Not meeting potassium, calcium or iron recommendations

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lisa1686
lisa1686 Posts: 19
in Food and Nutrition
I've only been using MFP for 3 weeks, but since I've started recording everything I eat and tried to eat healthier, I've noticed that I consistently don't meet my recommended levels of potassium, calcium or iron. I've started taking One A Day Vita Craves Gummy vitamins, but I'm still under on these 3 nutrients. I tried eating a banana everyday, but that still doesn't even bring me close on the potassium level. I'm sure I never met the recommended levels before either, since I'm eating much healthier now than before, but what should I do about it since I'm aware of it now?

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  • DietingMommy08
    DietingMommy08 Posts: 1,366 Member
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    Try taking the single vitamins for tho and see if that works. I know I am on a calcium & vitamin D regimine myself.

    Somtimes the things we eat just aint enough.
  • avarielle1215
    avarielle1215 Posts: 59 Member
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    Ugh, I have the same problem! Even with a calcium vitamin, I am below. It's ecpecially important to get enough calcium if you take anything for GERD (e.g. Prilosec) so I really need it! Tey doing Tums for the calcium...they aren't the best taste, but they are highly absorbable. For iron, dark leafy greens like spinach and for potassium I am not really sure other than bananas. Potassium is what keeps me from getting charlie horses though, so I need more too!
  • m2kh
    m2kh Posts: 17
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    I take a Centrum multi vitamin daily and that has 100% of the iron needed, 20% calcium and 80 mg potassium. For calcium, I usually also have a class of skim milk in the morning and have a wedge of light Laughing Cow cheese on a thin bagel for breakfast, and then have a slice of 2% cheese on a sandwich at lunch. I have never been able to get my potassium close so I'm no help there!
  • WifeNMama
    WifeNMama Posts: 2,876 Member
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    Spinach also has potassium, for calcium eat broccoli, almonds, and if you eat canned salmon get the bone in kind and mush them up into the salmon. Personally, I think its gross, but apparently people do this.

    http://www.iloveindia.com/nutrition/calcium/sources-of-calcium.html
    http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=90
    http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/eat-safe/top-iron-sources-44111008
  • TashaP2011
    TashaP2011 Posts: 142 Member
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    Here is the webmd page on potassium - I haven't been paying much attention to improving the number, but have been way under.
    http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/lifestyle-guide-11/supplement-guide-potassium
  • Enigmatica
    Enigmatica Posts: 879 Member
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    One thing about potassium: it isn't always listed on nutrition labels because it isn't required to be. There are many foods that have significant levels of potassium but you may not realize it because it isn't listed. Green beans, for example, are a great low calorie source of potassium, but that nutrient isn't being reported on a lot of green bean products.

    Check my food diary for ideas on potassium rich foods. It's generally recommended to at least try to get more potassium than sodium, even if you don't manage to reach the full 3500 potassium RDA.

    I don't have any trouble getting enough calcium and iron either, even though I avoid regular dairy products due to lactose intolerance. There are plenty of non-dairy sources available. Just keep tweaking your diet, you'll get it sorted out after awhile =)
  • ColoradoRobin
    ColoradoRobin Posts: 510 Member
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    Potassium is not required to be listed in the nutrition facts, and so many foods in the database list zero potassium when they actually do have some. It's very hard to know how much potassium you are actually getting because of that. I consistently come in low on that, and wish it were listed with more foods.
  • lisa1686
    lisa1686 Posts: 19
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    Thanks! I guess I'll just need to add individual supplements for these 3 nutrients. You know, I use to have heartburn every day, and I took something for it like Tagament daily, but since changing my diet, I haven't had to take it anymore. The heartburn has stopped. I tried Prilosec OTC once and the heartburn stopped for only about 1 week. Since the package said not to repeat the treatment for 4 months and it only stopped the heartburn for a week, I thought it just didn't work. I guess my heartburn was completely caused by my diet though.
  • lisa1686
    lisa1686 Posts: 19
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    Spinach also has potassium, for calcium eat broccoli, almonds, and if you eat canned salmon get the bone in kind and mush them up into the salmon. Personally, I think its gross, but apparently people do this.

    I love spinach, so I guess I need to eat more spinach salads with broccoli. I don't like almonds, but I like walnuts and pecans. Do you know if walnuts or pecans have a similar benefit, or is it just almonds? I agree with you about the canned salmon with bones, I don't think I could do that.
  • lisa1686
    lisa1686 Posts: 19
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    One thing about potassium: it isn't always listed on nutrition labels because it isn't required to be. There are many foods that have significant levels of potassium but you may not realize it because it isn't listed. Green beans, for example, are a great low calorie source of potassium, but that nutrient isn't being reported on a lot of green bean products.

    Check my food diary for ideas on potassium rich foods. It's generally recommended to at least try to get more potassium than sodium, even if you don't manage to reach the full 3500 potassium RDA.

    I don't have any trouble getting enough calcium and iron either, even though I avoid regular dairy products due to lactose intolerance. There are plenty of non-dairy sources available. Just keep tweaking your diet, you'll get it sorted out after awhile =)

    Thanks for inviting me to check your food diary for ideas. That really helps me to get ideas on healthy things to try. What is the Almond, Walnut, Pecan mix that you have in your diary? Also, I noticed that you had a can of tuna, with no bread, crackers or salad listed. Do you eat plain tuna by itself? Sorry for all the questions, but I really want to learn a new way of eating, one I can stick with like you have. :smile: And Thanks for the tip about getting more potassium than sodium. I will definitely work on tweaking those 2 together. While I'm consistently under on potassium, I'm usually over on sodium. Not good, but I'm learning thanks to your tips, so I'll work on that.
    Thanks so much!!!
    Lisa
  • lisa1686
    lisa1686 Posts: 19
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    Here is the webmd page on potassium - I haven't been paying much attention to improving the number, but have been way under.
    http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/lifestyle-guide-11/supplement-guide-potassium

    Thanks for the link. I'm going to try adding more salads with leafy greens to see if that helps.
  • FitBitter
    FitBitter Posts: 10 Member
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    From your post, you seem to know something about changing preferences such as what shows up in My Diary. I click to show Calcium. But it seems to be wrong. It shows 30 for 1 cup of milk where it should show 300. Is there a setting to change that I don't know about?

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