Pick Potassium Sources for Health’s Sake

Your mother, and all of those nutrition reports, were right. Eat your vegetables, and have some fruit, too. Fruits and vegetables, as well as dairy foods, are super sources of potassium, a mineral vital to life.

Potassium helps regulate fluids and mineral balance in and out of body cells. It helps prevent muscle cramps, and reduces calcium loss. While sodium may play a role in high blood pressure, potassium appears to help us maintain normal blood pressure. Potassium also helps transmit nerve impulses.

Healthy people seldom have problems getting enough potassium, if they eat a varied diet. But for those who are sick, with vomiting and diarrhea, potassium losses can become severe. People with anorexia nervosa and bulimia, whose diets are poor and whose bodies are nutrient-depleted from vomiting and laxative use, are also at risk for potassium deficiency, with potentially life-threatening effects.

Individuals taking a potassium-depleting diuretic medication may need to eat more high-potassium foods. While the physician may routinely recommend a banana a day for potassium, the good news is there are many excellent food sources. Fresh foods with limited processing are the best sources of potassium.

Although there is no official recommended intake, about 3,500 milligrams a day is considered a good goal. If needed for health, food choices yielding 8,000 to 10,000 milligrams of potassium can be selected with relative ease. An excess of potassium from food sources is not a concern, unless there is a medical condition that contraindicates.

A note of caution: Avoid potassium supplements, as potassium excess can be very dangerous. Too much potassium (more than 18,000 milligrams a day) can trigger a heart attack. Potassium chloride (KCl), usually seen in the form of salt substitute, should be used only upon physician recommendation.

Reprinted with permission from Environmental Nutrition, 52 Riverside Drive, Suite 15A, New York, NY 10024. For subscription information 1-800-829-5384.

Sandy Procter, M.S., R.D., L.D.

Coordinator, EFNEP

File: Diet: FOOD COMPONENTS/Minerals

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