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High-Potassium Foods

High-Potassium Foods

Topic Overview

Potassium is a mineral in your cells. It helps your nerves and muscles work as they should. The right balance of potassium also keeps your heart beating at a steady rate.

A potassium level that is too high or too low can be dangerous. If your levels are high or low, you may need to change the way you eat.

Low-potassium foods

Medium-potassium foods

High-potassium foods

Very high-potassium foods

less than 100 mg

101-200 mg

201-300 mg

over 300 mg

You can control the amount of potassium you get in your diet by being aware of which foods are low or high in potassium. When you choose foods from lists like the one below, note the serving size. Otherwise, it can be easy to get too much or too little potassium.

Content of select high-potassium foods footnote 1 footnote 2

Food (no table salt added)

Serving size

Potassium (mg)

Apricots

2 raw or 5 dry

200

Artichoke

1 medium

345

Banana

1

425

Beans (lima, baked navy)

½ cup

280

Beef, ground

3 oz

270

Beets, raw or cooked

½ cup

260

Broccoli

½ cup

230

Brussels sprouts

½ cup

250

Cantaloupe

½ cup

215

Clams, canned

3 oz

535

Dates

5

270

Dried beans and peas

½ cup

300–475

Fish (haddock, perch, salmon)

3 oz

300

French fries

3 oz

470

Lentils

½ cup

365

Milk (fat-free, low-fat, whole, buttermilk)

1 cup

350–380

Nectarine

1 fruit

275

Nuts (almonds, cashew, hazelnuts, peanuts)

1 oz

200

Orange

1 fruit

240

Orange juice

½ cup

235

Parsnip

½ cup

280

Potato, baked

1 potato

925

Potato chips, plain, salted

1 oz

465

Prunes

5

305

Pumpkin, canned

½ cup

250

Raisins, seedless

¼ cup

270

Seeds (sunflower, pumpkin)

1 oz

240

Spinach

½ cup

420

Sweet potato, baked

1 potato

450

Tomatoes, canned

½ cup

200–300

Tomato, fresh

1 fruit

290

Turkey

3 oz

250

Vegetable juice

½ cup

275

Winter squash

½ cup

250

Yogurt, plain

6 oz

260

Zucchini

½ cup

220

Hidden potassium

Some foods and drinks may have hidden potassium. Certain herbal or dietary supplements may also have it. Diet or protein drinks and diet bars often have this mineral. It is also in sports drinks. These are meant to replace potassium you lose during exercise.

Food labels do not have to include the amount of potassium, but some do. Even if potassium is not listed, it may still be in that food.

If you're limiting your potassium, do not use a salt substitute or "lite" salt without talking to your doctor first. These often are very high in potassium.

References

Citations

  1. U.S. Department of Agriculture, et al. (2015). USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, release 28. U.S. Department of Agriculture. http://www.ars.usda.gov/ba/bhnrc/ndl. Accessed October 12, 2015.
  2. American Dietetic Association (2015). Potassium content of foods. Nutrition Care Manual. https://www.nutritioncaremanual.org/client_ed.cfm?ncm_client_ed_id=153&actionxm=ViewAll. Accessed September 10, 2015.

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