Potassium from a healthy diet helps the body grow and the heart and muscles function. The easiest way to meet the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) required 3500 mg of this essential mineral each day is to consume high-potassium foods and beverages whenever possible.
Nutritious potassium food choices exist in every food group. The FDA labels foods with 700 mg or more per serving "high potassium," with most standard servings equal to 1 cup. Cooks should note that some foods such as spinach provide much greater mineral content when eaten cooked than raw.
Juices
When seeking high potassium in beverages, consumers must trade off reduced dietary fiber for high mineral content. One cup of prune juice contains 707 mg of potassium, and carrot juice comes close to that amount, with 689 mg.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Dietary Guidelines for Americans report that juiced fruit provides less fiber than whole fruits. Still, other fibrous high-potassium foods, including legumes, fruits and vegetables, make up for the fiber loss.
Dried Fruit
A similar trade-off exists among dried fruits, but in this case, a high sugar concentration contrasts with high potassium content. One cup of dates, such as deglet noor, contains 1168 mg of potassium and 113 g of sugar--more than one-third the daily allowance.
Raisins provide 1086 mg of potassium and prunes 796 mg per serving but with similar high sugar. The USDA notes that controlled portions of dried fruits are acceptable in a healthy diet.
Legumes
Legumes include cooked dry beans, soybeans, lentils and peas. These high-potassium foods threaten dietary calorie counts, the USDA relates, if consumers exceed portion sizes. In 1-cup amounts, however, legumes such as refried pinto beans, lima beans and soybeans have between 847 mg and 970 mg of potassium. Lentils provide 731 mg and split peas 710 mg of potassium in nutrient-dense form.
Potatoes
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) advises cooks to leave the skins on potatoes for a boost of potassium in a healthy diet. One baked potato offers 1081 mg, and a baked sweet potato, at 691 mg, comes close to high content. Even without the skins, every type of potato dish, such as fast-food French fries, au gratin and mashed, still carries moderate to high potassium levels.
Vegetables
The greatest of the high-potassium foods are cooked beet greens, with 1309 mg, more than one-third the daily requirement. Together with cooked spinach, which has 839 mg of potassium per cup, these vegetables represent some of the USDA's ideal nutrient-dense foods--low in fat, sugar and calories but high in vitamins, minerals and fiber.
Fish
The USDA also encourages people to eat more fish in a healthy diet for similar reasons. Rockfish, with 775 mg of potassium in a fillet, and halibut, with 916 mg, maximize protein and other nutrients while minimizing saturated fat and calories.
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