How to get more potassium?

I hear coffee is a good source. I drink loads of it.

As other have said, since it's not listed on the required labels, most foods don't publish it so it doesn't get tracked on MFP. My dietitian told me not to worry about potassium, that if you are eating a good amount of fruits & veggies then you will get enough. Also, there are some majorly nasty side effects, some involving heart failure, if you get too much potassium, so as long as you are getting SOME every day, you should be fine.

Potassium outside of normal levels affects your heartbeat and kidney function. It's very likely you would notice. I learned more about it than I wanted to know when my child started passing out for no reason. (it turned out to be a much more benign problem, thank God.)

Echoing what others have stated above, it's generally not listed. For instance, I regularly eat the 100 calorie mini packs of organic Wholly Guacamole, which does not list any potassium on the container nor in the MFP database. However, for the portion size it should be ~300mg per serving.

Adding to the above suggestions, the top items for potassium per serving are: potato, avocado, lima beans, flounder, banana, and tomato.

Another thing to consider is the 'K:Na ratio' of potassium to salt. Most (American) diets have this at 1:2 and some dietary research shows this could be beneficially inverse as high as 5:1; my current MFP nutrient recommendation has this at 3:2, which is obviously a step in the right direction. This is where bananas get their reputation since they naturally are 440:1!

As most know our diets are so incredibly laden with salt, I doubt you'll have a hard time intaking too much potassium unless you're also on a low-sodium diet. However, all that said, I'm skeptical of potassium supplements. The FDA reportedly restricts non-food-based forms of potassium salts to 99mg per dose because of health problems with potassium salt supplements. Generally, it seems best to stay away from potassium supplements and just focus on regularly incorporating potassium-rich foods.

darkspaten wrote: »

Echoing what others have stated above, it's generally not listed. For instance, I regularly eat the 100 calorie mini packs of organic Wholly Guacamole, which does not list any potassium on the container nor in the MFP database. However, for the portion size it should be ~300mg per serving.

Adding to the above suggestions, the top items for potassium per serving are: potato, avocado, lima beans, flounder, banana, and tomato.

Another thing to consider is the 'K:Na ratio' of potassium to salt. Most (American) diets have this at 1:2 and some dietary research shows this could be beneficially inverse as high as 5:1; my current MFP nutrient recommendation has this at 3:2, which is obviously a step in the right direction. This is where bananas get their reputation since they naturally are 440:1!

As most know our diets are so incredibly laden with salt, I doubt you'll have a hard time intaking too much potassium unless you're also on a low-sodium diet. However, all that said, I'm skeptical of potassium supplements. The FDA reportedly restricts non-food-based forms of potassium salts to 99mg per dose because of health problems with potassium salt supplements. Generally, it seems best to stay away from potassium supplements and just focus on regularly incorporating potassium-rich foods.

There's a big danger with too much potassium. I put myself straight into Tachacardia by supplements(of a sort) of potassium.

I don't see any more than you are, my bloodwork says I'm getting plenty.

vanmep wrote: »

I have the same problem but recently had blood work done that included potassium levels and it was perfect. I have a theory that the MFP database isn't wry accurate with regard to micro nutrients. Low sodium V8 juice is also a great source of potassium

This.

Once I made a conscious effort to hunt down potassium contents of foods, and cross reference them with specific items in the database, I was shocked. Between my broccoli, salmon, chicken breast and bean habits, I am averaging over 6000 mg of Potassium per day, without even trying very hard.