Food High in Potassium
Helps to Maintain Good Health

"A great list of potassium rich foods
that are also low in sodium!"



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.




How much potassium do we need?

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.



Effects of food low in potassium and high in sodium


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



We are what we eat - so eat more food high in potassium


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
Artichock, 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




For many more facts about potassium and a comprehensive list of the potassium and sodium content in over 150 common foods (both food high in potassium and food which is not), I highly recommend you read the well-researched book called:

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Potassium but Were Too Tired to Ask by Betty Kamen, Ph.D.