For some people there’s no such thing as having one or two. Once they have that first sip on an alcoholic drink, they’ll keep downing them one after another until the night comes to an end. People who can’t handle their liquor well are going to be a mess in any such scenario, but even those who can drink copious amounts of booze may still be suffering for it. That’s true in as far as your liver does take the brunt of any degree of alcohol abuse. But what about mineral levels, and can alcohol cause low potassium? 

Those who are smart about it and drink in moderation can be assured this is something they’re never going to have to worry about. Moderate drinking isn’t going to deplete body mineral or electrolyte levels to any real extent, but if three 26oz bottles of rye whiskey are going into you each week it’s quite possible that you may have serious mineral imbalances in the body. You’re likely going to find you look pretty rough too, but that’s a different discussion for a different day and not related to can alcohol cause low potassium. 

And there is definitely a connection between alcohol and potassium level, and it will always involve depletion of the stuff. When people drink alcohol they tend to urinate more often, including urinating while unconscious. This will mean they’ll lose more electrolytes and potassium levels will come down because of this. They shouldn’t come down too much for this reason though, and instead the biggest issue is the way that alcohols messes with potassium absorption and retention. 

Long story short with can alcohol cause low potassium is that when there’s alcohol in your body the process of detoxifying and excreting it means that you absorb less of it. Plus more of it is channeled out of the body. That’s not good, especially if you already have problems with your electrolytes.  

Can’t Blame Kidneys

These essential organs are only doing what they’re supposed to do, and to them alcohol is a toxin like any other that needs to be forced out of the body ASAP. The problem is that electrolytes and minerals go with it, and that can mean losing potassium that your body would have made good use of had it remained in place. The fix for alcohol-induced hypokalemia is suitably simple, and it’s too drink less or stop entirely for a while. And then to eat potassium-rich foods like bananas or take an oral potassium supplement. You may also want to consider nutrients that clear out the digestive system while doing this, although that has nothing to do with can alcohol cause low potassium.  

There are going to be those who’ll rebut by saying that’s there’s potassium in beer. Yes, that’s true and it is an alcoholic beverage but there isn’t much potassium in it. And if you only have a beer or two you’re not going to be getting rid of much potassium.