Potassium- How do you get enough?

72lori

I’ve been really doing great, eating what I think is a great balanced diet. Yesterday when I was going through my food diaries for the month, I realized I am not getting even close to the right amount of potassium. Does anybody hit that suggested number and if so, how? I read the old posts on potassium and the suggestions for getting more. Of course bananas, the one most people know is often recommended. I would have to eat 8 bananas to hit my recommended 3500 in potassium!

I went back through my food journals to see what I eat that is high in potassium, in order to get my recommended amount my day would have to look like this: kasha cereal (300), milk (400), banana (422), grapes (288), orange (313), honeydew (404), watermelon (340), kidney beans (180), tuna (170), potato (897). At which point I would have hit my recommended amount of potassium but would also be at 1113 calories! A lot of foods that are high in potassium are fruits, some of which are no longer in season- which also throws my sugar way over the recommended amount.

I’m trying to wrap my head around how it is possible to consume that amount of potassium every day. I did some reading online and most professionals do not recommend taking potassium supplements unless you are under the supervision of a physician. I do take a multivitamin, but the amount of potassium I am getting from that is minimal and barely makes a dent in my daily requirement.

Any suggestions for how others are getting in their potassium would be awesome! I’m really dedicated to my weight loss and eating healthy and balanced to get there.

72lori

I’ve been really doing great, eating what I think is a great balanced diet. Yesterday when I was going through my food diaries for the month, I realized I am not getting even close to the right amount of potassium. Does anybody hit that suggested number and if so, how? I read the old posts on potassium and the suggestions for getting more. Of course bananas, the one most people know is often recommended. I would have to eat 8 bananas to hit my recommended 3500 in potassium!

I went back through my food journals to see what I eat that is high in potassium, in order to get my recommended amount my day would have to look like this: kasha cereal (300), milk (400), banana (422), grapes (288), orange (313), honeydew (404), watermelon (340), kidney beans (180), tuna (170), potato (897). At which point I would have hit my recommended amount of potassium but would also be at 1113 calories! A lot of foods that are high in potassium are fruits, some of which are no longer in season- which also throws my sugar way over the recommended amount.

I’m trying to wrap my head around how it is possible to consume that amount of potassium every day. I did some reading online and most professionals do not recommend taking potassium supplements unless you are under the supervision of a physician. I do take a multivitamin, but the amount of potassium I am getting from that is minimal and barely makes a dent in my daily requirement.

Any suggestions for how others are getting in their potassium would be awesome! I’m really dedicated to my weight loss and eating healthy and balanced to get there.

72lori

I'm going to ask another question. Is potassium a required fact that has to be reported on a nutrition label? Milk has potassium, yet it's not listed on the label, I just looked when I poured milk on my cereal! That could explain why my numbers are so low if that's the case.

Most things I read online said that people eating a balanced diet should get enough potassium, yet I'm not seeing that in my numbers.

yoginimary

Yeah, it's not listed on every label, so you may be getting more than you think you are. I usually get enough but I eat lots of fruits and veggies and drink quite a bit of milk.