These Top 5 Foods for Potassium Will Ensure You Get Enough of This Vital Nutrient

Potassium maintains the correct balance of electrolytes in your body, so it’s an important nutrient. If you don’t have enough potassium, you might feel fatigued, irritable and have high blood pressure. But don’t look to supplements – enjoy these top foods for potassium instead!

• There are plenty of foods that provide lots of potassium to enrich your body.
• For faster and better nutrient assimilation, include these foods when you prepare your healthy juices and smoothies.

When you eat potassium-rich foods, you get natural goodness. But taking supplements puts you at risk of possibly overdosing accidentally, leading to kidney or heart problems.

How Much Potassium Do You Need?

The recommended daily allowance is 3,500 – 4,700 milligrams per day

However, if you have chronic kidney disease you need less than 2000 mg per day.

Include these 5 whole foods in your meals as well as in your smoothies.

Avocado

1 medium avocado contains about 950 mg of potassium

Avocados are super-healthy with good fats, vitamins and fiber. If you’re eating low-carb, avocados will meet your nutritional needs and also provide a good energy source.

Use avocados in place of mayo or other unhealthy spreads on sandwiches, wraps and for dipping.

Satisfy your sweet tooth by combining an avocado with 1 teaspoon cacao powder, 1 teaspoon honey and 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract. Blend into a creamy mousse and enjoy a nutritious, delicious guilt-free dessert.

Spinach

1 cup / 200g cooked spinach contains about 850 mg of potassium.

Raw spinach is often used in juices and smoothies, but interestingly, it’s quite low in potassium. You need to cook it to get the big potassium benefits.

Sweet Potato

One medium sweet potato – about 750 mg

Although rich in carbs, Sweet Potato is good for you, because the starch in it is good for your gut (unlike the starch in potatoes and pasta).

Use instead of normal potatoes, including as mash, drizzle in a little oil and roast them, or cook an air fryer using very little oil, then toss in sweet smoked paprika, Cajun or BBQ seasonings to ramp up the flavour.

Prunes

Half a cup / 100g contains about 600 mg

Prunes and prune juice are nutrient-rich and taste nice too. Apricots are also good. Just be aware that if you have diabetes and/or you’re watching your sugar intake, dried fruits are quite high in fructose. Eat them with protein to slow down absorption – yogurt is potassium-rich and goes well with dried fruit.

Coconut Water

1 cup / 250ml contains about 600 mg

Coconut water is very nutritious and so it’s good to drink after a workout. If you’re buying a branded bottle, always check the ingredients to make sure that nothing else has been added to the water. Add coconut water to juices and smoothies too for a flavorsome nutrient boost.

Where’s the Banana?

A lot of people think of bananas when potassium is mentioned – but these 5 foods (well, OK, 4 foods and 1 liquid) have more potassium than the same weight of banana.

I’m NOT saying don’t eat bananas, they also have lots of nutrients! I’m just listing my top 5 food sources.