potassium in your diet

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theladyxena
theladyxena Posts: 23 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I feel like I'm missing something. How do you get enough potassium in your diet? Since I've started this plan, my potassium never meets min daily requirements. I do take a prescribed potassium supplement, however according to my food intake, I never get the minimum amounts. I've tried bananas, but I can't eat enough of them during the 24 hour period. What other foods do YOU eat to get your potassium?

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  • drmerc
    drmerc Posts: 2,603 Member
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    Is the potassium supplement not enough to meet your daily needs?
  • Alex_is_Hawks
    Alex_is_Hawks Posts: 3,499 Member
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    Is the potassium supplement not enough to meet your daily needs?

    are you logging the potassium supplement?
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    The biggest sources of potassium in my diet are V8, tomatoes and tomato sauces, squash, almonds, spinach and beans.
  • theladyxena
    theladyxena Posts: 23 Member
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    No, I've not logged the supplement. I'd like to be able to get the right amount and maybe come off of the prescribed supplement. The doctor put me on it because of an electrolyte imbalance. i was noticeably exhausted and tired, and mentioned it to the doctor during a check up and I was under 3+ months of lab studies and other tests because of a slightly decreased potassium level). I had recently been diagnosed with diabetes and it was thought the diabetic medication might be the problem. I have since controlled the diabetes and was taken off the medication and I'm now diet controlled. Now, I'd like to straighten out the potassium deficiency and control that with my diet.
  • theladyxena
    theladyxena Posts: 23 Member
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    thanks! This is what I was looking for!
  • theladyxena
    theladyxena Posts: 23 Member
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    I'd like to be able to get the right amount and maybe come off of the prescribed supplement. The doctor put me on it because of an electrolyte imbalance. i was noticeably exhausted and tired, and mentioned it to the doctor during a check up and I was under 3+ months of lab studies and other tests because of a slightly decreased potassium level). I had recently been diagnosed with diabetes and it was thought the diabetic medication might be the problem. I have since controlled the diabetes and was taken off the medication and I'm now diet controlled. Now, I'd like to straighten out the potassium deficiency and control that with my diet.
  • FredDoyle
    FredDoyle Posts: 2,273 Member
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    I wouldn't go off of it without talking to your doctor.

    That said, here is a start:
    http://potassiumrichfoods.com/potassium-rich-foods-list/

    http://www.healthaliciousness.com/articles/food-sources-of-potassium.php

    Also note that many of the food entries on myfitnesspal do not have the K entries entered correctly, or they are completely omitted.
  • Calantorntain
    Calantorntain Posts: 172 Member
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    Broccoli has a bunch of potassium.

    But you are right, it's difficult!
  • theladyxena
    theladyxena Posts: 23 Member
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    No, I would never stop a prescribed medication without the doctor's orders! I certainly don't need cardiac issues from low K+ (that's what I was trying to avoid in the first place). I'm 54 and my dad died at 50 from an MI. I'm trying to improve my health and not go down the same path.

    In doing research in the past, that site you mentioned said few people needed K+ because most foods contain it.
  • Ge0rgiana
    Ge0rgiana Posts: 1,649 Member
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    You get a lot more potassium than you think you do. It's not required on food labels like sodium, calories, fat, etc. A lot of times, it's not in the database.
  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
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    Try replacing your salt with a low-sodium version that replaces some of the sodium chloride with potassium chloride. Also try sugar-free electrolyte drinks when you're exercising - I use High5 Zero.
  • dianaw819
    dianaw819 Posts: 20
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    Bananas, potatotes, spinach, apricots, almonds, salmon, tuna, tomatoes. I wish they had to put potassium levels on labels like everything else. I track it also to combat elevated blood pressure. Another great source is coconut water. It's not pleasant to get down, but it has a huge amount of potassium in it :)
  • FredDoyle
    FredDoyle Posts: 2,273 Member
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    No, I would never stop a prescribed medication without the doctor's orders! I certainly don't need cardiac issues from low K+ (that's what I was trying to avoid in the first place). I'm 54 and my dad died at 50 from an MI. I'm trying to improve my health and not go down the same path.

    In doing research in the past, that site you mentioned said few people needed K+ because most foods contain it.
    I don't know. Most research I've read say the majority of people on a western don't get enough.
    For myself, I update the entries on MFP and try to get twice as much K as Na as I had hypertension. The most recent research I've read says to get at least twice the K to Na so I try to get at least 3000mg K as compared to 1500mg of Na.
  • AlabasterVerve
    AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
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    Meat and vegetables? I don't actually track my potassium but beef and broccoli seems like it has a lot. 8oz of beef has 647mg and 2 cups of broccoli has 576mg.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
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    Powerade zero
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
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    Lots of whole foods are potassium rich.

    It's important to note that *most* entries in the database don't include potassium information. That doesn't mean they don't have potassium. Switch to using the MFP official whole food entries- the ones with no asterisk next to them- for a more accurate picture of your potassium intake. I try to get a pretty high potassium diet, most of the time. Feel free to check out my diary for ideas. Yesterday is a good example- 4,200 mg sodium all from natural foods.
  • PibblesRun
    PibblesRun Posts: 236 Member
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    As one previous poster said, potassium isnt always a labled nutrient in products even though it does contain potassium. I had this same concern a few months back, So went to my dr to check my vitamin and potassium levels. She said she has hardly ever seen anyone with a potassium deficiency. Sure enough, even though MFP was telling me I only got 1000 mg of potassium...I didnt have any deficiency. And potassium supplements only give you a tiny tiny fraction of what your suppose to have per day. I looked into them as well and asked the dr...it only provides some 19 mg or so of potassium for one pill.

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