's see the home remedies that actually work to lower blood potassium levels quickly.
Horsetail You may already know about this one from some
of my previous videos.
Also known as Equisetum Arvense, this plant can be very useful for people with kidney
problems for several reasons.
Thanks to its antioxidants, horsetail can prevent the accumulation of free radicals
in the kidneys, reducing the damages done by oxidation.
And it may even help with high blood pressure.
But how is horsetail supposed to lower blood potassium levels?
Horsetail can help because it's a natural diuretic.
Now, diuretics are basically the first line in fighting high potassium levels.
They help your kidneys flushing out excess toxins and minerals in the blood, including
potassium.
This means that Horsetail is also great if you suffer from fluid retention
So, if you need to lower your potassium levels quickly, horsetail may help.
This herb grows all around the world, so it should be really easy to find and inexpensive,
both online or in physical stores.
You can buy the aerial part of the plant, the dried leaves, and use them to make a tea
that will help you with potassium levels.
And this is confirmed by science - a study conducted on 36 men found that horsetail was
as effective as the diuretic medication hydrochlorothiazide.
To make a tea, just use 1 teaspoon of horsetail for every 2 ounces of boiling water, and let
in infusion for at least 15 minutes.
Strain and serve!
But you can also find horsetail extract in capsule form, so you know exactly how much
active ingredient you're going to get.
Now, horsetail has a side effect.
It may lead to vitamin B1 deficiency, since it expels it in the urine, like potassium.
So it's not recommended for long-term use.
Also, if you are taking a renal multivitamin, don't take it at the same time as horsetail.
However, horsetail is generally considered safe.
Now, another herbal remedy to keep potassium under control is
Green tea Just regular green tea.
Yes, green tea is really a miracle when it comes to health benefits.
It's full of polyphenols and flavonoids to protect the body from oxidative damages.
But it has a side effect: it can lower your blood potassium levels.
Now, this is a side effect just for the general population, it's actually a benefit for people
with kidney disease.
Green tea works in a similar way to horsetail.
It's a natural diuretic, in part thanks to the caffeine it contains, so it will gently
lower your potassium levels.
But green tea has also some important benefits for your heart and kidneys:
several studies have found that the polyphenols in it may help relax blood vessels - great
for your heart and kidneys.
There is some scientific evidence that drinking green tea can lower cholesterol and triglycerides.
If this isn't enough to start drinking this incredible beverage, consider that according
to clinical research, green tea can reduce blood pressure by up to 3 over 3 millimeters
of mercury.
Which is significant.
Many of the benefits of Green tea are due to its high catechin content, according to
studies.
And while we can't call green tea a fast solution for high potassium levels, it doesn't have
significant side effects and the health benefits are impressive, it's a great beverage to drink
every day.
What works a lot faster than any other home remedy is
Remedy baking soda Baking soda.
Ok guys, I know that many of you already know about the benefits of baking soda, but what
you may not know about this wonderful remedy is that it is especially effective in lowering
high blood potassium levels fast.
It works because blood potassium levels are often caused by metabolic acidosis.
How fast will it work?
Let's just say that in medical practice baking soda is one of the most used ways of lowering
blood potassium levels - effects are observed within hours after administration.
Now, unlike green tea baking soda is not something you can start taking by yourself, you will
need to talk to your doctor.
But there are very interesting studies to show us that it works.
In particular, there's a study conducted on 96 kidney disease patients who were not on
dialysis.
Special attention was paid to daily potassium intake or servings of fruits, vegetables,
legumes, cereals, dairy, and meats.
In doing so and looking at results, investigators could find no associations between dietary
intake of potassium and high blood potassium levels.
According to this research, lower serum bicarbonate levels put someone with kidney problems at
greater risk of high potassium levels.
Notice that bicarbonate is the same thing as baking soda.
Because the second most common cause of hyperkalemia in people with kidney disease is not the banana
you ate, it's a condition called metabolic acidosis.
Which means that there's too much acidity in the blood.
This is where baking soda can help.
Baking soda can relieve acidosis because it is a base and it neutralizes acid in the blood.
So if you are suffering from high blood potassium levels, consider taking baking soda.
Baking soda is also used to slow down the progression of chronic kidney disease - since
it fights metabolic acidosis.
So, if you want to know more about this home remedy, I've made a full video with dosages,
methods of administration and more.
It's up here.
Ok guys, I really hope that the info I've shared in this video will be of help.
A new video is coming next Friday - subscribe and set the notification bel to all if you
want to be notified about it.
In the meantime, keep taking good care of your kidneys and be good to yourself.
This is all for today, thank you for watching!