Potassium foods are common and surround us. However, we seem to neglect them. Very few of us ask the right question: What foods have potassium?
Look at the below table. It clearly shows you that Potassium is an important mineral for a healthy diet. So I believe that we all need to know what to eat to get more potassium in our bodies? Here is a list of high potassium food you won’t regret to have.
Why do you need potassium foods?
Potassium is a critical mineral for us. It is less known than iron and calcium and a lot of people do not know what is potassium good for.
However, it is highly important as plays a crucial part of our life.
It helps several organs to function properly such as our heart, kidneys, brain and muscular tissues.
So if you like your heart to function at its optimum, you better look after it by absorbing potassium.
In essence, this mineral is brilliant at regulating your blood pressure. It helps your nervous so to function properly and as such helps your heart and other organs.
But what I find really interesting is that it negates the negative effect of sodium. By doing so, it helps you improves your sleep quality.
If you have mental function issues, you’ll be pleased to learn that potassium helps to boosts your mental function.
In addition to all of the above, it does support lead to better muscular function and guest what, it help you to get rid of some of the bad waste in your body.
All in all, this mineral is really good for you and does help improve your body’s fluid levels.
Now, are you interested to learn about the top and best 10 potassium foods?
What are the symptoms of low potassium consumption?
You need to know this. If you do not eat the daily recommended dose of this mineral, then you are at risk to suffer from hypokalemia.
You have Hypokalemia when your level of potassium is low.
When you suffer from this syndrome, then you may have these symptoms:
- Constipation
- Insomnia
- Digestive problems
- Fatigue
- Tingling sensations
- Heart palpitations
- Muscular weakness
What foods are high in potassium?
To avoid all of the above, you need to start eating potassium-rich foods. Below is a list highlighting what foods are highest in potassium.
1- Avocado is high in potassium
Avocado is full of potassium (see below sub-section). So if you want to improve your potassium level, this fruit is fantastic for it.
How much potassium in an avocado?
Eating 1 ripe avocado will provide your body with 975 mg of potassium. This is simply the equivalent of 30 percent of your recommended daily dietary intake. Eat three of these and you’re done for the day.
I am not suggesting that you eat 3 avocados a day. But you can eat an avocado and then any other potassium rich food that I describe below to get your daily intake.
If you are not used to eating avocados, then I would suggest you eat them plain sprinkled with some nice lemon juice.
You can make a number of dips too with a nice green avocado. You can add it to your salads, and many of my friends make smoothies or sandwiches with them.
Note that avocados are full of fibers, potassium, vitamin K, vitamin B, iron, copper, folate, protein, and phosphorus.
It is one of those fruits that we call a superfood.
Scientists agree that eating avocados will reduce risks of cancer, it will enhance your eyesight, promote weight loss, lower your cholesterol level, reduce arthritis symptoms and help you regulate your blood sugar levels.
Of high interest to us ladies, avocados promote the production of collagen. If you know this, then you’ll be happy to learn that it will improve your skin’s elasticity and firmness, thus you stay ‘young’.
2- How much potassium in a banana?
The level of potassium in banana quite high.
In fact, just a single medium-sized banana has about 422 mg of potassium.
This is equivalent to 12 percent of your recommended dietary intake.
So eat this nice fruit toward 4pm in the afternoon when you are little bit tired. It goes very well with yogurt or in a smoothie.
Bananas are also known for their other contents such as vitamins B6 and C, phosphorus, iron, fiber, calcium, zinc, and magnesium.
When you eat them, they boost your energy levels. That’s because they contain natural sugars like fructose, sucrose, and glucose.
In 2012, a PLOS ONE study highlighted that banana fruits do provide cyclists with a high amount of antioxidants. This is weird, but the antioxidants found in bananas cannot be found in any sports drinks.
That’s means a lot, we are as human not able to replicate what nature does so well.
Note that if you eat bananas on a regular basis, then you should be able to have a better heart health, lower your blood pressure, improve your skin condition, regulate bowel movements, treat anemia, soothe heartburs, and help with ulcers.
3- How much potassium is in a potato?
Well, potatoes are nice and they are full of potassium too.
For instance, a baked potato (say a medium-sized one) has about 950 mg of potassium. You need to eat the skin too to get that.
In the case you eat the skin and the potato, then you’ll get almost 27 percent of your recommended dietary intake. So one potato plus one avocado is 60% of your daily intake.
I have to say that you need to eat the flesh. Most of the potassium is in the flesh. It contains about 600 mg of the precious minerals. The rest is on the skin. So if you like the skin, then eat it too.
Note that the skin is full of nutrients. It is full of iron, vitamins B6 and C and fibers.
4- Potassium in spinach
It is important to know that the vast majority of dark green vegetables are full of potassium. I believe that spinach needs a special mention and you’ll understand why.
How much potassium is in spinach?
If you consume 1 cup of boiled spinach, then you will absorb about 839 mg of potassium. That’s why.
24% of your daily intake of the mineral. If you do not like them cooked, then just eat them in salads.
Or do a spinach soup or a smoothie.
Spinach is also rich in vitamins A and K. They contain iron, manganese, zinc, magnesium, protein, selenium, phosphorus, copper, nitrates and fiber.
Eating will simply help you with lowering blood pressure,lowering the risk of developing asthma, protecting your eyesight, improving bone health, fighting anemia, reducing inflammation and regulate your blood glucose levels.
5- White Beans potassium
½ cup of white beans can provides you with 502 mg of potassium. This is about 15 percent of your daily recommended amount. And that’s just half a cup.
So you can do some salads, stews or some nice bean’s soup.
Beans are notoriously known for being rich in fiber. They are full of folate, magnesium, iron, copper, manganese, phosphorus, and vitamin B1.
Note that beans can help you from high prevent blood sugar levels events just after a meal. They can also be used to lower your cholesterol level, reduce the risk of heart attack, maintain your memory, and boost your energy level.
6- How much potassium in sweet potato?
1 medium-sized sweet potato has 952 mg of potassium. So if you eat one of these, you’ll get about 27 percent of your daily recommended dietary intake. WOW.
I certainly enjoy eating these potatoes. Whether they are baked, steamed, sautéed, or fried as chips.
When you look at sweet potatoes, and if you eat them, then you’ll get plenty of vitamins A and C. They contain a lot of vitamins B1, B2, and B6.
But that’s not all, They have complex carbohydrates, copper, manganese, fiber, pantothenic acid, phosphorus, calcium, iron etc.
If you take sweet potatoes on a regular basis, then you’ll definitely boost your immune system. If you have internal inflammations, then eat this potato. It will help you.
It is also good for you eyesight, and fight cancer.
If you have a white type skin and are worried about sun damage, then eat sweet potatoes. It is also good against premature aging, and does regulate your blood sugar level as well as keeping your stress under control.
7- How much potassium in mushrooms?
I love to eat mushrooms in an omelet. So you can guess that I eat a lot of them as they are one of the best sources of potassium.
Think of it, just 1 cup of white mushroom will give you around 450 mg of potassium.
This is around 11 percent of your daily recommended intake. Not bad for a small mushroom (in an omelet 😉 ).
I also love mushroom soup, stir fries the Chinese way, salads, sandwiches, even in a pancake with a white sauce, etc.
They contain vitamin D, calcium, several B vitamins, some nice well-deserved iron, lean protein, and magnesium. The good news is that they are low in calories. So you can eat them without worrying too much about your waistline.
If you have cholesterol and heart health issues, eat mushrooms.
8- How much potassium in apricots?
The first thing I need to tell you is that dried fruits like apricots, prunes, raisins, figs, and peaches are full of potassium.
But the best news of the day is that dried apricots are one of the cheapest and contain some of the highest content of potassium.
If you eat just ½ cup of this dried fruit, you would have absorbed 755 mg of potassium mineral. That’s a staggering 22% of your recommended daily intake.
You can eat dried apricots as an on-the-go snack. You can also use them in salads and they are some nice Moroccan dishes that uses them (like a sweet chicken with apricots).
Apricots are full of antioxidants. You find a lot of vitamin A (from beta-carotene) and vitamin C.
They also contain fiber, calcium, copper and plenty of iron, magnesium and last but not the least phosphorus.
If you decide to eat a little bit of dried fruits such as apricot on a daily basis, then you’ll boost your eyesight.
You’ll also fight inflammation, and lower your blood pressure.
An interesting positive point is that you’ll improve your immune system (not many know this). You’ll also get a better hang on your cholesterol levels and enhance your skin health and your teeth.
9- potassium in tomatoes
Tomatoes are really good for you. And that’s why they fall under the category healthy potassium foods.
You can buy sun-dried tomatoes, tomato sauce, concentrate tomatoes, etc. they are all full of this mineral.
When you look a little bit under the hood, you’ll find that 1 cup of sun-dried tomatoes will give you 1,800 mg of potassium. OUCH! This is about 40% of your daily need.
I have to say that sun-dried tomatoes are a fantastic add-on to salads. I just love their little acidity in my sandwiches. Their flavors are pronounced, so it makes a nicer and tastier dish.
You’ll find that the tomatoes are full of vitamins A, C and K. They contain thiamine, proteins, riboflavin, iron and some really healthy fibers.
Eat plenty of these as they are good for your skin and heart health. They do reduce the risk of cancer but can also prevent anemia. Eat, eat and eat sun-dried tomatoes 😉
10- Acorn Squash
Acorn squash is excellent when it comes to taste and potassium. They are known as winter squash and just a single cup of this plant can give you 644 mg of potassium.
This cup gives you 18 % of your daily needs of this mineral.
You can make all sort of dishes with this plant such as squash baked, steamed, roasted, sautéed, with pasta etc. and even a nice soup.
The plant is full of folic acid and has plenty vitamins A and C. You’ll also find thiamin, pantothenic acid, and several B vitamins.
It has other minerals such as magnesium, manganese, iron, copper, phosphorous and calcium.
Note that eating this plant will boost your brain power, it will prevent a number of cancers, it will improve your eyesight , strengthen your bones, protect your skin, reduce your blood pressure, maintain fluid balance, regulate your blood sugar and finally reduce cholesterol levels.
Where to find potassium rich foods?
It is not really difficult to find these and you can identify plenty of these in your local shop or supermarket. Nevertheless, I have summarized of
Conclusion
I have given you 10 ways you can improve your potassium levels and reduce all of the negative sides effects of not having enough in your body.
You need to know that potassium is one of the greatest minerals that our body need to function properly. Lacking this mineral means you can get fatigued easily, have problems with your muscles, etc.
So the above 10 potassium foods will help you improve your body levels of potassium, but also improves your overall well-being. Enjoy the bananas, avocados, etc.
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