Potassium acts as an electrolyte in the human body, assisting heart and muscle function and other metabolic necessities. To meet the body's average daily requirement for this mineral, according to the FDA, people should consume about 3,500mg of it as part of a healthy diet.
Cooks and dieters can find high potassium levels in unprocessed foods from plant and animal sources. These high-potassium foods keep fat, sugar and calories to a minimum, without additives or preservatives.
Potatoes and Squash
For fully natural high-potassium foods, cooks can bake potatoes and squash in their skins. A baked potato delivers 1,081mg, while a baked sweet potato has 691mg. The USDA points out that boiling without the skin, however, cuts the mineral content roughly in half.
The unpalatable skin of winter squash keeps 1-cup servings to 494mg of potassium. Cooked summer squash, with 346mg, provides more minerals than 1 cup of raw squash, at 296mg.
Dry Beans
Cooks use unprocessed dry beans, soybeans, lentils and peas to add high fiber content to main dishes and dips, soups and salads. One cup of cooked black beans, black-eyed peas, navy beans, split peas, kidney and pinto beans, lentils and lima beans have between 611mg and 746mg of potassium. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) suggest finding ways to include soybeans, at 970mg per serving, often in a healthy diet.
Green Vegetables
Consumers can find high-potassium foods among unprocessed vegetable greens as well as green vegetables. Cooked beet greens have 1,309mg of potassium in 1 cup, while collard, mustard and turnip greens have as much as 292mg.
Cooked spinach, at 839mg, offers five times the potassium of a serving of raw spinach, the USDA relates. Broccoli and Brussels sprouts contribute as much as 495mg to potassium counts.
Meat and Fish
While all animal products contain minerals, as the NIH reports, fish represent better menu choices for high potassium than meats and poultry. Fresh, baked rockfish and halibut fillets, for instance, have as much as 916mg, while pork, chicken and beef cuts all contain about 300mg of potassium or less.
Fruits
The USDA suggests emphasizing fresh fruits in a healthy diet, and papayas represent high-potassium foods, with 781mg in 1 cup. Plantains, when cooked, have 716mg, while a regular, raw banana contains 422mg. Additional potassium fruits include kiwi, cantaloupe, grapefruit and oranges.
Seeds and Nuts
Harvested raw seeds and nuts form and important part of a healthy diet, according to the USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, cashews and pistachios provide about 230mg of potassium in 1-oz. servings. While these unprocessed food items don't have high potassium levels themselves, using them frequently as snacks and in composed dishes adds to the total mineral content.
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