Low potassium?

dixigram
dixigram Posts: 2 Member
edited December 19 in Food and Nutrition
It looks like my potassium is chronically low, any foods that are potassium-rich? I tend to avoid bananas because they’re high in sugar.

Replies

  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    Not very many foods actually list their potassium on nutrition labels and even fewer users add it to their MFP entries. Your best bet would be to google a list of high potassium foods and see if you are already eating them. Yogurt? Spinach? Brussel Sprouts? Get a good list and go from there, rather than your MFP stats.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    The MFP database is mostly user entered, and many users don't pay attention to micros. So first double check that the entries you are choosing in the database are complete and accurate. You'd have to be eating a pretty limited diet to be chronically low in potassium.

    I'd add that there is little reason to avoid nutrient rich foods just because they naturally have sugar, unless you have a medical condition that requires that kind of hyper-vigilance.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    Potassium isn't a nutrient that is required to be listed on nutrition labels.

    Potassium is very easy to keep balanced if you are eating varied foods. All plants (fruit, vegetables, legumes, grains/seeds) have potassium, some more than others. So does dairy.

    You can Google potassium rich foods, but I wouldn't worry about it. You would know if you were actually not getting enough.
  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
    I believe orange fruits have more potassium than bananas (oranges, cantaloupe, apricots)

    Also some herbs will help improve the bioavailability of the potassium you eat (black pepper, ginger)
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    tcunbeliever wrote: »
    I believe orange fruits have more potassium than bananas (oranges, cantaloupe, apricots)

    Also some herbs will help improve the bioavailability of the potassium you eat (black pepper, ginger)

    100 grams of orange has 181 grams of potassium. 100 grams of apricot has 259 grams. 100 grams of cantaloupe has 267 grams.

    100 grams of banana has 358 grams of potassium.

    So while all those foods seem to be good sources of potassium, it's not true that those orange fruits have more than banana.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,097 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    tcunbeliever wrote: »
    I believe orange fruits have more potassium than bananas (oranges, cantaloupe, apricots)

    Also some herbs will help improve the bioavailability of the potassium you eat (black pepper, ginger)

    100 grams of orange has 181 grams of potassium. 100 grams of apricot has 259 grams. 100 grams of cantaloupe has 267 grams.

    100 grams of banana has 358 grams of potassium.

    So while all those foods seem to be good sources of potassium, it's not true that those orange fruits have more than banana.

    I think it's more helpful, at least in the first instance, to think of nutrients per calories, not nutrients per grams, since I have to fit my nutrients into a dietary budget that is limited by the energy it contains, not necessarily by what it weighs (although obviously there's a physical limit to the mass of energy-scarce food I'll be able to consume in a day -- you can 4900 mg of potassium from 100 calories worth of black coffee, but that's not practical even before you consider the implications of 4000 mg of caffeine).

    Oranges have 386 mg of potassium per 100 cals. 100 cals of apricots have 537 mg of potassium. 100 cals of cantaloupe have 788 mg of potassium.

    100 cals of bananas have 401 mg of potassium.

    So from that standpoint, some of those orange fruits do have more potassium than bananas.

    But a green fruit, kiwifruit (Chinese gooseberry) has 512 mg of potassium per 100 cals. Baked white potatoes (including skin) has 578 mg of potassium per 100 cals.

    You can get your potassium in lots of different colors (and probably should).
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    Coffee also is a decent source of potassium, one cup has about 120 mg. You can also buy NuSalt, which is potassium chloride, 530 mg per gram and put it on your food.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    tcunbeliever wrote: »
    I believe orange fruits have more potassium than bananas (oranges, cantaloupe, apricots)

    Also some herbs will help improve the bioavailability of the potassium you eat (black pepper, ginger)

    100 grams of orange has 181 grams of potassium. 100 grams of apricot has 259 grams. 100 grams of cantaloupe has 267 grams.

    100 grams of banana has 358 grams of potassium.

    So while all those foods seem to be good sources of potassium, it's not true that those orange fruits have more than banana.

    I think it's more helpful, at least in the first instance, to think of nutrients per calories, not nutrients per grams, since I have to fit my nutrients into a dietary budget that is limited by the energy it contains, not necessarily by what it weighs (although obviously there's a physical limit to the mass of energy-scarce food I'll be able to consume in a day -- you can 4900 mg of potassium from 100 calories worth of black coffee, but that's not practical even before you consider the implications of 4000 mg of caffeine).

    Oranges have 386 mg of potassium per 100 cals. 100 cals of apricots have 537 mg of potassium. 100 cals of cantaloupe have 788 mg of potassium.

    100 cals of bananas have 401 mg of potassium.

    So from that standpoint, some of those orange fruits do have more potassium than bananas.

    But a green fruit, kiwifruit (Chinese gooseberry) has 512 mg of potassium per 100 cals. Baked white potatoes (including skin) has 578 mg of potassium per 100 cals.

    You can get your potassium in lots of different colors (and probably should).

    Good point, I was thinking about equal weights and not about per calorie. By that standard, I like coffee for my potassium powerhouse. 8 ounces brewed is 1 calorie and 116 grams of potassium. Can't beat it!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    dixigram wrote: »
    It looks like my potassium is chronically low, any foods that are potassium-rich? I tend to avoid bananas because they’re high in sugar.

    If you're eating your fruits and veg, it's not likely you are low potassium. Potassium is not required on food labels and since that's where users typically get their information when they enter something in the database, it is often missing even though that food has potassium

    Other than that, google high potassium foods...my favorite is potatoes.
  • dixigram
    dixigram Posts: 2 Member
    Thank you everyone for your responses! I’ll trust that it’s just missing data from MFP since it seems like my usual fruits/vegetable intake should be enough!
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    I use the MFP-created entries (rather than user-created entries) as much as possible, and reviewing today, see that everything that does contain potassium does indeed have a value for this in my diary.

    Unfortunately, the "verified" green check marks in the MFP database are used for both user-created entries and MFP-created entries, which pull from the USDA database. To find MFP-created entries for whole foods, I get the syntax from the USDA database and plug that into MFP.
  • KipDrordy
    KipDrordy Posts: 169 Member
    dixigram wrote: »
    It looks like my potassium is chronically low, any foods that are potassium-rich? I tend to avoid bananas because they’re high in sugar.

    I’ve always freaked out when looking at how low I am. It seems to be really hard to hit that goal. I find it hard to hit all the RDA numbers and stay within my caloric budget. I’m pretty sure potassium is one of those things that can be fixed in supplement form.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    dixigram wrote: »
    Thank you everyone for your responses! I’ll trust that it’s just missing data from MFP since it seems like my usual fruits/vegetable intake should be enough!

    Unless your doctor has told you through blood work that your potassium is low, I wouldn't worry about it too much. As mentioned above, the database is hit and miss for true potassium content.
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