Does anybody hit their Potassium goal?

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Tim_Veal
Tim_Veal Posts: 27 Member
in Getting Started
This seems to be my biggest struggle, nutrient-wise. I'm on track with most other things, but my potassium is way low. Squash, sweet potato, banana... here I come!

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  • Tim_Veal
    Tim_Veal Posts: 27 Member
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    That's great insight - thanks nutmegoreo! I checked it out and you're absolutely right. Many foods in the database which would have potassium are listed as zero. That makes me feel better :-)
    /tim
  • sgtx81
    sgtx81 Posts: 466 Member
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    Yeah, I use a food guide I made that includes potassium, because like nutmegoreo said a lot of the time the amount isn't listed, and whatever my food doesn't have I take potassium supplements to make up for it.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
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    Tim_Veal wrote: »
    That's great insight - thanks nutmegoreo! I checked it out and you're absolutely right. Many foods in the database which would have potassium are listed as zero. That makes me feel better :-)
    /tim

    Very slow getting back to this (me, not you)! You are very welcome. I'm glad you feel better about it. If your doctor does a regular yearly screening blood work panel, potassium is usually included in that.
  • sbrown6
    sbrown6 Posts: 334 Member
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    Thanks for asking this! I’ve been wondering the same thing. I was starting to think it’s impossible to get enough potassium from food alone. I recently started taking a potassium supplement.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    In addition to missing data, you are likely getting some potassium from coffee and minuscule amounts that add up from herbs and spices. A rule of thumb, anything packaged food that has soy is likely to contain some potassium. Personally I'm usually fine on potassium because I eat beans often as well as leafy greens (spinach, swiss chard...etc), and the USDA database entries for beans and leafy greens list the potassium.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    sbrown6 wrote: »
    Thanks for asking this! I’ve been wondering the same thing. I was starting to think it’s impossible to get enough potassium from food alone. I recently started taking a potassium supplement.

    Don't do that! It can be dangerous. Only take the supplement if you have a confirmed blood test that gives you a reason to take it. Granted supplements are low dose for this exact reason, but better safe than sorry.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Tim_Veal wrote: »
    This seems to be my biggest struggle, nutrient-wise. I'm on track with most other things, but my potassium is way low. Squash, sweet potato, banana... here I come!

    Is there a medical reason you need to track potassium?
  • Tim_Veal
    Tim_Veal Posts: 27 Member
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    TavistockToad - I am new to nutrition, and there are many people here who know a lot more than I do about these things. What I'm reading is that lack of potassium (hypokalemia) is extremely common in the North American diet, and leads to weakness, numbness, heart palpitations, depression, brain-fog and many other symptoms. What made me look into it is my venture to whole food plant based eating. Low potassium level is a problem for most North American diets - in fact only 2% of "Americans" (I expect this includes us Canadians) receive enough potassium. It is definitely showing up as low on my nutrition tracking - however that may not be accurate, as explained above.
    I'm very happy to have the abundance of advice here. It definitely makes the journey easier!
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    Tim_Veal wrote: »
    TavistockToad - I am new to nutrition, and there are many people here who know a lot more than I do about these things. What I'm reading is that lack of potassium (hypokalemia) is extremely common in the North American diet, and leads to weakness, numbness, heart palpitations, depression, brain-fog and many other symptoms. What made me look into it is my venture to whole food plant based eating. Low potassium level is a problem for most North American diets - in fact only 2% of "Americans" (I expect this includes us Canadians) receive enough potassium. It is definitely showing up as low on my nutrition tracking - however that may not be accurate, as explained above.
    I'm very happy to have the abundance of advice here. It definitely makes the journey easier!

    Unless a doctor as officially diagnosed you with that, I wouldn’t worry about it
  • JungleCatStevens
    JungleCatStevens Posts: 4 Member
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    Great Question, I was getting not much, but with Potassium supplements, each tablet can only contain 3% of the RDA, some sort of industry cap I think. I can't imagine taking 33 tablets just to get 100% RDA.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Tim_Veal wrote: »
    TavistockToad - I am new to nutrition, and there are many people here who know a lot more than I do about these things. What I'm reading is that lack of potassium (hypokalemia) is extremely common in the North American diet, and leads to weakness, numbness, heart palpitations, depression, brain-fog and many other symptoms. What made me look into it is my venture to whole food plant based eating. Low potassium level is a problem for most North American diets - in fact only 2% of "Americans" (I expect this includes us Canadians) receive enough potassium. It is definitely showing up as low on my nutrition tracking - however that may not be accurate, as explained above.
    I'm very happy to have the abundance of advice here. It definitely makes the journey easier!

    See your doctor if you think it may be an issue. Self diagnosis and self treatment are rarely a good idea!
  • Tim_Veal
    Tim_Veal Posts: 27 Member
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    Thanks, I have a blood test scheduled.
    Just to be clear, "self treatment" would consist of eating a balanced diet that includes the recommended amounts of potassium in my diet. No supplements needed, as they are found in plant-based foods. What's not good about that?
  • ZoneFive
    ZoneFive Posts: 570 Member
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    Tim_Veal wrote: »
    Thanks, I have a blood test scheduled.
    Just to be clear, "self treatment" would consist of eating a balanced diet that includes the recommended amounts of potassium in my diet. No supplements needed, as they are found in plant-based foods. What's not good about that?

    Nothing wrong with your definition of "self treatment"; it sounds very sane and well-considered. Unfortunately a great many people have the mindset of "more is better", decide that early-morning fuzziness before coffee is actually that brain fog, and get a little crazy with the supplementing -- which frequently leads to far more trouble.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    If you are going to self monitor potassium intake through food stick to complete entries on the database that list the potassium.

    Potassium and salt balance each other out. If you are tracking potassium, also track your salt.

    http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/notes/2013/salt_potassium_20130131/en/

    None of this applies if you have kidney disease.
  • Tim_Veal
    Tim_Veal Posts: 27 Member
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    ZoneFive wrote: »
    Tim_Veal wrote: »
    Thanks, I have a blood test scheduled.
    Just to be clear, "self treatment" would consist of eating a balanced diet that includes the recommended amounts of potassium in my diet. No supplements needed, as they are found in plant-based foods. What's not good about that?

    Nothing wrong with your definition of "self treatment"; it sounds very sane and well-considered. Unfortunately a great many people have the mindset of "more is better", decide that early-morning fuzziness before coffee is actually that brain fog, and get a little crazy with the supplementing -- which frequently leads to far more trouble.

    I don't see much need for supplements at all. Again, I am an amateur and not a professional nutritionist.... but I don't see very many situations where we can't get our nutrients from plants (meat and dairy if you choose to)!

    I agree that you can get into trouble with popping pills. Broccoli however, is much less troublesome. :-)
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited October 2017
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    Tim_Veal wrote: »
    ZoneFive wrote: »
    Tim_Veal wrote: »
    Thanks, I have a blood test scheduled.
    Just to be clear, "self treatment" would consist of eating a balanced diet that includes the recommended amounts of potassium in my diet. No supplements needed, as they are found in plant-based foods. What's not good about that?

    Nothing wrong with your definition of "self treatment"; it sounds very sane and well-considered. Unfortunately a great many people have the mindset of "more is better", decide that early-morning fuzziness before coffee is actually that brain fog, and get a little crazy with the supplementing -- which frequently leads to far more trouble.

    I don't see much need for supplements at all. Again, I am an amateur and not a professional nutritionist.... but I don't see very many situations where we can't get our nutrients from plants (meat and dairy if you choose to)!

    I agree that you can get into trouble with popping pills. Broccoli however, is much less troublesome. :-)

    Potassium pills in particular. If someone gets any ideas about fulfilling their entire potassium needs with pills they're risking permanent damage, or even fatal consequences if they decide "more is better".
    Report of Cases.—Case 1.— A 32-year-old medical secretary became hypokalemic after she had begun taking a liquid protein diet. She was given slow-release potassium chloride for this, and subsequently used the medication indiscriminately whenever she felt weak or tired. One evening diarrhea developed; she said she had taken "a lot of potassium pills." She was told that the diarrhea probably resulted from potassium chloride, to take no more pills, and that the diarrhea would probably remove the excess potassium. She was found dead the next morning. Findings from an autopsy showed that she had ingested 47 tablets of potassium chloride.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
    edited October 2017
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    sbrown6 wrote: »
    Thanks for asking this! I’ve been wondering the same thing. I was starting to think it’s impossible to get enough potassium from food alone. I recently started taking a potassium supplement.

    You really shouldn't do that unless you've actually been diagnosed as deficient with a blood panel.

    Potassium isn't required on nutritional labels and that's where most of the database entries come from...so it's not that the food you're eating doesn't have it, it's that it's not labeled. Being potassium deficient is pretty rare. If you're eating a well balanced diet with plenty of veg and some fruit, etc. you're fine. Meat, poultry, and fish also have potassium...3 oz of red meat has about 360 mg potassium...3 oz chicken breast has around 200 mg...Salmon has around 684 mg...231 grams of cod has around 900 mg

    I'm pretty sure I hit mine...I eat a lot of salmon and cod as well as a ton of veg and some fruit...potatoes are also high in potassium as are canned tomato goods. I also have a low sodium V8 pretty much every day.
  • Reliata
    Reliata Posts: 37 Member
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    If you want to track micro nutrients, I've been using the site cronometer. It's great for that.

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