How To Get Enough Healthy Potassium In Your Diet
Potassium is crucial for good health. As WebMD notes:
Potassium is a mineral that’s crucial for life. Potassium is necessary for the heart, kidneys, and other organs to work normally.
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Low potassium is associated with a risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, cancer, digestive disorders, and infertility.
In addition, inadequate potassium intake makes us more susceptible to damage from radioactive cesium from Fukushima or other sources.
And many of us are overweight … because we’re not consuming enough vitamins and minerals in our diet.
But most Americans get too little of this vital mineral. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, notes:
Regardless of recommendations or sociodemographic or health characteristics, the vast majority of US adults consume too much sodium and too little potassium.
How much potassium do our bodies need every day?
Here are the recommended daily amounts:
| Ages 1-3 | Ages 4-8 | Ages 9-13 | Ages 14 Up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3,000 milligrams (mg) | 3,800 mg | 4,500 mg | 4,700 mg |
But it’s hard to get a sense of what those numbers mean … unless you can see the nutrient content of common foods.
So we’ve compiled a table showing the potassium content of various foods:
| Food | Milligrams (mg) per serving | Percent Daily Value (DV) for someone age 14 or older |
|---|---|---|
| Food | Milligrams (mg) per serving | Percent Daily Value (DV) for someone age 14 or older |
| Potato, baked with skin, 1 | 926 | 20 |
| Potato, baked without skin, 1 | 897 | 19 |
| Winter squash, cooked, 1 cup | 896 | 19 |
| Avocado, 1 | 708 | 15 |
| Sweet potato, medium, baked with skin | 694 | 15 |
| White beans, canned, drained, half cup | 595 | 13 |
| Yogurt, fat-free, 1 cup | 579 | 12 |
| 100% orange juice, 8 ounces | 496 | 11 |
| Halibut, cooked, 3 ounces | 490 | 10 |
| Lima beans, cooked, 1/2 cup | 485 | 10 |
| Broccoli, cooked, 1 cup | 457 | 10 |
| Acorn squash, cooked, 1/2 cup | 448 | 10 |
| Cantaloupe, cubed, 1 cup | 431 | 9 |
| Banana, 1 medium | 422 | 9 |
| Spinach, cooked, 1/2 cup | 420 | 9 |
| Pork tenderloin, cooked, 3 ounces | 382 | 8 |
| Lentils, cooked, half cup | 366 | 8 |
| Milk, 1% low fat, 8 ounces | 366 | 8 |
| Artichoke, cooked, 1 medium | 343 | 7 |
| Salmon, farmed Atlantic, cooked, 3 ounces | 326 | 7 |
| Steak, shoulder, grilled, 3 ounces | 311 | 7 |
| Pistachios, dry roasted, shelled, 1 ounce | 295 | 6 |
| Molasses, 1 tablespoon | 293 | 6 |
| Tomato, 1 medium | 292 | 6 |
| Raisins, quarter cup | 250 | 5 |
| Sunflower seeds, 1 ounce | 241 | 5 |
| Chicken breast, cooked, 3 ounces | 218 | 5 |
| Tuna, light, canned, drained, 3 ounces | 201 | 4 |
| Almonds, 1 ounce | 200 | 4 |
| Red wine, Merlot, 5 fluid ounces | 187 | 4 |
| Bread, whole wheat, 1 slice | 69 | 2 |
| Egg, boiled, 1 | 63 | 1 |
Stock up on the above high-potassium foods, and aim for 100% of your recommended daily value for potassium … you’ll be healthier for it.
Note: Too much salt depletes potassium. So be moderate with your salt intake.
Postscript: A quick way to find out the nutrient content of any food is to Google it. For example, to find out how much potassium an egg has, you can Google “how much potassium egg“. Google will give you menu choices for different preparations (boiled, fried, raw, etc.) and different portion sizes.
Most Americans Aren’t Getting Enough of this Vital Nutrient was originally published on Washington's Blog