I wouldn't read too much into the title, the closing parts of the article give a much more balanced take on the whole issue. This study disagrees with some previous work and it's unclear which result makes sense and why. As usual, more research is needed, and while a catchy title is nice, this isn't anything to change your dietary habits by,
I know this isn't related to potassium directly, but anecdotally I have had success using magnesium supplements for insomnia/improving general sleep quality. I have also been consuming electrolyte mixes containing potassium to help with muscle recovery from training, and have found them to help with physical soreness & general well-being.
If you took a bath in hot water, that has its own effects on the body, as it will lower your blood pressure, it can also relax your muscles, so you need to try it out without the magnesium to see if it did anything.
I knew a guy that would eat a banana per beer. He would portion the bananas out beforehand, so we could tell he was serious when he showed up to a stag-do with two bunches!
Anecdotally, I always had much better sleep and mornings every time I remembered to eat a banana (or two!) before going to bed after a night of heavy drinking...
Two bananas to a potato (I assume we’re talking something like a russet, not a little red potato?) sounds generous to the potato, if we’re talking volume equivalence.
you can most definitely change the levels of components in a fried food.
the oil gets 'dirty' from extended use in frying. Why is it dirty? It's not dirt, and it's not oil breakdown (in most cases).
The oil is drawing components from the food into itself.
Forget the frying for a second; most fries are parboiled or blanched -- this also leeches material away from the vegetable, this time it leaves with the water used for blanching.
A french fry is delicious, but it's different than a potato -- even if it's made from one.
I don't know about the case of potassium specifically, but in general I thought that the bioavailability of elements can vary with different types of cooking?
> The sleep disturbances were assessed using the Athens Insomnia Scale [ 19], a self-administered psychometric questionnaire designed to evaluate sleep disorders, particularly insomnia [ 20 ]. It consists of eight items rated on a Likert scale ranging from 0 “no problem at all” to 3 “very severe” [ 20]. The total score ranges from 0 (absence of any sleep-related problems) to 24 (the most severe degree of insomnia). Severity is classified as normal for scores of 3 or less, subclinical insomnia for scores of greater than 3 but less than 6, and clinical insomnia for scores of 6 or more [19,21,22].
The contradiction is more clear when comparing the abstract:
> [...] Results: Multiple regression analyses revealed that individuals with higher AIS scores had higher daily potassium intake; potassium at dinner was especially crucial. [...]
and section 3.2:
> 3.2. Association Between AIS Score and Dietary Patterns of Sodium and Potassium
> Multiple regression analysis was conducted to investigate the association between AIS scores and dietary patterns of sodium and potassium intake (Table 3). Total daily potassium intake was inversely associated with log AIS score (β = −0.036; p = 0.034). When intake at each meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks) was analyzed separately, only potassium intake at dinner remained significantly associated with AIS score (β = −0.066; p = 0.003), suggesting that higher potassium intake at dinner may be linked to fewer sleep disturbances. No significant associations were observed for the sodium-to-potassium ratio.
The real shocking information I gained from this paper is that the AIS goes from 0-24 (0 = perfect sleep, 24 = total insomnia) and the study participants had an amazing average AIS score of 4.3 (SD 3.3)! Wow, how well all those people must sleep!
As someone scoring 12, it's pretty bad and I am suffering a lot while trying to sleep and during day time because I did not sleep well.
If my understanding of statistics, standard deviations and the standardized partial regression coefficient are correct, potassium supplementation in the evening only increase this score by about 0.2178 (Beta −0.066, multiplied with SD of 3.3), which is kinda worthless.
IIUC, Na is used like signaling medium in body and alkaline metals that isn't Na tends to reduce blood pressure, slow heartbeat and neural activity. With that in mind, it sounds reasonable that those tendency could lead to slightly deeper sleep. Or is there something else to it?
Preventing light from reaching your eyes in the morning either via sleeping mask or good blinds + making sure there are no electric lights visible. In other words: sleeping in total darkness until you want to wake up.
I take potassium capsules frequently and magnesium capsules whenever I smoke, which is occasionally. Both of them were effective and help me with reducing anxiety and relieving stress.
I wouldn't read too much into the title, the closing parts of the article give a much more balanced take on the whole issue. This study disagrees with some previous work and it's unclear which result makes sense and why. As usual, more research is needed, and while a catchy title is nice, this isn't anything to change your dietary habits by,
I know this isn't related to potassium directly, but anecdotally I have had success using magnesium supplements for insomnia/improving general sleep quality. I have also been consuming electrolyte mixes containing potassium to help with muscle recovery from training, and have found them to help with physical soreness & general well-being.
What form of magnesium? It might mean something.
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4397399
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycine
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnesium_glycinate
---
Mg also acts on GABAergic/genic systems directly, but its benefits as a general supplement on sleep are disputed.
My wife convinced me to take a bath with magnesium once when I was stressed.
Afterwards I got up, went to bed, and slept like an absolute rock.
If you took a bath in hot water, that has its own effects on the body, as it will lower your blood pressure, it can also relax your muscles, so you need to try it out without the magnesium to see if it did anything.
Do you know what it actually does and how it does it?
Learnt from my grandmother to eat plenty bananas before bedtime. It helped with my asthma and swear too that it did wonders for my sleep.
Usually had it with a hot curry at dinner time or dessert (sliced bananas, cubed apples and evaparoted milk.)
I knew a guy that would eat a banana per beer. He would portion the bananas out beforehand, so we could tell he was serious when he showed up to a stag-do with two bunches!
Oh man that’s a lot of bloat! Beer + sugar
That is so many bananas
Anecdotally, I always had much better sleep and mornings every time I remembered to eat a banana (or two!) before going to bed after a night of heavy drinking...
Bananas aren't high in potassium. That's a myth. A banana has 450mg and a potato has 650mg.
Zuckerberg isn't rich. That's a myth. He had $200B and Elon has $450B.
Bananas have a decent amount of potassium per serving. A lot more than many foods. That’s not a myth.
The only myth is that bananas are a unique source of potassium. A lot of foods have similar or more amounts of potassium per serving or by weight.
Come to think of it, you’re right. It was when he showed up with a big ol’ bag full of potatoes that we knew it was gonna be a serious party.
Fair enough, but I still prefer the banana. Just a little bit tastier than a raw potato.
Adding to that bananas are high in sugar. 12 to 15 grams each
Potatoes have almost double the glycemic index of a banana, meaning that the impact on metabolism and insulin production is greater and faster.
True, but just because fructose has a low GI doesn't make it good for you.
Two bananas to a potato (I assume we’re talking something like a russet, not a little red potato?) sounds generous to the potato, if we’re talking volume equivalence.
A potato’s a meal. A banana’s a lightish snack.
How much does that potato weigh? The size of potatoes varies quite a bit
Sadly I don’t think French fries have the same effect.
Potassium is a chemical element, frying it won't change the potassium level.
you can most definitely change the levels of components in a fried food.
the oil gets 'dirty' from extended use in frying. Why is it dirty? It's not dirt, and it's not oil breakdown (in most cases).
The oil is drawing components from the food into itself.
Forget the frying for a second; most fries are parboiled or blanched -- this also leeches material away from the vegetable, this time it leaves with the water used for blanching.
A french fry is delicious, but it's different than a potato -- even if it's made from one.
Why would something being an element mean that heating it as part of a food wouldn’t act as a catalyst for some chemical interaction?
I don't know about the case of potassium specifically, but in general I thought that the bioavailability of elements can vary with different types of cooking?
What do you get out of evaporated milk that you can't get from milk?
Its either sweeter or creamier. I always get evaporated and condensed mixed up.
...plenty? That's at least more than 2 for me. Can you eat 3+ bananas in one sitting? Are we talking really small, average or big bananas?
Strangely the original study misstates the direction of the main finding, contradicting itself directly.
Is this a typo, or something more nefarious?
From the abstract:
From the body of the paper (supported by the results):I'd trust table 3 and the general sentiment of the paper?
That is true. From section 2.6 of the full-text:
> The sleep disturbances were assessed using the Athens Insomnia Scale [ 19], a self-administered psychometric questionnaire designed to evaluate sleep disorders, particularly insomnia [ 20 ]. It consists of eight items rated on a Likert scale ranging from 0 “no problem at all” to 3 “very severe” [ 20]. The total score ranges from 0 (absence of any sleep-related problems) to 24 (the most severe degree of insomnia). Severity is classified as normal for scores of 3 or less, subclinical insomnia for scores of greater than 3 but less than 6, and clinical insomnia for scores of 6 or more [19,21,22].
The contradiction is more clear when comparing the abstract:
> [...] Results: Multiple regression analyses revealed that individuals with higher AIS scores had higher daily potassium intake; potassium at dinner was especially crucial. [...]
and section 3.2:
> 3.2. Association Between AIS Score and Dietary Patterns of Sodium and Potassium > Multiple regression analysis was conducted to investigate the association between AIS scores and dietary patterns of sodium and potassium intake (Table 3). Total daily potassium intake was inversely associated with log AIS score (β = −0.036; p = 0.034). When intake at each meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks) was analyzed separately, only potassium intake at dinner remained significantly associated with AIS score (β = −0.066; p = 0.003), suggesting that higher potassium intake at dinner may be linked to fewer sleep disturbances. No significant associations were observed for the sodium-to-potassium ratio.
There are plenty of studies exploring this that don't come from weird websites.
A recent one:
- https://jcsm.aasm.org/doi/10.5664/jcsm.10168
Many, many more
Link to the study itself: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17010148
The real shocking information I gained from this paper is that the AIS goes from 0-24 (0 = perfect sleep, 24 = total insomnia) and the study participants had an amazing average AIS score of 4.3 (SD 3.3)! Wow, how well all those people must sleep!
As someone scoring 12, it's pretty bad and I am suffering a lot while trying to sleep and during day time because I did not sleep well.
If my understanding of statistics, standard deviations and the standardized partial regression coefficient are correct, potassium supplementation in the evening only increase this score by about 0.2178 (Beta −0.066, multiplied with SD of 3.3), which is kinda worthless.
Please correct me if I am wrong.
IIUC, Na is used like signaling medium in body and alkaline metals that isn't Na tends to reduce blood pressure, slow heartbeat and neural activity. With that in mind, it sounds reasonable that those tendency could lead to slightly deeper sleep. Or is there something else to it?
My main problem is waking up too early. Any silver bullet for that?
I had the same issue. Taking magnesium citrate 30 mins before bed fixed this completely. See also: https://examine.com/supplements/magnesium/
Edibles can sometimes be effective
Preventing light from reaching your eyes in the morning either via sleeping mask or good blinds + making sure there are no electric lights visible. In other words: sleeping in total darkness until you want to wake up.
Go to bed later?
Move west...
[dead]
choices = [
]while choices and not sleep:
Could you elaborate this?
I haven't heard of potassium before.
I take potassium capsules frequently and magnesium capsules whenever I smoke, which is occasionally. Both of them were effective and help me with reducing anxiety and relieving stress.
It's often called Kalium internationally. The atomic symbol is Ka.
Po in the periodic system. At least for Americans ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
K.
I sure hope you aren't consuming Po. It's usually only consumed by targets of Russian assassination.