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Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "

14.09.2008

Potassium supplement makes protein metabolism more efficient

Old people who have a high potassium intake from eating fruit and vegetables have more fat free mass than old people who consume little potassium, according to recently published research. In the nineties nutritionists at the University of California did an experiment from which you can deduce that a diet that is high in potassium might result in more muscle mass.

In the trial the researchers gave fourteen women aged between 51 and 77 six to twelve grams of potassium bicarbonate for an eighteen-day period. Potassium bicarbonate is a component in vegetables and fruit that makes the body less acid. The researchers measured the amount of nitrogen in the women’s urine before, during and after taking the supplement. The results are shown below.

During the period that the women took the potassium bicarbonate the amount of nitrogen in their urine fell by a total of fourteen grams. You can read why this happens here.

When the supplements were stopped, the amount of nitrogen in the urine increased again.

As you might expect, during the supplement period the excretion of acid via the urine decreased.

The researchers then did a calculation that the muscularly interested readers of ergo-log will find interesting.

One kilogram of fat free mass in the body contains 32 g nitrogen. Fourteen grams of nitrogen – the amount of nitrogen saved in the urine of the test subjects – represents 0.44 kg fat free mass.

An interesting gain. For an experiment that took eightteen days.

Sources:
J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1997 Jan;82(1):254-9.