Daily Potassium Intake

ashleycde
ashleycde Posts: 622 Member
I just started tracking my potassium today and I am so surprised that I haven't even reached half the daily recommended intake despite eating potassium dense foods such as avocado, kiwi, banana, and dates. I just assumed I was getting enough most days, but it's clear now that I am not.

Has anyone tried No Salt or a similar chloride salt that substitutes sodium for potassium? How is the taste? I've looked online and found mixed reviews.

I don't use much salt while cooking to begin with, but I'd like to have more potassium in my diet and a salt substitute is much less expensive than buying potassium supplements. Thoughts?

Replies

  • SunofaBeach14
    SunofaBeach14 Posts: 4,899 Member
    Did you check your entries to make sure that they are accurate? Many labels do not list potassium.
  • ashleycde
    ashleycde Posts: 622 Member
    The only things I ate today that came with a label were mayo (potassium not listed), linguine (potassium was listed), whole grain bread (potassium not listed) and organic peanut butter (potassium not listed). I don't really buy packaged foods so everything I ate today was homemade, and I weigh then look up the nutritional content for every single ingredient I use online. I then combine it as one meal which I add to My Foods. It's a bit of a pain, but I like to be accurate. As such, I do not think I largely underestimated my potassium intake. I'm at 1937/4700, for reference. My food diary is also open if you'd like to take a look.
  • SunofaBeach14
    SunofaBeach14 Posts: 4,899 Member
    You appear to be getting enough. From what I've read, 1600- 2000 mg per day is enough. If you're concerned though, add potatoes, spinach, lentils, navy beans, and the like to your diet.
  • I also noticed I was way off on potassium. Chicken seemed to be high in potassium, but it hard to meet the goal without the calories. I decided to get a supplement. 500mg - I take 4 of them a day and have been meeting my goal since. Hasn't been long enough to know if it is helping or if I feel any different but MFP set a goal so I am trying to meet it.
  • SunofaBeach14
    SunofaBeach14 Posts: 4,899 Member
    I also noticed I was way off on potassium. Chicken seemed to be high in potassium, but it hard to meet the goal without the calories. I decided to get a supplement. 500mg - I take 4 of them a day and have been meeting my goal since. Hasn't been long enough to know if it is helping or if I feel any different but MFP set a goal so I am trying to meet it.

    Did you talk to a doctor and get tested for low potassium first? You really shouldn't be supplementing unless it's truly necessary.
  • elyelyse
    elyelyse Posts: 1,454 Member
    Current nutritional labeling guidelines do not require potassium to be listed on the label...bc of that, most entires in the MFP database say "0" for potassium, when in reality, they do have a contain it. I also thought I was lacking, but once I went outside of MFP to check potassium in certain foods, I realized I was getting more than enough.
  • krystina_letitia9
    krystina_letitia9 Posts: 697 Member
    I also noticed I was way off on potassium. Chicken seemed to be high in potassium, but it hard to meet the goal without the calories. I decided to get a supplement. 500mg - I take 4 of them a day and have been meeting my goal since. Hasn't been long enough to know if it is helping or if I feel any different but MFP set a goal so I am trying to meet it.

    Did you talk to a doctor and get tested for low potassium first? You really shouldn't be supplementing unless it's truly necessary.

    This! Having high potassium can cause heart arrhythmias. It's one nutrient you don't want to supplement on your own.
  • HealthyishWithMaggieG
    HealthyishWithMaggieG Posts: 397 Member
    Definitely be careful to not get too much potassium. I don't know how much is too much, but I can tell you this... My grandmother had a (stroke? heart attack? I don't remember which because it happened several years ago) and it was attributed to too much potassium. She was taking a supplement, at her doctor's recommendation, but didn't think to tell him about her water softener that used a potassium-based softener, instead of a sodium-based softener. She would drink a lot of water, so she was getting the potassium from her supplement and from her water. Eventually, her body just had more than enough. She survived this incident, but it took a while to figure things out and get her back to healthy.
  • ugottafriend
    ugottafriend Posts: 97 Member
    Your kidneys metabolize potassium, so unless something is wrong with your kidneys, it is very difficult to become Hyperkalemic by eating potassium-rich foods. Potassium is a vital mineral, so it is important that you keep it balanced (preferably in the 4.0-5.0 range on bloodwork). Low potassium is just as risky as high potassium and can result in life-threatening heart problems, muscle weakness and paralysis. If you have bloodwork and find that you are low-normal or low, supplementing is recommended. If high-normal or high, definitely lay off. Mid-range is ideal, and if you take potassium supplements, you need to make sure your magnesium level is balanced as well, otherwise you could experience spasms and other unpleasantness. Just remember that potassium is the muscle contractor, magnesium is the muscle relaxer. I have CKD and Hypokalemic Periodic Paralysis, so this is a subject I live with on a daily basis.

    That said, I don't trust MFP's food calculations in the least. You probably want to do some heavy duty research (label reading, looking stuff up) on what you're eating and drinking to determine how much you're really getting. I do find it encouraging that someone is actually paying attention to their intake and wanting to get it right, as opposed to not caring or being afraid of it. So kudos for that. Best of luck!
  • ashleycde
    ashleycde Posts: 622 Member
    Current nutritional labeling guidelines do not require potassium to be listed on the label...bc of that, most entires in the MFP database say "0" for potassium, when in reality, they do have a contain it. I also thought I was lacking, but once I went outside of MFP to check potassium in certain foods, I realized I was getting more than enough.

    As I already mentioned to SunofaBeach14, I do not use many packaged foods or the MFP database, and I manually input my meals under My Foods, after weighing every ingredient and looking up its nutritional information online, so I am not overly concerned about having inaccurately measured my potassium intake.

    "The only things I ate today that came with a label were mayo (potassium not listed), linguine (potassium was listed), whole grain bread (potassium not listed) and organic peanut butter (potassium not listed). I don't really buy packaged foods so everything I ate today was homemade, and I weigh then look up the nutritional content for every single ingredient I use online. I then combine it as one meal which I add to My Foods. It's a bit of a pain, but I like to be accurate. As such, I do not think I largely underestimated my potassium intake. I'm at 1937/4700, for reference. My food diary is also open if you'd like to take a look."

    Additionally, thank you for the concern from others but I have done my research into the effects of potassium and am aware of the amount I should not go over (6500 mg), which, as a young person with healthy kidneys, does not concern me as I measure everything carefully and am only seeking to reach a total of 4700 mg of potassium daily.

    I have a good relationship with my doctor and plan on discussing things further with her, but my questions are not about the health risks or what other foods I can eat that are high in potassium. My questions are directed to those who do actually use potassium chloride salt substitutes so that they may share their thoughts on it. How does it taste? Can I really cook/season with it? If the taste is awful, do you take it with water? Value over supplements? Etc.

    ugottafriend, thanks for the info regarding balancing magnesium levels as well, that is helpful information to be aware of. I do agree with you on not trusting the MFP database, and, as such, I do weigh and research the nutritional information of every ingredient I use, especially because I use very few packaged ingredients (mainly only breads, some condiments, pasta, and rice) that come with nutritional info as I do a lot of cooking and food prep at home. I am naturally a very detail oriented person, so I do pay close attention to the foods I intake. Thanks.
  • Rhumax67
    Rhumax67 Posts: 162 Member
    Just an fyi, I have frequent blood tests, at least every 2 months, & I never have a potassium problem but I am always low on intake according to MFP.
  • ashleycde
    ashleycde Posts: 622 Member
    OK, that's good to know. So 4700 mg is a suggested intake, but I could be getting enough intaking less. Thanks for the input. Perhaps I will ask for a blood test just to see where I am at.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    Did a search for you. This was one of the more relevant threads I found.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1139346-salt-substitute-is-it-worth-it
  • acogg
    acogg Posts: 1,870 Member
    No Salt is fine to sprinkle on eggs and such. I like it, but no longer use it. Please don't do what I did last year when I went on low salt, high potassium diet. After months of trying to get in as much potassium as possible and trying to stay as low on sodium as possible, when I had my blood work done, my sodium came back as slightly too low. That is not healthy either.
  • OverDoIt
    OverDoIt Posts: 332 Member
    Eat many banannas and walk on the hollowed skulls of your enemies.
  • MinimalistShoeAddict
    MinimalistShoeAddict Posts: 1,946 Member
    Did you check your entries to make sure that they are accurate? Many labels do not list potassium.

    This is the only issue for most people. The MFP database is frequently missing potassium because it is not listed in the source label from which the entry was copied.

    Feel free to correct entries where possible.