Poor is Potassium!

banana's. that's how I get my potassium.

Your body definitely needs sodium - but what the actual figures are for that are beyond me... do some research on the internet and then check back to your diary. I don't add salt when I cook. I don't add salt when I eat. I try to eat things that are not in cans. I try to eat more natural foods... yet my sodium is always higher than MFP says it should be. Fortunately I don't have a blood pressure issue that I'm trying to control!

You're probably getting a lot more potassium than you think, but food labels are not required to list it, so the only foods that do are ones that are seriously potassium-rich. Like they're showing off.

potassium levels seem to be chronically low, according to some site I was reading (webmd? probably)... more fruit, veggies, yams are really good... deeply colored veggies and fruit seems to have more.

Concentrated versions of any fruit or vegetable is good for increasing potassium. I buy reduced sodium canned tomatoes every chance I get. I make homemade tomato soup with Hunt's reduced sodium tomato paste (1000+ mg of potassium). Also, I make chili and spaghetti with low-sodium canned tomatoes. Dried beans are really good on potassium. I make an orange protein shake with frozen orange juice concentrate. Just a double shot of orange juice. Sweet potatoes are good. Milk has a lot of potassium.

So I am new to the tracking thing.....but have discovered in the last 3 days that I am considerably low in potassium. What can I do to increase that without eating a lot of bananas? Also, my sodium is really really low - is too low sodium intake a concern?

Potatoes

I add a half of banana to my smoothies and take a multi-vitamin as well. I think you are doing great!

I'm telling you - http://www.atrailrunnersblog.com/2007/03/coconut-water-natures-electrolyte.html

more potassium than a bannna, more hydrating than sports drinks - if you can get a fresh coconut and have that it it literally the BEST thing ever. If you can only get the bottled one make sure its PURE coconut, i.e no sugar or flavor added... you will feel amazing

Actually I've had low potassium following surgeries because I take a diuretic for my high blood pressure. So my blood panel is run by my doctor every 6 months. Last year when I had knee replacement surgery, my post surgery bloodwork showed low potassium which is not unusual following surgery. Anyways, I said something about having to add a banana a day to my daily food. My doctor laughed and said I could not eat enough bananas or anything else with potassium to raise my potassium level with any significance. You've had blood work done that actually shows you have low potassium you should be taking potassium supplements. I did this for a while and my next bloodwork was back to normal and stayed that way ever since. So I would ask your doctor about the supplement dosage if your blood work does show a decrease or low level.

You cannot get any over-the-counter supplements that have enough potassium. You can only get that kind of potassium from prescription supplements. If you eat high-potassium foods throughout the day, you can get enough potassium. I get very close to MFP's recommended 3500 mg every day. It just takes a matter of effort.

I think mine was low due to the surgery and the supplements were given in the hospital as well as by my personal physician. Also people with high blood pressure who take large amounts of diuretics and I do, run the risk of having low potassium regardless of how much potassium we get in our daily diet. We have to keep it monitored through blood work. I'm lucky that I also get enough potassium to keep mine in the right category even with the diuretics. But through surgeries I lose too much potassium to replenish through regular diet. Once I can get it back up to normal I can maintain it or at least I have always been able to in the past. I take in excess of 20 pills a day so my blood work is pretty important to me and maintaining the right levels can be difficult and hard to correct without medication at times. Sorry but didnt mean to sound like I was the "know all" of potassium. Sometimes I wonder why I even post. LOL

Here is an article about potassium and over the counter potassium supplements.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/474531-information-on-over-the-counter-potassium-supplements/

+1 The answer.

Are you sure you are low in potassium? At least in Canada and the US nutrition labels don't require it be listed. There are a bunch of foods that I have eaten that I know are high in potassium, but the nutrition information come up as 0. That is why I don't bother tracking potassium here, the numbers just won't be accurate.