Potassium

jam1166

This is only my third day, but I am surprised to see that I am consistently extremely low on my potassium intake. I'm wondering if this could be contributing to my fatigue (in addition to the extra pounds). I'm good at eating my fruits and vegetables and it never occurred to me that my diet could be lacking in potassium. Does anyone else have trouble meeting the daily recommendation for potassium?

Jean Ann

bizco

Food manufacturers are not required to list postassium on nutirition panels. You are actually getting more potassium than MFP reports show.

marci355

Eat a banana every day. Only 110 calories but.....get this.....550mg of potassium! Or go the the health food store and get supplements. I bet they're going to be hard to find, cause everybody is shipping huge amounts over to Japan. Something to do with the radiation thing going on over there...Anyway, just eat a banana!:bigsmile:

meggonkgonk

Food manufacturers are not required to list postassium on nutirition panels. You are actually getting more potassium than MFP reports show.

This is really good to know! I'd been getting random foot cramps and my doc suggested I might not be getting enough potassium- so I've tried upping it (bananas, tomatoes, potatoes etc) but even "upping" im still waaay under. Good to know!

@Marci- I eat bananas pretty often but even then, it barely puts a dent in the suggested daily postassium

Shweedog

I have this issue as well. My labels do show potassium but it is extremely low compared to what the daily recommendation is (twice as much sodium as you ingest). So if you consume 2400 mg (recommended/or less) of sodium then your potassium should be 4800. If you are a high sodium eater then you need to also increase your potassium (due to cardiac issues). I eat A LOT of salt (I know-bad!) So I am supposed to be consuming around 8000 mg of potassium daily. I hit in the 1000s usually. So I googled high potassium foods.


Potassium Rich Foods Chart
Fruits

Potassium Rich Foods Serving Size Potassium Content
Apple (with skin) 1 148 mg
Apple juice (without sugar) 1/2 cup 125 mg
Banana 1 422 mg
Avocado 1 ounce 100 mg
Dates 5 227 mg
Raisins 1/4 cup 273 mg
Strawberries 1 cup 254 mg
Cantaloupe 1 cup 427 mg
Papaya 1 medium 360 mg
Peach 1 medium 186 mg
Pear 1 medium 200 mg
Watermelon 1 cup 170 mg


Vegetables

Potassium Rich Foods Serving Size Potassium Content
Artichoke (cooked) 1 cup 595 mg
Beet (cooked) 1/2 cup 655 mg
Broccoli 1/2 cup 143 mg
Fresh Brussel sprouts 1/2 cup 47 mg
Carrots 1/2 cup 177 mg
Cauliflower 1/2 cup 151 mg
Cabbage 1/2 cup 147 mg
Lettuce 1 cup 87 mg
Baked potato (with skin) 1 422 mg
Steamed spinach 1/2 cup 415 mg
Kidney beans 1/2 cup 355 mg
Tomato juice 1 cup 535 mg
Sweet potato (with skin) 1 508 mg


Other Foods

Here are some of the other potassium rich foods list along with the potassium content.
Potassium Rich Foods Serving Size Potassium Content
Molasses 1 teaspoon 498 mg
Brazil nuts 2 ounces 340 mg
Egg 1 55 mg
Salmon (canned) 4 oz 409 mg
Cooked tune 3 ounces 484 mg
Almonds 2 ounces 412 mg
Yogurt 6 ounces 398 mg
Ricotta Cheese 1/2 cup 154 mg
Milk 1 cup 377 mg
Cottage Cheese 1 cup 217 mg

ShrinkinMel

Yes you will find many foods don't report on the potassium in foods. Look up higher potassium foods and try to rotate them in your diet.

ajbeans

Bizco is right, labels don't often have potassium on them. If you're looking for potassium numbers in fruits and veggies and other common foods, you can look them up here: http://nutritiondata.self.com/

That said, it is sometimes hard to get enough potassium. You can get good potassium numbers from bananas, peanut butter, V8 (the low-sodium or original varieties are best), potatoes prepared with the skin on, dairy products, broccoli, and tomatoes. Over-the-counter supplements are pretty useless, as they generally only have 99 mg and you need 3500 in a day, so it's best to get it from food.

Feel free to check out my diary. I'm not perfect on potassium, but I do try to hit that 3500 every day due to my own health concerns. Today I'm only going to be short by 65. Take a look if you want some ideas.

CherylleeH

You can find a list of potassium rich foods on the internet. I try to watch my potassium intake as well. I'm glad to learn here that food manufacturers aren't required to put potassium in the nutrients list and hope I am getting more than MFP shows. BTW the potassium we are talking about is Potassium Citrate not the potassium iodine that is in the news because of the tragedy in Japan.

ajbeans

You can find a list of potassium rich foods on the internet. I try to watch my potassium intake as well. I'm glad to learn here that food manufacturers aren't required to put potassium in the nutrients list and hope I am getting more than MFP shows. BTW the potassium we are talking about is Potassium Citrate not the potassium iodine that is in the news because of the tragedy in Japan.

Yep... a lot of my foods say 0 in my diary, but I know there's some potassium in them. I just ignore that and try to get my number high even without those items. And when I find information about potassium in an item where it's listed as 0 in the database, I edit the entry so it's correct.

And you make a good point. Potassium iodide is an anti-radiation MEDICATION, not a supplement to be taken every day. So if you have some, don't take it like a vitamin. People are being hospitalized for doing that. But you can't buy it over the counter, so if you've bought a supplement at the pharmacy without a prescription, it's potassium citrate, which is safe to take daily. Kind of worthless, IMO, but safe.

viansa

I try to get higher levels of potassium as well to help with leg cramps. One thing that helps me is drinking the Vita Coco Coconut Water after I exercise. It has 680mg of potassium in the 11.1 oz box and only 60 calories.

jam1166

Thanks everyone! I have a list of potassium-rich foods, but my levels are reading so low that it is going to take a lot of them. Good to know about many labels not including potassium, I'll try to keep track on my own.

Thanks again!

Jean Ann