10.01.13
ComsumerLab.com, White Plains NY, reported high marks for potassium supplements reviewed in its latest assessment. Tests found that one could spend as little as $.01 to get a 99 mg dose of high-quality potassium.
Potassium supplements are used to treat or prevent potassium deficiency and are commonly taken by people on certain diuretic antihypertensive drugs, which cause potassium loss. Potassium deficiency can cause muscle weakness, irregular heartbeat, listlessness, mood change, nausea and vomiting. Potassium supplementation may also help lower blood pressure in people who consume high amounts of sodium. Sales of potassium supplements in the U.S. were estimated at $95 million in 2012, according to Nutrition Business Journal, Boulder, CO.
ConsumerLab.com tested supplements to determine if they contained their listed amounts of potassium, exceeded contamination limits for lead and if pills would properly break apart. All products passed these tests. However, brands differed on how labels portrayed the amount of potassium in the products.
Potassium is chemically unstable and, therefore, is always bound to compounds that stabilize it. Potassium makes up far less than half of the weight of most of these potassium compounds, accounting for only 16.7% of the weight of potassium gluconate, 38.3% of potassium citrate and 52% of potassium chloride. Consequently, a product named “Potassium Gluconate 595 mg” will actually contain only about 99 mg of active “elemental” potassium. This important fact may be missed by many consumers when only disclosed in the “Supplement Facts” panel on the back of the bottle, according to ConsumerLab.com.
Potassium supplements are used to treat or prevent potassium deficiency and are commonly taken by people on certain diuretic antihypertensive drugs, which cause potassium loss. Potassium deficiency can cause muscle weakness, irregular heartbeat, listlessness, mood change, nausea and vomiting. Potassium supplementation may also help lower blood pressure in people who consume high amounts of sodium. Sales of potassium supplements in the U.S. were estimated at $95 million in 2012, according to Nutrition Business Journal, Boulder, CO.
ConsumerLab.com tested supplements to determine if they contained their listed amounts of potassium, exceeded contamination limits for lead and if pills would properly break apart. All products passed these tests. However, brands differed on how labels portrayed the amount of potassium in the products.
Potassium is chemically unstable and, therefore, is always bound to compounds that stabilize it. Potassium makes up far less than half of the weight of most of these potassium compounds, accounting for only 16.7% of the weight of potassium gluconate, 38.3% of potassium citrate and 52% of potassium chloride. Consequently, a product named “Potassium Gluconate 595 mg” will actually contain only about 99 mg of active “elemental” potassium. This important fact may be missed by many consumers when only disclosed in the “Supplement Facts” panel on the back of the bottle, according to ConsumerLab.com.