Dietary imbalance can cause you to get too little potassium from the foods you eat, especially if you don't eat a lot of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and dairy products. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that many American diets do not include enough potassium, which can lead to high blood pressure. Fortunately, many foods can help you restore your levels of this important mineral while providing other essential nutrients. As you put together balanced meals from foods in every food group, choose those with high potassium most often.
Fruits
Many fruits have moderate potassium contents, so eating four to five servings of fruits daily helps you achieve your recommended intake of 3,500 mg of potassium. Among those to include in a diet to boost mineral levels are plantains, bananas, papayas, kiwis, cantaloupes, oranges and grapefruits. Dried fruits have high potassium but also high sugar concentrations, so use fruits such as raisins and dates sparingly to pump up potassium counts of foods such as yogurt and cereal.
Vegetables
Increase your potassium totals with cooked leafy greens, which also offer concentrated nutrients. One cup of cooked beet greens gives you nearly 40 percent daily value of potassium, or 1,309 mg, with cooked spinach and Chinese cabbage offering similar benefits. Potassium-rich starchy vegetables and root vegetables include baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips and rutabagas.
Whole Grains
Grain foods contribute moderate amounts of potassium to your diet, but with six to eight daily servings recommended, the totals add up. Cooked oat bran and buckwheat groats have the highest potassium content, with up to 201 mg in 1 cup, with percentages of DVs slightly less in cooked bulgur and barley and some ready-to-eat cereals.
Dairy Foods
Like grains, dairy foods increase your intake of potassium if you have two to three servings per day. Low-fat milk and yogurt are excellent sources, because reduced fat content enhances the potassium ratio. One cup of fat-free yogurt, for example, provides 579 mg of potassium, while nonfat milk supplies 382 mg of potassium. Among cheeses, only cottage and ricotta styles offer more than a trace of potassium.
Protein Foods
The protein group is one of the richest in potassium, with cooked dry beans at the top of the list. Soybeans, at 970 mg of potassium per 1 cup, offer the most, with pinto, lima, kidney and navy beans in the high-content class, at over 700 mg per serving. Additional protein foods to eat for a potassium boost include halibut, rockfish, haddock, salmon and clams, as well as chestnuts and other nuts. Beef, chicken, pork and lamb all contain moderate amounts of potassium.
Member Comments