Which Foods contain the Most Potassium

If your potassium levels are too high, you doctor may tell you to go on a potassium-restricted diet. If you potassium levels are too low, your doctor may tell you to get more potassium. Here is a list of food sources for potassium. If you need to restrict your potassium, avoid the foods with moderate to high levels of potassium, and if you need more potassium, be sure to choose more foods that contain potassium, or take supplemental potassium:

Foods High in Potassium
Apricots, Artichokes, Avocados, Bananas, Cantaloupe, Cod, Dates, Dry beans (i.e. kidney beans and navy beans), Figs, Flounder, Greens, Honeydew melons, Kiwi, Lentils, Nuts, Oranges, Peaches, Potatoes, Prunes, Pumpkins, Raisins, Salmon, Sardines,

Potassium-based salt replacements
Tomatoes, Watermelons

Foods Moderate in Potassium

Apples, Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Beets, Carrots, Celery, Cherries, Eggplant, Mango, Mushrooms, Okra, Peaches, Pears, Peanut butter, Plums, Peppers

Foods low in potassium

Asparagus, Berries, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Corn, Cucumber, Grapes, Grapefruit, Green beans, Onions, Peas, Pineapple, Radishes, Rhubarb, Tangerines, Turnips

Potassium is a dietary mineral that is generally quite abundant in our diets. Most healthy people get plenty of potassium from dietary sources. Due to illness, however, some people need to restrict their dietary potassium and some people need to get more potassium from their diets. If you have any questions about your potassium levels, please speak to your doctor.

Why do we need Potassium?:

We need potassium:

* as a component for balancing the pH of our bodies
* for normal water balance in our bodies
* for normal muscle growth
* for healthy nervous system and brain function

Can we Measure Potassium?:

Most of our potassium is found inside the cells in our bodies; only about 2% of the potassium in our bodies is found the blood. Our bodies like to keep that amount of potassium fairly level within a nice healthy range. This makes potassium levels easy to measure by testing our blood.

Abnormal Blood Potassium Levels:

Blood potassium levels may fluctuate due to kidney disease, diabetes, vomiting, as a side effect to certain medications, hormone levels, amount of potassium in the diet, and blood pH.

Hyperkalemia:

Hyperkalemia is a condition where there is too much potassium in the blood. Usually this is due to an underlying medical condition such as a kidney disease, or diabetes. Doctors want to keep an eye on elevated potassium levels because very high levels of potassium in our bodies can become very bad for our hearts.

Hypokalemia:

Hypokalemia is a condition where the potassium levels are too low. This may happen because a person doesn’t eat enough potassium containing foods. More commonly, potassium levels become too low from digestive problems like chronic diarrhea or excessive vomiting. Certain hormonal disorders such as Cushing’s disease can also cause low levels of potassium. Some drugs like diuretics and laxatives can also cause hypokalemia.