Difficulty in tracking potassium consumption.

Maggidy
Maggidy Posts: 2 Member
edited November 2024 in Food and Nutrition
One of my nutritional goals is to get enough potassium in the day (3500mg is a daunting number, but possible), mostly attained through spinach/broccoli/dairy/Coconut water and NoSalt. But I've noticed a lot of the database entries, especially with packaged foods, don't report the potassium and so my totals haven't been realistic on my report. I know this for a fact that some frozen spinach entries in the database (A food famous for high potassium content) report 0mg potassium. I've noticed this a lot with other foods, and it's understandable when people create database entries they only have available the information on the packaging - and often manufacturers don't label potassium.

Any similar frustrations or insights to get more accurate reports?

Replies

  • Unknown
    Unknown
    edited March 2017
    This content has been removed.
  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
    Yup, what Kriss said. I started tracking potassium just out of curiosity a while back. I always use USDA entries for my fruit and veg. Obviously there are some foods that I've either entered myself or previously created entries that as you say don't list potassium because it's not on the packaging, but I've made a mental note of how much is in those (thanks Google) so I'm pretty confident that I'm getting enough. Actually with the 10 fruit and veg challenge some of us just did this past week I've been over on several days :).
  • jimpolkny
    jimpolkny Posts: 1 Member
    If you're looking to add potassium eat tomato sauce or tomatoes. I am a dialysis patient and can't have excess potassium in my system so I have to be very careful. I learned this one tine by eating red sauce a lot one week and my K shot up. Lost control of my legs and hands. Thankfully they were able to clean my blood in dialysis but it was scary. I don't eat much of that any more at all.
  • jordan_bowden
    jordan_bowden Posts: 90 Member
    Bananas and potatoes are great potassium sources!
  • Maggidy
    Maggidy Posts: 2 Member
    Thanks Kriss and Nony, I was starting to think I'll just have to do some more leg work, but it'll be worth it. I'll have the USDA site right next to myfitnesspal on my bookmark bar now. Last time I had blood work my potassium levels were perfect, but it's just something I want to make sure I'm keeping up with nutritionally.
    jimpolkny wrote: »
    If you're looking to add potassium eat tomato sauce or tomatoes. I am a dialysis patient and can't have excess potassium in my system so I have to be very careful. I learned this one tine by eating red sauce a lot one week and my K shot up. Lost control of my legs and hands. Thankfully they were able to clean my blood in dialysis but it was scary. I don't eat much of that any more at all.

    Definitely scary, we've had those situations with family members on dialysis before, it makes it tough when they never had to pay attention to their diet before. I'm a fan of mixing tomatoes/tomato paste in with lentils, so I stock up on diced/stewed as they go on sale often.
    jordan_bowden wrote: »
    Bananas and potatoes are great potassium sources!

    Yes! No one can take potatoes away from me! I'm also waiting for zucchinis to come back into season. Also, tuna is an awesome source (6 oz = 890mg).
  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
    Another source that often gets overlooked: most meats. Seriously, beef, chicken, and most fish are really high in potassium relative to sodium, so long as you avoid premade stuff.
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