It's so hot out there...

It's hot everywhere right now and if you're like me, you are sweating immediately every time you go outside. The two most important minerals that balance the fluids in your body are lost every time you sweat - potassium and sodium. Today I'll tell you a little bit about potassium, and why it is so important to your body, and tomorrow I'll talk about sodium. Potassium is one of 17 essential minerals in your body and is found in all of your tissues and fluids. It must have amino acids (protein) to be well absorbed, so it is important that you consume protein at each meal to ensure you are getting the most potassium available from your food. Potassium is used for muscle contraction, nerve transmission, supplying oxygen to your brain and converting blood sugar into glycogen in your liver and muscles (this is the storage form of energy that is supplied to your muscles when you exercise - in the form of glucose). If you don't have enough potassium, you are unable to perform endurance exercises (longer runs, triathalons, even working out hard and making it through the rest of a hot day) without muscle weakness, cramping, being irritable (oh good, it's not menopause, hee hee), and maybe even mental confusion. Both orange juice and vegetable juice (ex. V8) are quick sources of potassium; a diet high in fresh fruits (especially citrus, and dried apricots), fresh vegetables (potatoes, leafy greens, avocados and mushrooms are particularly good), fish (salmon, cod, flounder and sardines(yuck)), and nuts (almonds, pecans and brazil nuts (I don't like these either...)) are all good sources - if you can't find them fresh, pick frozen. It is hard to get your minimum daily requirement (4700 mg) from food - women typically get around 2500 and men around 3000 even with a really good diet; supplemental potassium is recommended, particularly in the summer. A tablet can only be as high as 99mg, so you'll want to take one in the morning, and one in the evening. Okay, enough for today - bet you can't wait until tomorrow! Melissa