14 DAY TRIAL // Canadian researchers have recently pointed out the fact that a simple urine test may tell if a person has a bad, unhealthy diet or a healthy, rich-in-nutrients diet. A team of experts at the Prosserman Center for Health Research in Toronto showed that checking on an individual's urine is one of the cheapest and quickest methods of assessing his eating habits and finding if his diet is an appropriate one or not.
Other methods of assessing one's eating habits and diet is asking the particular person to give an exact report of what he eats for a number of days - which is not very accurate most of the times, as the patient often 'forgets' to mention all the foods he consumes or he deliberately skips some unhealthy foods such as rich-in-trans fats ones etc. There is also the blood test, which can tell more accurately and exactly whether a person's eating habits and diet are bad or good, healthy.
However, in the current study, researchers have focused on urine test's potency to account for an individual's eating habits and diet, especially when it comes to measuring potassium levels in his body. Urinary potassium is a potential useful marker of a healthy diet, as the nutritive mineral is needed by the body to assess various tasks and a rich-in-potassium diet will always protect an individual from a wide range of diseases and conditions.
Potassium regulates blood pressure by lowering it and prevents cardiovascular diseases and events such as stroke and heart attack. It also enhances nerve functions by providing cells with nutrients and energizing the whole body. Moreover, previous studies have shown that potassium helps eliminating wastes from our body and is a key compound in the detoxifying process. An appropriate intake of potassium is greatly recommended in rheumatic and arthritic disorders, migraines, headaches and convulsions, muscle disorders etc.
The following natural foods are overloaded with potassium and should be eaten on a daily basis: potatoes, sunflower seeds, garlic, tomatoes, fish, cereals, fruits (nuts, avocados, apricots, grapefruits, orange, apples, bananas and grapes), milk and dairy products, tea and coffee. Potassium can also be found in herbs such as catnip, nettle, plantain, sage, horsetail, skullcap etc.
Toronto researchers used for the trial urine samples taken from 220 people with ages ranging from 18 to 50. In addition, the team of experts checked subjects' body weight, height, blood pressure and heart rate and participants also had to give a detailed report about their eating habits and diets during the previous year.
Overall results of the study have been presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Nephrology held in San Diego and showed that individuals who had elevated potassium levels in urine were also significantly more likely to have a strong, better health than their counterparts with low potassium urine levels. Increased levels of potassium in urine were closely connected with a lower body weight, blood pressure, heart rate and a healthy diet.
Leader of the research, Dr. Andrew Mente of the Prosserman Center for Health Research concluded: "These findings suggest, for the first time, that the amount of potassium in the urine is a valid, objective indicator of diet quality. This urinary marker is a simple, objective, universally available measure of diet quality that may aid physicians in providing effective dietary counseling. Physicians can now establish targets for therapy, monitor the effectiveness of dietary interventions over time, and provide effective dietary counseling to patients at risk because of poor food choices."
