Getting enough Potassium

amandasmith911

I am consistently having trouble getting enough potassium. I am eating lower carb. I can't seem to stay at my calorie goal and get in enough potassium. It's not like I can get a bunch of bananas and potatoes if I want to keep my carbs low.

Maybe this is why I crave potato chips? LOL Anyone else have this trouble?

PrimalGirl

Hi, kale, spinach and avocado (I think) are all high in potassium. Green leafy stuff!

amandasmith911

Green leafy I can do. I love love love avacados, but have a hard time fitting them in because of their calories. I'm struggling to not eat over my calorie goal.

RodaRose

You are getting enough potassium.
The US does not require potassium on food labels, so the info in the MFP data base is lacking.

coffee_man

Having the same issue.

ChefARCampbell

I try to keep my potassium intake 1.5x greater than my sodium intake. I eat small portions of dried fruit (apricots, figs, dates, raisin, or prunes). It doesn't take a large portion to provide an adequate amount of potassium for each meal. Green leafy vegetables are also a good source, but not as concentrated as dry fruit.
Let me know your thoughts.

donnasvei

Some of MFP's database entries aren't coded for potassium, so I'm checking my Droid app under "Nutrition" to be sure I'm getting credit for what I do eat. If not, I'm setting up my own "food" to get credit for it. That said, it is HARD to meet the daily requirement for this mineral. I've read that 98% of Americans miss it and that it's implicated in slow to develop, but serious health problems. Also that potassium requirements are the primary driver behind the recommended 10 servings of fruits and veggies per day. Here's a link to a good list of the highest potassium food. It includes links to fruit and veggie lists. Top 10 Foods Highest in Potassium http://buff.ly/UK9orZ

rickyberkey

I was also concerned with a lack of potassium but have realized that many entries (even official ones from the food vendor labels) often do not have potassium information. I still look at the daily totals and have convinced myself that overall I'm doing OK.

MKEgal

Go to the website for the American Kidney Association and look up their advice for people in kidney failure, which foods to avoid (because they're high in potassium), then eat those.

GotaGrip

I had the same concern. No matter how hard I tried to me MFP recommendation, I couldn't meet it. I asked my doctor about it during a recent visit. She said not to worry about it. She said that healthy kidneys are enough to regulate potassium. I feel much better now about never hitting MFP's target.

amandasmith911

Good to know!

FredDoyle

GotaGrip wrote: »

I had the same concern. No matter how hard I tried to me MFP recommendation, I couldn't meet it. I asked my doctor about it during a recent visit. She said not to worry about it. She said that healthy kidneys are enough to regulate potassium. I feel much better now about never hitting MFP's target.

Unless you take in a lot of sodium. I like salt and need to keep a high ratio of potassium to balance my sodium intake. 1.5:1 to 2:1 for blood pressure.
Also, yes your kidneys regulate potassium, as in excrete excess, but they don't create it, so I'm not sure what your doctor means.

dlr165

I tried to get enough potassium but It just wasn't happening. I was getting leg cramps daily so I started taking a potassium pill everyday. I was still getting cramps at night when I stretched. Then, I increased it to 2 pills a day. The cramps are gone!

FredDoyle

dlr165 wrote: »

I tried to get enough potassium but It just wasn't happening. I was getting leg cramps daily so I started taking a potassium pill everyday. I was still getting cramps at night when I stretched. Then, I increased it to 2 pills a day. The cramps are gone!

Potassium chloride supplements are usually a very small dose (80mg), and if larger can damage your stomach, hence the small dosage.
It's easy to get potassium from food. One cup of V8 has 900 mg (10 pill supplements) for only 60 kcals. V8, meat, fish, tomatoes, coconut water, mushrooms, squash, potatoes, dark chocolate, shellfish, mussels, green leafy veg, milk products, fruit.
Plants, and animals through eating plants pick it up from the soil. It's pretty easy to get 4500 mg on a balanced diet or to supplement with some of the low cal options above.
I wouldn't take supplements unless directed by a physician.

Kalikel

RodaRose wrote: »

You are getting enough potassium.
The US does not require potassium on food labels, so the info in the MFP data base is lacking.

Most Americans don't take in the amount that is advised. We take in WAY more sodium than we need and less potassium.

It's totally true that lots of labels don't include it and that the MFP numbers are usually wrong, but it's also true that most of us don't get enough.

That it not to say I think anyone should run out and start swallowing supplements nobody told them to take. I don't. If you asked, I'd advise against taking supplements you weren't told to take.

Just pointing out that we shouldn't assume we get enough because MFP can't calculate how much we get, since most of us aren't getting enough.

cimon0707

So glad to read this - i set a goal to try to hit the MFP potassium goal today and found no matter how many high potassium foods I ate, I wasn't getting even close! Thought perhaps I was missing something glad others are having similar issues

mykaylis

RodaRose wrote: »

You are getting enough potassium.
The US does not require potassium on food labels, so the info in the MFP data base is lacking.

i was wondering about that. my potassium intake listed is extremely low, despite taking a prenatal vitamin daily. i don't eat bananas but potatoes are still on the menu. wasn't sure what to think of the chart.

Hollywood_Porky

If you eat raw fruit (or crushed into smoothies), green veggies (including avocado), sweet potatoes, and beans (black, kidney) then you shouldn't have to worry about issues with potassium. I track mine on MFP - no idea where peeps on here are saying the numbers aren't available - but they are there. Let me know if you need samples from my diary regarding rich potassium sources - or WHO website can give you that insight as well.

Kalikel

tedboosalis7 wrote: »

If you eat raw fruit (or crushed into smoothies), green veggies (including avocado), sweet potatoes, and beans (black, kidney) then you shouldn't have to worry about issues with potassium. I track mine on MFP - no idea where peeps on here are saying the numbers aren't available - but they are there. Let me know if you need samples from my diary regarding rich potassium sources - or WHO website can give you that insight as well.

Many food labels don't include potassium on the label, even if it's in there. If it isn't on the label, it may not get entered into the MFP database, so it is entirely possible to take in Potassium while not having a record of it on MFP.

FireFighterGuy

You aren't getting enough potassium on low-carb because you can't. I've been doing the low carb thing for 2 years and tracking most of it. Looking back at my log, i've always lacked fiber but even more so.. potassium.

So then I took it upon myself to create a "potassium smoothie", with fruits and veggies all high in potassium (+1 for flavor): 500ml coconut water, 1 large orange, 1 large banana, 1 lemon (for flavor), 50g of kale, 1 cup of spinach, half of a large cucumber, 1/2 cup of strawberries, 1/2 cup of blueberries, 1/3 cup of blackberries, 1/3 cup of raspberries, 2 shots (3 fluid oz) of black cherry concentrate, 100g of carrots, and 100g of high fat plain greek yogurt (high in potassium and adds texture).

All that puts me at about 80-85% of the RDA (4700mg), do you really want to know the carb total on that.. 147g of carbs.

So a smoothie that makes roughly 2L worth (and tasty I might add), is 147g of carbs with 19g of protein, and 14g of fat, 790 cal smoothie. All that and were still not at the 4700 total.

Round out the rest with whatever else you like and you'll get there, but I'm telling you, you won't get there doing low carb. Maybe with supplements you can, but there is no way to tell if your body is even absorbing it given you'll be lacking nutrients elsewhere. You'll be pushing 175-200g of carbs when your done. There are protein sources that add potassium, but then good luck getting enough fiber, as well as, other crucial micro-nutrients.

As I've said, I've gone over this with a fine tooth comb every which way. If you want top up your potassium (and absorb it ), you won't be doing it on less than 160g carbs per day.

If your really diligent and want to keep on top of all you other micro nutrients, as fiber, magnesium, calcium, omega 3, and omega 6 to name of few; you won't be reaching your RDA levels on low carb.

I'm not trying to bash low carb, but coming from it myself doing it for 2 years religiously and finally looking back at my micro-nutrient totals, it really isn't what it's cracked up to be. A standard american diet of 300-500g of carbs per day, definitely not necessary. A low carb diet of less than 125g per day (what I consider low carb), definitely not doable when you take all the important micro-nutrients into consideration and the consequences of not having them. The sweet spot for me personally: 150-200g on average + an extra 50 on days I exercise.

lemurcat12

tedboosalis7 wrote: »

If you eat raw fruit (or crushed into smoothies), green veggies (including avocado), sweet potatoes, and beans (black, kidney) then you shouldn't have to worry about issues with potassium. I track mine on MFP - no idea where peeps on here are saying the numbers aren't available - but they are there. Let me know if you need samples from my diary regarding rich potassium sources - or WHO website can give you that insight as well.

You have to log using the right entries. If you use the USDA ones (the non-asterisk ones), it is available, but I think a lot of people don't realize they should use those for any whole foods (well, IMO).

I agree that if you use those and eat a decent amount of fruits and veggies and other whole foods it's not tough to get. I tracked for a while out of curiosity and was always significantly over, which is one reason why I think part of the problem people have is not using the correct entries.

Yogafit28

Try having a few bananas every day and coconut water (especially if you don't want the carbs)- both have heaps of potassium. I know sometimes carbs get a bad rep but you really can't get fat eating carbs from fruit and veggies. If you're really opposed to it theres coconut water and natural electrolyte supplements you can take