Potassium intake

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raeokay
raeokay Posts: 17 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I've been keeping track of my potassium intake and trying to squeeze in more potassium-rich foods. I've started taking a small supplement and I still can't get anywhere near my RDA. Does anyone have any suggestions or advice on how to get closer? Even on a good day I'm only around 900 out of 3,500. :(

Replies

  • raeokay
    raeokay Posts: 17 Member
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    I've been keeping track of my potassium intake and trying to squeeze in more potassium-rich foods. I've started taking a small supplement and I still can't get anywhere near my RDA. Does anyone have any suggestions or advice on how to get closer? Even on a good day I'm only around 900 out of 3,500. :(
  • mkaguiar
    mkaguiar Posts: 5
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    If you use regular salt, you can replace it with Morton's Lite Salt which has less sodium and more potassium and it tastes the same. Also, bananas :)
  • hollyhinshaw
    hollyhinshaw Posts: 5
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    Eat as little packaged/processed foods that you can... they add sooooo much salt to your diet which destroys things like potassium. Not to mention whole foods also provide you with potassium and other essential nutrients your body needs. Try pre-cutting and washing vegetables for quick use.
  • raeokay
    raeokay Posts: 17 Member
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    I don't eat processed foods as a rule anyway. My biggest issue is that a lot of the best potassium sources are good for a snack, like a banana, but they have so many calories that if I eat them as a snack and can't include them in my meal, I go over my calorie limit for the day! I'm a pretty healthy person (I think), I eat fresh foods and don't eat much meat. It's a quandary. :I Thanks for your responses, though!
  • mdup777
    mdup777 Posts: 33 Member
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    Yea, bananas are a great source of potassium. I eat one just about every morning before I take my walk or I put them in my slimfast shakes. I hope that helps.


    Maureen
  • mdup777
    mdup777 Posts: 33 Member
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    Fixable,

    Do you have any protein ideas if you don't eat a lot of meat? I get tired of meat myself. I would love to go back to being a vegetarian, but I lacked protein.

    maureen
  • raeokay
    raeokay Posts: 17 Member
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    I eat a lot of beans and whatnot. I also love Greek yogurt; Fage brand has 14g of protein in a small cup (but a lot of calories). I sometimes eat "energy" bars, they also can have a lot of the stuff. You just have to watch the sugar and calorie levels on those, as they'll often be ridiculously high for such a small snack.
  • kesl57
    kesl57 Posts: 7
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    The magic bullet for potassium seems to be . . . zucchini! (Bet you didn't see that one coming). Hardly any calories (less than 50) yet way more potassium than bananas (over 500 mg).
    Also, check out the other fruits - strawberries and peaches are in season, have few calories (so you can eat more) and are also good sources. I just eat a lot of fruits and veggies and always seem to do fine for potassium (3500 mg daily is my goal).
    See if that helps.
  • sugarfreeme2010
    sugarfreeme2010 Posts: 9
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    While bananas are widely known as "the potassium rich food" there are many other foods with much more potassium than bananas. For example, cantaloupe has almost twice the potassium as bananas.

    This is a great list to compare foods - its also nice that you can break them up by food category.
    http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-000122000000000000000.html

    Hope this helps! :flowerforyou:
  • sugarfreeme2010
    sugarfreeme2010 Posts: 9
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    While bananas are widely known as "the potassium rich food" there are many other foods with much more potassium than bananas. For example, cantaloupe has almost twice the potassium as bananas.

    This is a great list to compare foods - its also nice that you can break them up by food category.
    http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-000122000000000000000.html

    Hope this helps! :flowerforyou:
  • mommared53
    mommared53 Posts: 9,543 Member
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    While bananas are widely known as "the potassium rich food" there are many other foods with much more potassium than bananas. For example, cantaloupe has almost twice the potassium as bananas.

    This is a great list to compare foods - its also nice that you can break them up by food category.
    http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-000122000000000000000.html

    Hope this helps! :flowerforyou:

    Wow, great website! I realized recently that i don't get nearly enough potassium either. I try to keep bananas on hand constantly but this site gives a lot of other options for getting potassium. Thanks! :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:
  • Bulletproof_Helen
    Bulletproof_Helen Posts: 209 Member
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    Lima beans are a great source of potassium :smile:
  • gemiwing
    gemiwing Posts: 1,525 Member
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    Eat a teaspoon or two of molasses. Tons of nutrients.
  • ivykivy
    ivykivy Posts: 2,970 Member
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    I just put some lima beans on before I read it. They are also good on fiber to. Kill two birds with one stone:laugh:
    Lima beans are a great source of potassium :smile:

    I also couldn't believe coffee was rich in potassium but low and behold it is. I guess that's why the recommended it post exercise.
  • XFitMojoMom
    XFitMojoMom Posts: 3,255 Member
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    coconut water is the highest - with 294 mg/per 100 ml!
    cantaloupe
    banana's
    lima beans...

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