Failing Potassium 101

RunTimer

Potassium 3500, really?

Okay, I am 6' 3" male weighing in at 170-175.
In reviewing my reports; according to MFP I should be consuming 3400 mg of Potassium a day.

On my best day, I come up to just over half of that number.
I'm eating pretty well so other than supplements:

• how can I make MFP happy and up make my Potassium quota?
• Does anyone else (besides me) think this number is outrageously high?

Cheers!

galgenstrick

A lot of the foods on MFP don't include potassium. So depending on what you're eating and logging, that daily number on MFP may be low. Check you're diary for that first.

3dogsrunning

galgenstrick wrote: »

A lot of the foods on MFP don't include potassium. So depending on what you're eating, that number may be low. Check you're diary for that first.

This. For two reasons.
Potassium is not required to be listed on food labels, therefore many foods that contain potassium may have a 0 value.
Second - most of the entries are user entered. Even if the micronutrient information is available, people don't always enter them.

Check out foods that contain potassium and foods you regularly eat and find the entries that have the correct potassium number listed.

Chances are you are not as deficient as you think .

kristydi

I find that entries that have USDA in the title tend to have the potassium info.

sympha01

Yeah, once I figured out that I had to log a little more carefully to capture entries with accurate potassium info (esp for fresh ingredients), I realized I was easily getting >4000 on the regular, and I often have 6500 mg days.

There's potassium in EVERYTHING. Even a small cup of black coffee has >100mg of potassium!

jenglish712

I don't have a caffeine addiction, I am just supplementing potassium!

MamaMollyT

In addition to checking the accuracy of other people's posts there are some foods out there with lots of potassium. I am always helping my hubs with his potassium intake so I make sure to cook the following foods frequently: white beans, spinach, avocado, salmon, orange squashes and fruits (butternut, acorn, papaya and mango). Prune juice also has a lot but not everyone can tolerate it's... Effects. Careful if you use canned white beans. Lots of sodium added. I soak my own from dried at the beginning of the week and add them to soups, salads, veggie dips or chili.

RunTimer

galgenstrick wrote: »

A lot of the foods on MFP don't include potassium. So depending on what you're eating and logging, that daily number on MFP may be low. Check you're diary for that first.

Thanks @galgenstrick‌. I got blindsided when I mistakenly thought my yoghurt (Yoplait) was giving me Potassium; seems it was not

RunTimer

kristydi wrote: »

I find that entries that have USDA in the title tend to have the potassium info.

Thanks @kristydi‌ and @3dogsrunning‌, that's a great tip regarding the USDA

RunTimer

jenglish712 wrote: »

I don't have a caffeine addiction, I am just supplementing potassium!

Thanks @sympha01‌, I wasn't aware of that.
@jenglish712‌ , you and I both!

cwolfman13

You're probably getting more than you think provided you are eating your veg and fruit. Potassium isn't a requirement on food labels and since that's where many of the entries in the data base come from, that information is simply missing.

That said, my favorite high potassium food is potatoes and sweet potatoes. I also drink a low sodium V8 everyday. for others, just google high potassium foods.

RunTimer

MamaMollyT wrote: »

.... Prune juice also has a lot but not everyone can tolerate it's... Effects.

Sound advice. Cheers!

pmm3437

"That said, my favorite high potassium food is potatoes and sweet potatoes. I also drink a low sodium V8 everyday. for others, just google high potassium foods. " - This

I track potassium aggressively ... have to or I miss my target on this easily. Stuff that ends up in my diary to potassium load:

Russet Baked Potato ( ~30 cals / 150 mg per oz. ) - skin on
OJ ( ~ 110 / 450 mg in 8 oz )
Low Sodium V8 ( 50 / 900 in 8 oz.)
Swiss Miss Dark Sensations ( 150 / 500 in 1 packet )
Protein shake ( 110 / 500 w/ 17g protein ( EAS Carb Advantage ) - check your suppliment
4% Cottage Cheese ( 120 / 150 w/ 14g protein )

And OFC all the usual suspects, some listed above.

Probably one of the highest density per calorie is spinach. Its like 25 cals per 100g, and 500+ mg.

wizzybeth

QHjr wrote: »

galgenstrick wrote: »

A lot of the foods on MFP don't include potassium. So depending on what you're eating and logging, that daily number on MFP may be low. Check you're diary for that first.

Thanks @galgenstrick‌. I got blindsided when I mistakenly thought my yoghurt (Yoplait) was giving me Potassium; seems it was not

Yogurt has potassium. ..not all brands add it to their label though.

kuranda10

I recently discovered the same thing about the zero potassium on food labels

I had randomly noticed that 156 g of Salmon was registering as 0 potassium. Uhm, nope. That;s close to 1000 mg of potassium.

I went through the high potassium foods I eat most often and added it. The diary still isn't capturing all of it, but it sure is closer.

RunTimer

Thanks everyone.
@wizzybeth‌ and @kuranda10‌ , I have started double checking EVERYTHING, In the case of yogurt (most in the database don't list potassium) I am either creating entries or selecting a substitute that matches all the other caloric req and includes the K.

Thanks to you all for the assistance
Cheers!

trying_to_burn

I don't know if thats high, but if you consume too much K+ you put yourself at risk of hyperkalaemia. A nasty thing which will mess which your heart and requires admission to hospital.

When it comes to electrolyte balance, go with what a blood test from your doctor says.

Phrick

I aim for 4700mg a day on my doctor's advice because any less and I get wicked hamstring cramps after I run. I have an extensive private list of My Foods and have used nutritiondata.self.com and the USDA database to make sure potassium is included in as many of them as possible with as much accuracy as I can muster. Now that I've added it and use primarily my My Foods entries, I find that it's actually super easy to exceed the limit (sometimes by 2,000mg a day, even!)

RunTimer

Thanks @trying_to_burn‌. That sounds scary. I had been following the MFP recommendation, but your post has me wondering whether that's best. Thanks!

@pmm3437‌ , thanks; You've got me looking at foods I never considered K-full in a whole new light. Cheers!

@Phrick, great idea. Your advice was seconded by others, so know I am creating my own foods when I think the K value is under represented. Thanks for the USDA database reference; this is great overlooked resource

After following all the great advice (thanks again all) I have noticed a big swing in my accounted Potassium. So the good news I don't really have to change my eating habits, at all; just my accounting habits. I hope the MFP database (and its contributors) are listening and better strides are made to record the Potassium for foods; but until then I'll be looking for (or creating) entries that list the K count accurately.

Cheers, all!

CyberTone

QHjr wrote: »

I hope the MFP database (and its contributors) are listening and better strides are made to record the Potassium for foods; but until then I'll be looking for (or creating) entries that list the K count accurately.

Instead of creating my own food item, I edit an existing user-entered food item in the Food Database. It takes less time to edit an existing entry to add or correct a nutrient, such as potassium, than creating another entire food item from scratch.
Please see this article on the MFP Help pages...
myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/13980-some-food-information-in-the-database-is-inaccurate-can-i-edit-it-