can you overdose on potassium????

Question

over the past 2 days i ate a whole bag of bananas (about 12) last night i was up every hour with sickness. my mum thinks i might have overdosed on potassium as i only ate bananas and apple juice so it cant have been anything else except that. i originally ate the bananas as i was constipated but i think i ate too many any suggestions

Answer 1

Bananas don't have enough potassium to harm you. It is possible to OD on potassium but the result of the OD is heart failure. You don't get sick you just stop your heart and die if not treated on the spot.

More likely you just got sick from eating too much of one thing and your system wanted something of substance to digest.

Answer 2

Potassium Overdose

Answer 3

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Answer 4

Yes it is possible to develop levels of potassium that are too high OR too low. Its why blood tests for potassium were developed. Your genetics play a role. The guy next to you might be able to eat more banana safely while it might make you ill. Get a blood test and talk to your doctor. Find out what limits are right for you.

Beyond that, if you eat a food and it makes you ill, you need medical advice. If possible take a sample of the food with you. Possibilities include food where there is high bacterial contamination. Your doctor needs to know so that the health department could be alerted to try to stop sales of this food until the supply is clean. Eating too much food volume. Don't eat more food volume than about the size of your fist within 2 hours. Food allergy. Handling a food allergy requires direct advice from your own doctor. Overdosing on a chemical in a food. Often your doctor can check a blood level to find out if you...have more difficulty processing a chemical in a food such as potassium. Your doctor can also look into why you have this difference if there is a difference found.

Yes a potassium too far out of the normal range can kill. Fortunately the overwhelming majority of people feel ill before it gets that far. The good news to feeling ill is that it prompts people to seek out an answer before the problem kills them.

Its always a good idea to eat a variety of fresh fruits, vegetables, meat and eggs. If your vegetarian...talk to your doctor as your body will not get certain nutrients such as vitamin B12 from fruits and vegetables alone.

Please look up a recommended "serving" of a food. A food may be tasty but its really NOT recommended to consume several "servings" of the same food in one sitting. Think of those gatherings in the park where everyone brings a dish and you wish to taste everything. Taking small portions of a variety is much healthier than many servings of the same dish.

Remember to always eat until you are no longer starving and then stop. If you feel "full" then you have eaten too much. Wait an hour or two. If your body digests what you ate before and wants more...feel free. Humans evolved as grazing animals which means we ate small amounts all day as we walked along.

Dr Katherine Rogers MD

Answer 5

Potassium overdose is definitely real, it's called "hyperkalemia." Usually it happens when
people have bad kidney functions, or become dehydrated, suffer trauma, or don't consume enough sodium. Just eating a lot of potassium usually won't cause it- your body has mechanisms to deal with the excess- but if you don't consume enough sodium (from leafy greens, etc) to balance it out then there might be a problem. Without enough sodium, your cells will expand too much and possibly burst. In your body the ratio is about 3/1 potassium to sodium.

As far as constipation....i dont know.. never heard of that happening from bananas.

Answer 6

This is for Golf Fanatic who asked about overdosing on potassium. I am not writing to answer the question. I am a teacher and I just want you to know that you are NOT cheating by asking us this question. You are doing your research and this is one of the sources available to you in this modern times. It is smart of you to use this strategy. I would caution you on one thing only. You cannot assume that the answers you receive are correct, so it is best to get more than one source to back up your answer. Maybe a medical website or medical book of some sort. You need to make sure the source of your research is reliable. So, asking this question here is a good idea and just remember you are NOT cheating, but you are doing your research and checking hopefully, more than one source for an answer. Good for you!

Answer 7

It sounds like you did. Some people are potassium-sensitive. You'd have to ask your doctor or nutritionalist about your potassium situation to find out how many bananas you should be eating in a short time.

Answer 8

The good news is you ate a natural whole food. If it were a supplement or vitamin much more likely to OD. Our bodies regulate natural foods a lot better than unnatural fractured foods.

Anyone (monkeys not inc.) would get sick eating 12 banana's or too much of anything for that matter.

At my birthday party which was the biggest one I've ever had someone suggested a banana eating contest. I reluctantly agreed just to be a good sport. They put the blindfold on me and two guys along with a pile of bananas in front of each of us. Go! So I start slamming these bananas down- meanwhile every ones shouting encouragement- "Daniel your just barely winning- faster- eat faster! GO GO". 5 minutes later Daniel -You Win! I take my blindfold off with my mouth still full and look over to see the other guys didn't eat one single banana. Everyone was laughing uproariously and me.... I got a big stomach ache on my B-day.

Answer 9

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yes it is possible babies and renal patients are at risk for this with blood transfusions. Potassium is stored in red blood cells and as bloodcells sit..they become leaky and the free potassium increases in the blood waiting to be transfused. If the patient is a baby or renal patient then only the freshest blood will be transfused or the patient can get very very sick.

Answer 10

Yes you can O.D. on potassium, but I don't know about banana's go get tested to see you could have just ate to much for your own well being.