Potassium is an essential mineral and electrolyte you need for your cells, tissues and organs to function at their best. According to the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, many mealtime foods are rich sources of potassium, including meat, poultry and fish and vegetables like peas, broccoli and baked potatoes. However, fresh and dried fruits are also good sources of dietary potassium.The potassium in raisins and bananas makes both foods good snack choices.
More About Potassium
Minerals such as potassium are inorganic, explains the Linus Pauling Institute; unlike vitamins, they don't contain carbon and other organic compounds. Rather, minerals come straight from the earth. Plants absorb them from the soil, which is how they find their way into the food you eat. You also get essential minerals indirectly from animal foods. Potassium's function as an electrolyte allows it to conduct electricity in your body, making it necessary for normal heart function, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center, or UMMC. Potassium also allows your muscles to contract and release and helps you digest food.
Potassium in Bananas
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, or CSPI, ranks bananas among their "silver medalist" fruits due to their rich potassium content. One banana, which contains around 120 calories, gives you between 10 to 20 percent of your daily value, or DV, from potassium--as well as vitamin C and fiber. A banana also gives you between 5 to 9 percent of your DV from folate.
Potassium in Raisins
Raisins receive a slightly lower ranking from the CSPI, falling in the "bronze medalist" group of fruit snacks. Drying fruit takes away some if its nutrients, making raisins slightly less desirable than a banana as a snack choice. A quarter cup of packed raisins gives you between 4 to 9 percent of your DV from potassium -- less than what you'd get from the more nutritious banana, for the same amount of calories, 120. Raisins also give you less fiber than a banana, between 4 to 9 percent of your DV. You can increase the serving size to get additional potassium, but the CSPI cautions you that the calories can quickly add up.
Other Food Choices
Raisins and bananas are only two of many potassium-rich fruit snacks from which to choose. Healthier selections that are rich not only in potassium but abundant in vitamin C and carotenoids--and low in calories--include cantaloupe, honeydew melon, kiwi fruit, papaya, fresh and dried apricots and dried peaches. These fruits give you the same amount of potassium you'd get from a banana and are also ranked by the CSPI as "gold medalist" fruits for their overall nutritional value.
Your Potassium Needs
Adolescents 14 and older, as well as adult men and women, need 4,700 mg of potassium each day, according to the Linus Pauling Institute. Nursing mothers need a little more potassium, roughly 5,100 mg daily. Most people get enough potassium from eating a variety of different food types, states the UMMC. Supplementary potassium is only safe when included as part of a multivitamin in small amounts; however, don't take potassium supplements or give them to a child without a doctor's consent.
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