How to get enough potassium

dwiebe85
dwiebe85 Posts: 123
edited October 17 in Food and Nutrition
I am always so low on potassium, how can I get some more?? I eat skim milk, potatoes, and bananas, but not all necessarily on the same day.

Replies

  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
    Morton makes a salt substitute that is potassium.
  • katy84o
    katy84o Posts: 744 Member
    I noticed the same thing too. I just make sure I eat plenty of fruit and plenty of vegetables. Cauliflower is pretty high in potassium. Sweet potatoes are also. I would just say make sure each meal includes fruit and vegetables get plenty of servings! If you do that you'll raise your potassium levels no problem!
  • chloeelebeir
    chloeelebeir Posts: 130
    Other foods that are high in potassium are avocados (careful with portion size), dried apricots, brussel sprouts (taste great if you coat with olive oil, oregano, and minced garlic and then baked until tender), oranges and orange juice, spinach, tomatoes, and yogurt!

    Hope that helps :)
  • wftiger
    wftiger Posts: 1,283 Member
    Morton makes a salt substitute that is potassium.

    Just FYI, if you have High Blood Pressure do not use. I'm sure your Dr. or pharmacist told you this but if not then look it up. Very bad to use potassium supplements of any kind if you have HBP.
  • retunks
    retunks Posts: 34 Member
    simply orange juice is high in potassium , so are white kidney beans (low sodium)
  • LorryGuthrie
    LorryGuthrie Posts: 113 Member
    I have trouble in this area too...bump
  • Reptileszz
    Reptileszz Posts: 47 Member
    Hi there, I noticed the same thing about myself. I couldnt seem to even come close to what MFP wants. Then I started looking around at things online regarding potassium and found a lot of foods that I was eating that have potassium in them but it is not listed on the label, therefore not usually listed in the MFP database. Then I looked some more and found out that they do not HAVE to list potassium content on labels. Sooooo, for those of you who have read this far, there is a lot of potassium we are eating that is just not listed.

    That said, potatoes, milk and milk products have a lot of potassium as do your bananas.White beans are also high in potassium but it usually doesnt say so on the label. A newish way to get some extra potassium is with coconut water. I like Vita-coco pineapple. I think it has like 500 mg of potassium and only 60 calories.

    Take care.
  • Ange_
    Ange_ Posts: 324 Member
    i don't think the MFP database is good on potassium. as in a lot of foods in their database don't bother to list it so you think overall you are low.
    So you may already be fine.
    Bananas and grapes are good sources.
  • Curvy1taliana
    Curvy1taliana Posts: 371 Member
    avocados, spinach, lettuces, celery, apples, strawberries, cantaloupes, mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumbers, asparagus and most other fruits and veggies have high quanities of potassium. Also seafood, shellfish, chicken and beef.

    Try to avoid supplements and get it in a whole food as much as possible!

    ETA avoid the "member added" MFP entries which almost NEVER have potassium listed, unless someone actually cared to add it. Look for the database entries - the ones WITHOUT a star next to them. If that makes sense.
  • Kalynx
    Kalynx Posts: 707 Member
    Agree with last few posters - if you want to track it accurately question everything that shows blank or 0 for potassium. I use http://nutritiondata.self.com/ to look up and check everything I enter if I have time, the serch box for any kind of food is in the top right of page. It is a little tedious but the more you do it the less you have to eventually because the next time you use the same thing it is correct.
  • bunny1006
    bunny1006 Posts: 325 Member
    bump
  • dancingdeer
    dancingdeer Posts: 373 Member
    Coconut water! It has a lot more potassium than bananas!
  • NK203
    NK203 Posts: 35
    Blackstrap molasses is also a great source of potassium. I add a teaspoon to plain yogurt. Delish!
  • piebird79
    piebird79 Posts: 201 Member
    I totally misread the subject and thought it said "How to get enough possum". I was thinking "WTF?!...oh wait...". Anyhow, I have noticed not all nutrition labels are complete. For instance, I like the strawberry banana vivanno smoothie at Starbucks. It includes a banana, clearly. However, the nutrition information doesn't include any potassium. Vexing, I know.
  • dancingdeer
    dancingdeer Posts: 373 Member
    Just to clarify...

    A 11.5 oz serving of coconut water has about 680mg of potassium and a medium banana has about 450 mg of potassium.

    There are many brands available on the shelf in the juice aisle of the grocery store, and some on the cold aisle as well.
  • sunnyday789
    sunnyday789 Posts: 309 Member
    tomatoes(fresh, canned, sauce) are high in potassium
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
    ETA avoid the "member added" MFP entries which almost NEVER have potassium listed, unless someone actually cared to add it. Look for the database entries - the ones WITHOUT a star next to them. If that makes sense.

    This.

    You might be closer than you think.

    I usually get enough now that I've made sure to use those entries and eat a lot of veggies.
  • cydianrake
    cydianrake Posts: 1 Member
    Why bother with pills for potassium?

    Go buy 3 beets, cut the greens off, blend them with a banana and some natural or some other slightly flavored electrolyte mix. Mix together with water.

    Should net you:
    522 sodium
    2325 potassium <======
    35 carbs (9 dietary, 13 sugars)
    7 protein
    and lots of vitamins too.
  • Boccellin
    Boccellin Posts: 137 Member
    ZUCCHINI! It has a ton of potassium! I like to spiralize mine in to zoodles and use it instead of spaghetti sometimes. One large zucchini has over 800mg of potassium. Also, mushrooms are quite high, as are potatoes.
  • rainbow198
    rainbow198 Posts: 2,245 Member
    Why bother with pills for potassium?

    Go buy 3 beets, cut the greens off, blend them with a banana and some natural or some other slightly flavored electrolyte mix. Mix together with water.

    Should net you:
    522 sodium
    2325 potassium <======
    35 carbs (9 dietary, 13 sugars)
    7 protein
    and lots of vitamins too.


    I highly recommend this recipe. I have it several times a week with water in my Nutribullet although I half the recipe and add a scoop of hemp protein, a few blueberries and a cup of spinach OR a 1/2 cup of the beet greens for added nutrients.

    The banana adds a lot of sweetness, can't taste the spinach, and the beets and blueberries make the smoothie very pretty.
  • pinkpolkadots25
    pinkpolkadots25 Posts: 101 Member
    Raw spinach is a great source -- 100g has 558 mg (16% DV). Sweet potatoes, butternut squash, bananas, and avocados are also excellent sources.
  • xael1234
    xael1234 Posts: 51 Member
    I'm on potassium supplements from the Doctor. I can't get my potassium to stabilize no matter what I eat, but I'm on prednisone a lot and that can deplete potassium. Been to the ER 3 times this month for hypokylemia (low potassium). VERY FRUSTRATING

    V8 juice has tons of potassium if you can drink it. I can't but boy I wish I could!
  • jigglewiggles
    jigglewiggles Posts: 173 Member
    bump
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