It's best to avoid health problems associated with potassium deficiency, or hypokalemia, before you need to correct them. Once your mineral level declines, you might need intravenous or oral supplementation. The National Institutes of Health reports that low blood potassium can cause life-threatening nerve and muscle malfunctions. Eating a variety of foods in a balanced diet provides adequate potassium daily, or an average intake of 3,500 mg. If you already suspect you have a shortage of dietary potassium, choose foods in each food group with the highest amounts.
Protein Foods
Some protein foods, such as legumes, nuts and fish, offer large contributions of potassium to help you achieve your daily values, or DVs, and prevent a drop in blood mineral levels. Cooked soybeans, refried pinto beans, black-eyed peas and other legumes offer 700 mg or more in potassium per serving, or 20 percent DV, which the FDA considers high in content. Moderate amounts are found in many types of fish and nuts, with beef, pork, lamb and chicken providing low but still significant potassium levels.
Dairy Foods
Foods whose mineral densities become concentrated during preparation, such as low-fat yogurt, help you build your daily totals of potassium quickly. Because the potassium in dairy products is important to heart health, the American Heart Association encourages consumption of two to three servings of dairy foods daily. Your greatest sources of potassium will come from milk and yogurt. One cup of fat-free yogurt has 579 mg of potassium, and fat-free milk has 382 mg. Most cheeses are not good potassium sources.
Vegetables
Potassium concentration occurs when cooking leafy greens, making cooked beet greens, spinach and bok choy excellent vegetables to include in a diet for potassium. These contain an average of 25 percent DV, as do baked potatoes and sweet potatoes. Jerusalem artichokes, parsnips, kohlrabi and rutabagas are additional potassium-rich vegetables.
Fruits
While most fruits don't have high potassium ratios, most do contain the mineral, so eating four to five daily servings will push you steadily toward your total DVs. The greatest amounts are found in dried dates, raisins and prunes, as well as plantains, which have 700 mg or more in potassium per 1 cup. Bananas, papayas, kiwis, cantaloupes, honeydews and orange juice all make lesser, but significant potassium additions to your diet.
Grain Foods
Grains also have moderate potassium content that adds up fast over a daily total of six to eight recommended servings. Hot and cold breakfast cereals are good sources, with as much as 201 mg per 1 cup of cooked oat bran, buckwheat groats, oatmeal and some whole-grain cold cereals.
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