Question About Vitamin Deficiencies

[Teri Lou]

Hi- I am fairly new here and have found that going gluten-free has helped my stomach pain, diarrhea a great deal, and even my calcium level which had been low forever is now normal, but potassium keeps dropping and I HATE it. I feel so weak and dizzy and generally horrible when this happens. Is there anything I can do to encourage my body to absorb potassium better? I am currently taking potassium tablets to supplement this and also eating a lot of bananas and drinking a lot of OJ. Is there anything else I can do? I am so tired of feeling as though I am on the verge of collapsing all the time. How long after going gluten-free til my GI tract is healed enough to absorb potassium again?

TiA.

Teri

[rosetapper23]

I'm afraid I'm unaware of anything that will help with absorbing potassium; in fact, I have the same problem. I can only suggest taking L-glutamine, which helps heal the gut. I hope your doctor is monitoring your blood pressure, since malabsorption of potassium can cause problems with blood pressure. Best to you...

[GlutenFreeManna]

Hi- I am fairly new here and have found that going gluten-free has helped my stomach pain, diarrhea a great deal, and even my calcium level which had been low forever is now normal, but potassium keeps dropping and I HATE it. I feel so weak and dizzy and generally horrible when this happens. Is there anything I can do to encourage my body to absorb potassium better? I am currently taking potassium tablets to supplement this and also eating a lot of bananas and drinking a lot of OJ. Is there anything else I can do? I am so tired of feeling as though I am on the verge of collapsing all the time. How long after going gluten-free til my GI tract is healed enough to absorb potassium again?

TiA.

Teri

Maybe a dumb question but have you had your blood sugar checked? Bananas and OJ are high in sugar. If you have a blood sugar problem like hypoglycemia you will feel dizzy and tired like you are describing after eating a banana or drinking some OJ. Try to stick with the supplements instead. Also if you suspect blood sugar issues at all, you can usually find a promotion giving away free diabetes testing meters (do a search online). The test sticks are expensive but a free meter usually comes with about 5 sticks--enough to test yourself and find out if your sugar spikes 30 minutes to an hour after having OJ.

[Brigit]

Hi Teri,

I don't know how long it'll take before you start absorbing it, but I do hope for your sake it won't take too long.

Bananas are high in sugar, as mentioned earlier. Why don't you try some of the following:

Foods, which are rich sources of potassium include turnips, whole grains, molasses, fish, citrus fruit, apple cider vinegar, avocados, yoghurt, tomatoes, poultry, oranges, apricots, potatoes (especially their skins), leafy green vegetables such as spinach, lettuce; and meat. One large orange will supply one with 250 mg of potassium, one-eighth of a person