That one micronutrient....

Soundwave79
Soundwave79 Posts: 469 Member
edited November 17 in Food and Nutrition
you just can't seem to get your daily value of....

For me it's Potassium. MFP wants me to eat 3,500 MGs a day. On my best days I've barely gotten over 3,000. I would say my average is somewhere around 1,500. I love bananas but I can only eat so many. I'm not a big fan of beans or leafy greens so I get most of my Potassium from the milk I drink every morning with my cereal. Guess I should start adding in more potatoes.

So what's that one micro nutritional shortcoming you just can't seem to get enough of?

Replies

  • wizzybeth
    wizzybeth Posts: 3,578 Member
    edited May 2015
    The issue with potassium is that not all foods list it on their labels. For instance, Stonyfield Farms yogurt includes potassium. All yogurt has potassium, but many yogurt brands don't list it. If it's not on the nutrition data, even though it's actually in the food, MFP can't register it. Chances are you are getting enough potassium.
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
    edited May 2015
    Nearly every naturally occurring food has potassium in it. However, when you but something that has a nutritional label on it, potassium is usually not included. Therefore, you're eating more potassium than you are recording, unless you cook everything from scratch.

    ETA: I have problems getting enough calcium and Vitamin D. However, a simple vitamin supplement fixes that.
  • Soundwave79
    Soundwave79 Posts: 469 Member
    Well that's good to hear. I've read alot about the benefits of Potassium and I perceived I was in quite a daily shortage based off MFP. Guess I won't stress it to much.
  • kmsoucy457
    kmsoucy457 Posts: 237 Member
    Iron! Chronic anemia runs in my family so I try to be conscious of intake, but never quite hit that target. Potassium is difficult, too, but I'm encouraged by the other posters pointing out the sneaky ninja potassium (thank you) :).

    Coconut water is a decent source of potassium and does list on the label; it's a nice refreshing treat for not too many liquid calories.
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
    I'm having issues with iron and zinc. Ferrous gluconate is easy to take, but zinc.... oh boy the nausea, even with a full meal. I ordered some zinc picolinate with copper to try. I'm actually experiencing problems (hair loss and skin issues) due to not enough zinc so I have to find a way to make this work.
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
    To put it into perspective, 100g of chicken breast, less than half a breast, has 220mg of potassium.

    If you buy pre-seasoned and stuffed chicken breast, the nutritional label wouldn't even mention the potassium in it.

    1 cup (8 oz) of coffee has 116mg of potassium.

    As long as you eat a decent amount of food that didn't come from a chemical factory, you'll be fine.

    Or you can drink 30 cups of coffee. That works too.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    I have an issue of getting in too much iron...I have to watch it...
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    wizzybeth wrote: »
    The issue with potassium is that not all foods list it on their labels. For instance, Stonyfield Farms yogurt includes potassium. All yogurt has potassium, but many yogurt brands don't list it. If it's not on the nutrition data, even though it's actually in the food, MFP can't register it. Chances are you are getting enough potassium.

    This.

    I don't even track micronutrients for this reason, honestly... and I take a multivitamin most days.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,149 Member
    Too many to name.
  • Laurend224
    Laurend224 Posts: 1,748 Member
    Iron and calcium are the ones I watch out for.
  • alicaramik2
    alicaramik2 Posts: 71 Member
    I don't think I ever get much more than 60% of my iron. So far, it doesn't seem to be causing me any problems, so I try not to stress about it too much.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    I can't think of a single time where I checked my micros to see if I was getting enough.
  • isulo_kura
    isulo_kura Posts: 818 Member
    As for Potassium it's the same for most micronutrients. They are either not listed on labels or people don't enter them when adding foods to the database. I would not bother tracking them via MFP at all as it will in no way be accurate. According to MFP I never get enough Iron but my iron was tested recently and it's perfect. If you have any real concerns about a deficiency go see your Dr
  • Chewitz
    Chewitz Posts: 217 Member
    Potatoes :)
  • avskk
    avskk Posts: 1,787 Member
    Iron. I can't seem to even approach my iron target without either going way over on calories or seriously neglecting other nutrients. I'm considering supplementing (I'm moderately to occasionally severely anemic), but iron supplement side-effects are so grim that I'm resisting as long as I can.
  • Soundwave79
    Soundwave79 Posts: 469 Member
    JoRocka wrote: »
    I can't think of a single time where I checked my micros to see if I was getting enough.

    I'm not scrupulous about my micros or anything but it's like literally one extra tap on the app to see them. I just like to take a daily mental note of my intake when I complete my diary for the day just to make sure I'm getting a fairly balanced intake. I loathe most veggies and leafy greens so I have to be a little more attentive to mine.

  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    I have a problems with B12 since I don't like meat much, same with iron. My tested iron is usually at the very bottom of normal, so I test regularly to make sure I don't go under. On the other hand, on a low day I find myself at 400% vitamin C with the average being at 800%. I have same "problem" with fiber, usually consuming 40 or so grams a day.
  • Cate1898
    Cate1898 Posts: 33 Member
    I am trying to increase my daily potassium to 4700 mg. It is difficult for sure. As someone pointed out, most yogurts listed in the MFP database don't list the potassium amount even though they all have it. 8 oz of 0% or nonfat yogurt is around 510 mg of potassium AND 400 mg of calcium.
    So even though I am eating Astro Original Plain 0% yogurt, on MFP I am using Dannon Fat Free Plain yogurt as it lists the potassium correctly. However, it does not accurately list the calcium.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    Micronutrients and the MFP database? Not even once.
    Most entries are just nonsense on that data.

    (Yeah, eat your veggies)
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