Are you getting enough potassium and how?

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Grumpsandwich
Grumpsandwich Posts: 368 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Im rarely even hitting 1/3 my daily potassium and been suffering low potassium for some time. Potassium supplements are a single digit % of the daily value so looking for food and recipe ideas to help. Been combing the net for recipes and food ideas but running into a problem of a majority of the foods are high carb/sugar/starch what have you and white fish is pretty much a nono for me for embarrassing reasons lol. . I am looking into making like a small 3 bean soup or chili in small portions for sides ect, adding beet greens to my salads ect. Working up a shopping list as we speak while researching!

Replies

  • YorriaRaine
    YorriaRaine Posts: 370 Member
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    Is there a medical reason you cannot have sugary foods like banana's?

    To be honest, if your tracking sodium and sugar but have no medical reason to, I would stop tracking them and track other things like fiber and potassium since you medically need to track potassium.

    Banana's may be a sugary food but unless you are diabetic there is no reason you should not be able to have them.
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
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    Most foods on MFP have 'no potassium' in them, simply because the user doesnt know how much. Typically on food labels, potassium isnt listed on the nutritional information. That is not to say there is no potassium in it. Check it with a food you KNOW contains potassium and see what it brings up.
  • Grumpsandwich
    Grumpsandwich Posts: 368 Member
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    Yorria i am pcos and on a diabetic guidelined diet :( I dont need to be as strict as a diabetic would but its good to keep a watchful eye. ( like i can enjoy half of a small banana and limited fruit in take of sugary/starchy veg) I should of mentioned that in the original post. My apologies it does make a big difference to replies ( Recovering from a concussion and im left as derpy as they can come still lol)

    ty Eldamiano I had realized that when ive put in a cpl of items but why it hadn't occurred to me when checking my nutrient reports leaves me totally facepalmed lol. I guess im gonna have to keep a separate log on my desk to find out exactly how much more i need to increase my potassium to get it with in normal ranges.
  • YorriaRaine
    YorriaRaine Posts: 370 Member
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    A really good quality apple cider vinegar has lots of potassium and I know my grandfather who is diabetic uses it to get is potassium up sometimes. However, many apple cider vinegars do not have that much.

    What eldamiano said is true though, a lot of entries on mfp are incomplete information. They put the bare min and leave out the vitamins a lot of times. So keep a watchful eye :)
  • GeeWillickers
    GeeWillickers Posts: 85 Member
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    Most foods on MFP have 'no potassium' in them, simply because the user doesnt know how much. Typically on food labels, potassium isnt listed on the nutritional information. That is not to say there is no potassium in it. Check it with a food you KNOW contains potassium and see what it brings up.

    This is so true and I was stressing over my potassium levels. You can type into google something like potassium in lean ground beef and it will bring up a calculator. Not all foods are up but, many. I've started adding potassium into foods I have based on this. Even if there is a variance from brand to brand it shouldn't be huge and it's an important micro IMO.

    Edit: FYI I have a Green Giant Medley which contains six servings of veggies. I ran it roughly last night and is around 2000mg potassium.
  • Grumpsandwich
    Grumpsandwich Posts: 368 Member
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    ty Gee! that helps ALOT I am gonna have to pick them up :D
  • 77tes
    77tes Posts: 7,807 Member
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    Low sodium V-8 juice is low calorie and high in potassium (and it is even listed). Your bean soup and chili should have a fair about because beans have lots of potassium.

    Good luck!
  • Myhaloslipped
    Myhaloslipped Posts: 4,317 Member
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    Low sodium V-8 juice is low calorie and high in potassium (and it is even listed). Your bean soup and chili should have a fair about because beans have lots of potassium.

    Good luck!

    This! 50 calories per 8 ounces and 900 units of potassium.
  • wcrechs
    wcrechs Posts: 6
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    Thank you for the great information! I also need to track potassium due to a medication I take.
  • Ang108
    Ang108 Posts: 1,711 Member
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    Is there a medical reason you cannot have sugary foods like banana's?

    To be honest, if your tracking sodium and sugar but have no medical reason to, I would stop tracking them and track other things like fiber and potassium since you medically need to track potassium.

    Banana's may be a sugary food but unless you are diabetic there is no reason you should not be able to have them.

    How about personal choice ? I don't care for bananas and that is why I don't eat them. For me that is a good enough reason......
    also, I have Lupus and because of that low potassium. I couldn't eat enough bananas to really make a difference, so I eat other things and on occasion even take potassium pills.
  • Sky_Of_Aegis
    Sky_Of_Aegis Posts: 114
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    I take a potassium supplement personally. I know it isn't the RDV, but it does help. I take it with Garcinia Cambogia capsules. Those can come with a little bit of potassium, but between them, and one supplement, that is about 1000 mg. The rest, I fill with foods, namely bananas "sorry you can't eat them." and strawberries in a shake. I usually only do this post workout though to get me going again. It seems like there are a lot of good suggestions here though! I think I will research on some of them as well.
  • themedalist
    themedalist Posts: 3,212 Member
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    Potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, beans, yogurt, coffee, salmon and tuna are good/excellent potassium sources. So are almost all fruits and veggies. Because potassium isn't required on nutrition labels you are likely getting more than you think.

    http://potassiumrichfoods.com/potassium-rich-foods-list/
  • acogg
    acogg Posts: 1,871 Member
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    Coffee, pistachios, meat of all sorts are good potassium sources, sweet potatoes are the bomb. When logging your food, you will need to search for food entries that include the potassium count. Usually the entries without the little star are the more accurate MFP entries, not user entries. Also, look for entries that have the most confirmations. Those are usually the most accurate. My diary is open, I usually log wonderful potassium numbers now that I have learned how to log it properly. When I first started on MFP I made a post just like yours, so I can sympathize. Good luck and good logging!:flowerforyou:
  • Nikiki
    Nikiki Posts: 993
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    Squash like acorn, butternut & spaghetti, pumpkins, potatoes (eat the peal most of it is in there)

    Also meat, chicken & salmon are around 70 grams per ounce, beef is up around 100
  • florentinovillaro
    florentinovillaro Posts: 342 Member
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    Google "vegetables high in Potassium". A drop down menu will appear showing all vegetables and it's values.
  • mimieon
    mimieon Posts: 182 Member
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    Coconut water has a lot of potassium and low calories. It is also tasty.

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