Coffee + Potassium

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pinkiemarie252
pinkiemarie252 Posts: 222 Member
in Food and Nutrition
What? What? I've been trying to figure out how to get enough potassium shoved into my diet and I just couldn't seem to do it. Today I randomly got the urge to log my morning coffee and what? It's high in potassium!

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  • Carnivor0us
    Carnivor0us Posts: 1,752 Member
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    I use a lot of salt substitute to get my potassium in.
  • pinkiemarie252
    pinkiemarie252 Posts: 222 Member
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    I take electrolyte tabs when I exercise and that helps too.
  • skindigo
    skindigo Posts: 14 Member
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    uhhhm yeah. I probably could reach my potassium RDA by drinking coffee alone.
  • Healthydiner65
    Healthydiner65 Posts: 1,579 Member
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    Coffee works as a diuretic and can actually cause loss of potassium depending on amount consumed.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    Keep in mind that potassium isn't required to be listed on nutrition labels and many entries on MFP do not have the potassium entered, even if it does contain potassium. So just because your diary shows you are low, it doesn't necessarily mean you are.
  • jaysonhijinx
    jaysonhijinx Posts: 663 Member
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    Sweet potato and spinach help me hit my targets, but yeah - noticed when logging some instant coffee one day that it was quite high in potassium xD
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,209 Member
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    Potassium deficiency is rare. I wouldn't worry about it, unless your doctor recommends monitoring it.
  • SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish
    SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish Posts: 831 Member
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    New research shows coffee is not a strong diuretic, but very weak, so dont worry about that from coffee. Also, several new studies show coffee having general health benefits vs cancer, parkinson's and type 2 diabetes, and 3-4cups/day is the seeming good range. Nice extra excuses for my coffee thats for sure! :) Potassium isnt really a big worry and you will never get accurate readings on it since it is not required to list in foods, and many foods that say zero actually have some.

    And before people bring up earlier studies of coffee health "risks" in cv disease and cancer, earlier studies didn't always take into account that known high-risk behaviors, such as smoking and physical inactivity, tended to be more common among heavy coffee drinkers at that time. Think back of the old pattern which is now a stereotype: cigarette with coffee. Smokers and people less careful with their cholesterol intake in diets were more likely to drink coffee too (and probably still are). The same type of error appears to have happened in studies linking meat with cancer and with saturated fats. Interesting stuff you can google up if you doubt.

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