Potassium

ctyre
ctyre Posts: 11 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I can't seem to even come close to getting my daily amount of potassium. I am trying to eat low carb until I get my weight loss started so an alternative to banana would be great. I eat lots of spinach. Any suggestions would be awesome!

Replies

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    coconut water

    V8 Juice (do low sodium though)

    sweet potatoes

    potatoes

    squash

    Leafy Greens

    Broccoli

    cabbage

    brussels sprouts

    Greek Yogurt

    Milk

    Just to name a few. Also, you're probably getting more than you think you're getting because it's not required to be labeled, so a lot of foods just don't put it on their nutritional info
  • ctyre
    ctyre Posts: 11 Member
    Thank you!
  • SRHelicity
    SRHelicity Posts: 36
    If I recall correctly, the "recommended" amount (there is no official RDA for potassium) is 3500 mg / day, and the NIH recommends 4200 mg / day (err, 4.2 g/day). On average, I get ~2000-2200 mg / day, and that's after I started to make a concerted effort to eat 8-10 dried apricots daily (which are packed with potassium). I have no idea how anyone doing a sub-2000 calorie diet would consistently get their 3500 mg each day. Sure, some foods are good sources of potassium, but I'd have to eat so much of them that I'd be likely to mess up my macros or go over my calorie goal. Seriously -- go to Reports > Potassium and check out whether you're getting 3500 mg a day. For example, a medium banana has "only" 400-450 mg of potassium, and many think of the banana as one of the best sources of potassium (which isn't necessarily true).

    I looked into supplements, but the actual amount of potassium in all of the ones I saw was trivial compared to the amount recommended. So, I'll keep snacking on dried apricots!
  • ctyre
    ctyre Posts: 11 Member
    Thank you for the info. I am not getting even close to the 3500 per day, but as in the previous post all the potassium is probably not being recorded. I will add in some apricots and coconut water. That should up my daily intake sufficiently.
  • CoachReddy
    CoachReddy Posts: 3,949 Member
    there IS an RDA and it's actually 4,700mg - MFP sets it too low

    and eat the damn banana. :P

    the point of low carb isn't so you avoid fruits and vegetables, it's so you avoid refined, processed grains. there's nothing about a banana that will do you ANY harm unless you're allergic.
  • CoachReddy
    CoachReddy Posts: 3,949 Member
    even not counting fruit, I hit 2,800 mg yesterday. add in the fruit and I was at 4,000mg

    feel free to look at my diary to find good potassium options
  • arainaken
    arainaken Posts: 12 Member
    I finally hit 3000 yesterday, but I read that you should be @ 4500? Sweet Potatoes helped jump higher. Will try the other suggestions also. Don't want to take pills. Thinking that must be why I had kidney stones last year?
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,455 Member
    Find a good website that lists the potassium in food.

    Potassium deficiency is very rare in the developed world - well, probably anywhere - there is a lot of potassium in most fruits and vegetables and dairy.

    I'm sure you are getting alot more than you think. Eat your veggies and fruit, and you'll be fine.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,455 Member
    Most of the user enetered food in the MFP food database doesn't even list Potassium - so you won't see it in your food here unless you specifically search for foods with the Potassium values included.
  • ApexLeader
    ApexLeader Posts: 580 Member
    bananas
  • marvybells
    marvybells Posts: 1,984 Member
    mangos. yum!

    oh and plantains yum-yum!
  • andeey
    andeey Posts: 709 Member
    Avocados have over 20% of your RDV, are a good fat, no super low carb, but not too bad either. Mix it in a smoothie ... delicious!
  • kitigonkukoo
    kitigonkukoo Posts: 218 Member
    A couple years ago I thought I was getting sick. I ignored the tired feelings and occasional pain here and there (who doesn't, right???), and then by the time i landed in the hospital (2 months or so in total with symptoms- plus a vacation in the middle, and holidays, I was admitted Christmas day), my joints were stiff, severe neck pain, high temp, and EVERYTHING HURT. like, a tap on the shoulder was unbearable, made me want to scream, but that hurt too. Based on my symptoms, they thought I had Meningitis... 1 CT scan, a lot of blood work and two spinal taps later, it was decided it was just low potassium.

    So, I was hospitalized for low potassium.... basically, low potassium levels also means low electrolyte levels, which means your body isn't absorbing many of the nutrients it needs- can't retain water, etc... hence all of my pain.

    The Dr. said I'd have to eat over 200 bananas a day to get even enough potassium that my body will absorb from them alone... so booooo bananas! They gave me an I.V drip at first, and then I had to drink an awful potassium/ginger ale mixture that was hard to keep down.. and blood work over the following years show that I have difficulty maintaining decent potassium levels.

    BUT! I found the best "filler" when I'm missing potassium is to get an Ensure drink. Yep, it's just that easy. I know it's not "raw", but it's kept me out of the hospital since!
  • CoachReddy
    CoachReddy Posts: 3,949 Member
    A couple years ago I thought I was getting sick. I ignored the tired feelings and occasional pain here and there (who doesn't, right???), and then by the time i landed in the hospital (2 months or so in total with symptoms- plus a vacation in the middle, and holidays, I was admitted Christmas day), my joints were stiff, severe neck pain, high temp, and EVERYTHING HURT. like, a tap on the shoulder was unbearable, made me want to scream, but that hurt too. Based on my symptoms, they thought I had Meningitis... 1 CT scan, a lot of blood work and two spinal taps later, it was decided it was just low potassium.

    So, I was hospitalized for low potassium.... basically, low potassium levels also means low electrolyte levels, which means your body isn't absorbing many of the nutrients it needs- can't retain water, etc... hence all of my pain.

    The Dr. said I'd have to eat over 200 bananas a day to get even enough potassium that my body will absorb from them alone... so booooo bananas! They gave me an I.V drip at first, and then I had to drink an awful potassium/ginger ale mixture that was hard to keep down.. and blood work over the following years show that I have difficulty maintaining decent potassium levels.

    BUT! I found the best "filler" when I'm missing potassium is to get an Ensure drink. Yep, it's just that easy. I know it's not "raw", but it's kept me out of the hospital since!

    have you ever figured out WHY you aren't absorbing potassium properly? do you have issues with other deficiencies as well?
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,455 Member
    Based on my symptoms, they thought I had Meningitis... 1 CT scan, a lot of blood work and two spinal taps later, it was decided it was just low potassium.

    kitigonkukoo,

    What did they say the reason was for your deficiency? Was it preventable? Was it from some nutrtional deficiency, or do you have some other metabolic issue?
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,455 Member
    uh oh. Coach and I are thinking alike :laugh:
  • rosah2
    rosah2 Posts: 40 Member
    I would like to know too. I have had the same symptoms and blamed it on fibromyalgia. But when I was in the hospital in December for bronchitis with low blood oxygen levels, they did a full workup and found my potassium levels were low. I was on a potassium/sodium IV for three days. My doctor chalked it up to one of my blood pressure meds that was a diuretic and took me off of that. This makes me wonder if I should maybe get it checked again.
  • CoachReddy
    CoachReddy Posts: 3,949 Member
    generally speaking, if you're deficient in any vitamins/nutrients/etc, it can all be traced back to your gut and your digestive function. It means you aren't absorbing the nutrients you're putting into your body. Often times this occurs when people have low stomach acid - either because of getting older or because they took acid blockers at one point, or continue to take them. When you don't have enough stomach acid, your food can't be broken down properly and thus it can't get assimilated correctly by the digestive tract. Digestive enzymes and probiotics are really incredibly important to help restore gut function and help with nutrient uptake.

    I'm not saying you fall under this category, but it's the reason I asked.
  • Hawaiian_Shirt_Day
    Hawaiian_Shirt_Day Posts: 22
    Consider adding in something like Morton's Lite Salt?
  • SRHelicity
    SRHelicity Posts: 36
    there IS an RDA and it's actually 4,700mg - MFP sets it too low

    and eat the damn banana. :P

    the point of low carb isn't so you avoid fruits and vegetables, it's so you avoid refined, processed grains. there's nothing about a banana that will do you ANY harm unless you're allergic.

    This isn't negative your point, but, from what I've read, there *isn't* an RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) for potassium. There *is* an AI (Adequate Intake) value, however. The AI is 4700 mg /day for adults (and 5100 mg/day for lactating women). From the IOM:

    "An RDA is the average daily dietary intake level; sufficient to meet the nutrient requirements of nearly all (97-98 percent) healthy individuals in a group. It is calculated from an Estimated Average Requirement (EAR). If sufficient scientific evidence is not available to establish an EAR, and thus calculate anRDA, an AIis usually developed. For healthy breastfed infants, an AI is the mean intake. The AI for other life stage and gender groups is believed to cover the needs of all healthy individuals in the groups, but lack of data or uncertainty in the data prevent being able to specify with confidence the percentage of individuals covered by this intake."

    IOM RDA and AI Table -> http://tinyurl.com/3gg6quy

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