Potassium symptoms, sources and sweet potato pie
Potassium is an essential mineral that is often overlooked when we are searching for answers to our health concerns. It is the third most abundant mineral in our bodies; it is essential for life!
What does potassium do?
Once we consume potassium, it functions as an essential electrolyte that helps regulate pH, regulate fluid balance, is vital for nerve function, supports all muscle activity in the body (including smooth muscles like our oesophagus & bowel), supports heart function, regulates blood pressure and assists the efficient movement of nutrients and waste in our body.
Low potassium symptoms can include:
- Aches and pains
- Restlessness/hyperactivity/anxiety
- Hypertension
- Constipation
- Low energy levels
- Skin disorders
- Elevated cholesterol
- Muscle cramps
- Insomnia (especially waking at 2am)
On that last point, a routine 2am wake-up points to a potassium imbalance. It is regulated by the amino acid threonine and the liver meridian which regenerates at 2am.
How much potassium do we need?
Most health authorities agree that getting 3,500–4,700 mg of potassium daily is recommended. When we are pregnant and exercising strenuously, we need more than this. What is the minimum to survive is one thing, but what we need for optimal health is another thing entirely. You may see figures suggesting 2,800–3,800mg, and this is essentially the absolute bare minimum for daily function.
Where do we get potassium from?
Most people know that bananas are high in potassium, but did you know that prunes, pumpkin seeds mushrooms, wild-caught salmon, cauliflower, broccoli and coconut water have more potassium in a single serve than a banana? Diversity of nutrient sources is better than eating a whole hand of bananas each day.
Other examples of foods rich in potassium include raisins, Medjool dates, potato, sweet potato, lentils, pomegranate, stabilised rice bran, tuna, cod and brown rice. Potassium is abundant in ancestral foods and richest in food grown in minerally rich soils. Potassium works in conjunction with magnesium – magnesium depletion can contribute to hypokalaemia (low potassium) by increasing urinary potassium losses.
Recently I saw this sweet potato pie recipe that caught my eye for its high potassium content (roughly 700mg of potassium per serve). We attribute the original recipe to Kai, and made some tweaks to make it more RCP friendly.
To wrap things up before I share the recipe, I want to say that food sources are always great to start with before adding supplements. If you’re ready to explore potassium supplements, you can see our online shop here.
To get tailored support for your health, book a free 15-minute Zoom call with myself or one of our team. We’ll discuss your situation and what you’d like to achieve. Thanks so much for reading.
Potassium-Rich Sweet Potato Pie Recipe
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 1.5 cups pecans
- 8 dates (4 soaked overnight or in hot water 1 hour)
- 2 tsp vanilla essence
- 1 tsp salt
For the Filling
- 3 large yams and/or sweet potatoes
- 4 dates (soft and soaked)
- 4 tbsp organic/grass-fed unsalted butter (or 2/3 cups raw cashews + 1 tbsp psyllium)
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 tbsp Pumpkin pie spice
- 0.5 tsp salt
Instructions
For the Crust
- Process pecans, 4 (un-soaked) dates, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp vanilla in a food processor until it can be pressed into a pie pan.
- It should be a little crumbly but able to stick together.
- If it is too crumbly, you can add a little water or process it longer, or both.
- Press into the pie pan and set aside; no baking needed.
For the Filling
- Chop yams/sweet potatoes with the skin on if you have a strong blender.
- Cook in a medium-sized saucepan with 2 tbsp water - on medium/low - until just soft, slightly firm.
- Blend in blender with the other 1/2 tsp salt, other 1 tsp vanilla, 4 soaked dates, butter and pumpkin pie spice until smooth (you may need to stop and stir a few times - you want it to be thick).
- Pour/scoop into crust and chill overnight or for a few hours at least.
- Enjoy!
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Here’s to better health today, tomorrow and into the future.
Sounds very good! In the directions for the filling you have coconut oil and lecithin.
Are these meant to be the ingredients or does the butter replace the oil and no lecithin used? Thanks. 😊
Thank you for highlighting that error Cheryl, I’ve updated it now to be corrected. It was meant to be butter instead! No lecithin in our version.