High Potassium foods - NOT just fruit!

Potassium is a very important mineral for the health of our muscles (esp. our heart!), our bones and our digestive system. Potassium is used in many ways all over the body... many people don't get enough, and if you eat too much sodium, especially since diets higher in sodium require more potassium due to how they relate in the body.

Several people mentioned that the only high potassium foods they knew about were fruit, but that they didn't want all the sugar that came with the fruit - well, there is actually a huge variety of foods that are high in potassium! My favorites include lima beans, spinach, winter squash and baked potatoes (I eat them without all the added junk).

Here is a list of foods with the serving size and the potassium content in mg - sorry the formatting is a little funky. I didn't feel like spending an hour making it pretty. The * next to some of the foods just mark the foods with over 500mg per serving. The list is from this site: http://www.fatfreekitchen.com/nutrition/potassium.html
But if you google "high potassium foods" you'll find lots of lists. I liked this list because it shows a lot of non-fruit foods.

Almond 2 oz (57 g) 412
Apricots, dried 10 halves 407
Artichoke 1 cup 595 *
Avocados, raw 1 ounce 180
Bananas, raw 1 cup 594 *
Beans, baked 1 cup 752 *
Beans, Kidney 1 cup 713 *
Beans, Lima 1 cup 955 *
Beans, Pinto 1 cup 800 *
Beets, cooked 1 cup 519 *
Black-eyed peas(lobia) 1 cup 690 *
Brazil nuts 2 oz (57 g) 340
Brussel sprouts, cooked 1 cup 504 *
Cantaloupe 1 cup 494
Carrot Juice 1 cup 689 *
Chickpeas 1 cup 477
Dates, dry 5 dates 271
Figs, dry 2 figs 271
Kiwi fruit, raw 1 medium 252
Lentils 1 cup 731 *
Melons, honeydew 1 cup 461
Milk, fat free or skim 1 cup 407
Nectarine 1 nectarine 288
Orange juice 1 cup 496
Orange 1 orange 237
Pears(fresh) 1 pear 208
Peanuts dry roasted, unsalted 2 oz (57 g) 374
Potato, baked, 1 potato 1081 *
Prune juice 1 cup 707
Prune, dried 1 cup 828 *
Raisin 1 cup 1089 *
Spinach, cooked 1 cup 839 *
Tomato canned sauce 1 cup 909 *
Tomato Juice 1 cup 535 *
Winter squash 1 cup 896 *
Yogurt plain, skim milk 8 ounces 579 *


Edited to add: Here is a list of some of the functions of potassium (why it's important):

* Regulation of pressure between the inside and outside of cells. With inadequate potassium, cellular wastes are not efficiently transported into the extracellular spaces and carried away. Toxic material is left to accumulate in the cell can cause premature cell death.
* Conversion of blood sugar into glycogen for storage in the liver and muscles. Inadequate glycogen storage leads to physical and mental fatigue.
* Maintaining proper pH balance of blood.
* Maintaining proper body water balance
* Stimulating insulin production
* Maintaining digestive enzyme function and efficiency
* Maintaining optimal nerve and muscle function
* Relaxing muscle contraction in balance to calcium, which induces contraction.

(From this article: http://www.diagnose-me.com/cond/C424831.html ) - check it out for more good info!