Food High in Potassium
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Potassium, obtained from food and especially food high in potassium, along with the mineral sodium are necessary for a host of body functions from the action of your heart to the functioning of your brain.
These two nutrients are vital to the very mechanisms that power virtually every living cell in your body. They play a major role in controlling:
- - The salinity of the fluids inside and outside your cells.
- - The acidity and alkalinity of your body.
- - The flow of numerous substances throughout your body.
To keep our bodies healthy, nature provides us with the right amount of both these elements in a wide variety of natural foods. For example:
| Food Type (100 grams) | Potassium (milligrams) | Sodium (milligrams) |
| Peas, fresh | 380 | 1 |
| Asparagus, raw | 310 | 2 |
| Beef, uncooked | 280 | 55 |
| Flour, whole wheat | 370 | 3 |
| Pears, uncooked | 130 | 2 |
Notice the very small amount of sodium compared to the much larger amount of potassium!
Now look what happens to these same potassium rich foods when we cook and process them.
| Food Type (100 grams) | Potassium (milligrams) | Sodium (milligrams) |
| Peas, canned | 96 | 236 |
| Asparagus, canned | 250 | 200 |
| Beef, corned beef | 140 | 950 |
| Bread, white | 100 | 540 |
| Pears, canned | 90 | 1 |
In all cases the amount of the nutrient potassium is significantly reduced while in most cases, the amount of sodium is drastically increased due to the common industrial practice of adding table salt (sodium chloride) during processing for taste and preservative reasons.
The government recommended daily allowance for potassium is 3,500 milligrams while for sodium it is only 500 milligrams.
Because the typical North American diet is high in processed foods and lacking in food high in potassium, the average American, according to the National Academy of Sciences, ingests only 2,500 milligrams of potassium but a whopping 4,000 milligrams of sodium per day.
Hypertension, or high blood pressure, has for a long time been linked to excess sodium in the diet. Other factors include obesity and excess animal fat. Unfortunately, two-thirds of Americans over the age of 60 have high blood pressure with its associated higher risk of heart attack and stroke.
Many other health disorders can arise when we do not eat enough food high in potassium and too much food containing excess sodium, including: (just to mention a few)
- - Accelerated aging
- - Fatigue
- - Glucose intolerance
- - Headaches
- - Cognitive impairment
- - Insomnia
To improve our body's potassium-sodium balance, we should all strive to eat more raw fruits and vegetables, more whole grain foods and reduce our consumption of refined foods.
Good nutrition is the number one contributor to healthy longevity.
To this end, the FDA has recently given manufacturers permission to put labels on potassium rich foods, touting their ability to reduce both high blood pressure and stroke risk.
Any food high in potassium which contains at least 350 milligrams of potassium per serving and not more than 140 milligrams of sodium and as well is low in saturated fat and cholesterol, can make this claim.
Unrefined apple cider vinegar is a good source of potassium, which can be increased even more by mixing in fresh, potassium rich berries or apricots to form a fruit vinegar.
Combine that with some of the following potassium rich foods (which are also low in sodium) and you'll have no trouble getting the recommended daily allowance of 3,500 mg. As well, food high in potassium will go a long way to help counter the adverse effects of excess salt in your diet.
| Potassium Rich Foods (100 grams) | Potassium Content (milligrams) | Sodium Content (milligrams) |
| Almonds, unsalted | 728 | 1 |
| Apricots, dried | 979 | 2 |
| Artichoke, uncooked | 430 | 43 |
| Avocado, | 604 | 4 |
| Baked potatoes, with skin | 503 | 4 |
| Banana, | 370 | 1 |
| Beef, pot roast | 370 | 60 |
| Carrots, raw | 341 | 47 |
| Cashews, unsalted | 464 | 15 |
| Dates, dried | 650 | 1 |
| Figs, dried | 638 | 34 |
| Garlic, | 530 | 19 |
| Green lima beans, raw | 650 | 2 |
| Green peas, uncooked | 340 | 1 |
| Hamburger, | 451 | 47 |
| Shredded wheat, | 346 | 3 |
| Spinach, steamed | 324 | 50 |
| Sunflower seeds | 920 | 30 |
| Tomato paste, canned | 888 | 38 |
| Turkey, roast light meat | 411 | 82 |
| Walnuts | 460 | 3 |
| Whole wheat flour | 370 | 3 |
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Potassium but Were to Tired to Ask
by Betty Kamen, Ph.D.
