anyone lacking in potasium?

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mikegerber1
mikegerber1 Posts: 38 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I've been checking my nutrition charts lately and notice that I hardly ever get close to recommended potassium intake. How does this effect my weight loss? Do I really need that much potassium? Should I worry that I never get close to a "goal?
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Replies

  • Juggernaut_D
    Juggernaut_D Posts: 149 Member
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    Here's an article that might help answer your question:
    http://voices.yahoo.com/on-weight-loss-plan-learn-potassium-potassium-5287503.html?cat=51
  • WLG1974
    WLG1974 Posts: 90
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    Potassium helps the heart pump. I learned this from my Doctor who told me this when I was lacking it.

    Potatoes and Navy beans are very high in potassium.
  • NaomiJFoster
    NaomiJFoster Posts: 1,450 Member
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    I've been told that many entries on this site do not include potassium counts. So you are likely getting more than you think, based on your food log. It's there, just not being recorded.
  • AdventureFreak
    AdventureFreak Posts: 236 Member
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    Get you some leafy green vegetables! Fruits too.
  • MirandaDeCrane
    MirandaDeCrane Posts: 78 Member
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    I take a supplement, but also eat a lot of bananas/potatoes/orange juice. My mom went into congestive heart failure last year because her high blood pressure meds flushed out her system and made her potassium levels severely low. It's something I never really thought about before!
  • hozik
    hozik Posts: 369 Member
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    If you want to bump up your potassium, eat more greens. All leafy greens are high in potassium. Veggies, fruit and beans also have a lot of it. Many listings in mfp don't include it, so you may be eating more potassium than you think. I use the listings without the asterisk in front because they show potassium and my doctor has me track it for my heart condition. Good luck!
  • natstar26
    natstar26 Posts: 130 Member
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    Spinach or dark leafy greens, white/navy/lima/soy beans, potatoes(with skin on)/sweet potatoes, salmon, bananas, acorn squash, dried apricots, plain/skim yogurt, avocados and mushrooms to name a few lol I am to so I have been trying to eat more of these things. At end of the day it does tell you how much you have had in all your minerals ect at least on my cell app
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    I've been told that many entries on this site do not include potassium counts. So you are likely getting more than you think, based on your food log. It's there, just not being recorded.

    this.

    and potassium supplements are fairly worthless as the legal limit of potassium they can contain is extremely low
  • CA_Underdog
    CA_Underdog Posts: 733 Member
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    The fundamental problem is foods labels are not required to list potassium and many choose not to. As a result, many food entries do not list potassium. Your being "under" could be real or just a silly artifact.
  • AMOMONAJOURNEYTOCHANGEHERLIFE
    AMOMONAJOURNEYTOCHANGEHERLIFE Posts: 170 Member
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    I know I was low because of blood work. I just found out that coffee has it.Not a huge amount but still... I've always heard bananas were the go to food for potassium but really there a ton of other food much higher and lower cal count.... I get a lot of muscle cramps from low potassium. A few things that help me maintain my levels are;
    Coconut water
    Baked Potatoes
    Spinach
    Broccoli
  • Shovelita
    Shovelita Posts: 21 Member
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    Not me, because I can't stay away from potatoes. They are my biggest weakness.
  • Shelle58704
    Shelle58704 Posts: 25 Member
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    I've been told that many entries on this site do not include potassium counts. So you are likely getting more than you think, based on your food log. It's there, just not being recorded.

    this.

    and potassium supplements are fairly worthless as the legal limit of potassium they can contain is extremely low

    agreed

    It's not required to label potassium on food labels. If it's not included on the label, it's not generally on MFP. I search around and find a food that is similar that has the potassium listed. Like I'll log fresh blueberries, because the frozen ones I buy don't have it on the label. (yes, fresh is best, but they don't keep as long)

    Low potassium is general aches and feeling tired. Can be confused easily with over training, or starting a new work out routine.
  • mikegerber1
    mikegerber1 Posts: 38 Member
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    I do have some achiness in my knees a little and I'm but I think it's still because I'm carrying too much weight. so if I'm reading these right, as long as I'm feeling fine, I shouldn't worry too much about it?
  • CA_Underdog
    CA_Underdog Posts: 733 Member
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    I wouldn't go that far. I'd estimate for the last few days how much potassium is in your food. I.e., if you ate a baked potato, look how much potassium is in a typical potato. See if you're high or low, go from there. :)
  • mistermama
    mistermama Posts: 4
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    Anyone on a Keto diet will tell you to use NuSalt. Its a table salt substitute that uses two kinds of potassium in place of sodium. It has 560 mg per 1/6 tsp (about the same as a banana), a couple shakes on your dinner and you'll get a big portion of potassium. You can't always find it in stores so check online.
  • AMOMONAJOURNEYTOCHANGEHERLIFE
    AMOMONAJOURNEYTOCHANGEHERLIFE Posts: 170 Member
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    Go to the doctors and have a check up have them check your blood to see if you are deficient in anything. If you're not having muscle cramps all the time you are probably ok. I would wake up in the middle of the night with my arches cramped or my calves cramped. It would happen when I was driving, stretching really all the time sometime they would take an hour to go away. I didn't need anything special I just needed to make sure to be intentional on getting food with a good source of potassium regularly and to keep my sodium under control.
  • cwoyto123
    cwoyto123 Posts: 308
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    POTATOEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZ
  • mikegerber1
    mikegerber1 Posts: 38 Member
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    going over my diary, I think I'm getting a lot more potassium than is showing up on my chart. Asparagus, Brussels spouts, squash, I love all that stuff, bananas, apples, oranges etc, I eat a lot of the stuff on the list, and I haven't had any cramps at all lately, that might be due to all the water I drink. I've virtually cut out all drinks except water. An occasional coffee, or a diet soda at the movies is all.
  • kennie2
    kennie2 Posts: 1,171 Member
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    bananas + coconut water
  • whitebalance
    whitebalance Posts: 1,655 Member
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    going over my diary, I think I'm getting a lot more potassium than is showing up on my chart. Asparagus, Brussels spouts, squash, I love all that stuff, bananas, apples, oranges etc, I eat a lot of the stuff on the list, and I haven't had any cramps at all lately, that might be due to all the water I drink. I've virtually cut out all drinks except water. An occasional coffee, or a diet soda at the movies is all.
    Your potassium intake is probably fine, then. I worried about this for a while too, until I searched for "potassium-rich foods" and found a lot of my favorites on the lists. So I looked up potassium content for some of the foods I eat regularly and realized I was getting a lot more than my diary showed.

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