Preserving a Delicate Balance of Potassium

NY Times ^ | June 22, 2004 | JANE E. BRODY

[neverdem]

IIRC, cantaloupe and honeydew melons have the highest concentrations of potassium.

[neverdem]

PING

[jocon307]

Bananas are good too, no?

Here is my #1 rule for healthy eating, only one processed dish per family dinner. I am no health food nut, but you've got to know that any pre-made or 1/2 pre-made food is filled with salt.

[martin_fierro]

Foods high in potassium:

HIGH potassium (more than 225 milligrams per 1/2 c. serving)

These foods would be beneficial to athletes or to others who incur heavy fluid loss. Patients on potassium-restricted diets should avoid them, or eat them sparingly, as advised by their nutritionist.

• All meats, poultry and fish are high in potassium.
• Apricots (fresh more so than canned)
• Avocado
• Banana
• Cantaloupe
• Honeydew
• Kiwi
• Lima beans
• Milk
• Oranges and orange juice
• Potatoes (can be reduced to moderate by soaking peeled, sliced potatoes overnight before cooking)
• Prunes
• Spinach
• Tomatoes
• Vegetable juice
• Winter squash

[neverdem]

She finally mentioned cantaloupes and bananas near the end.

[LurkedLongEnough]

And the atomic symbol for potassium is "K".

[gargoyle]

...Sounds like humans need a combinatin of some alkali metals, some alkaline metals, some non metals. The periodic table, balanced with essential elements are yer best bet...

[neverdem]

And the atomic symbol for potassium is "K".

As in kalium?

[neverdem]

Thanks for the link, but when I eyeballed the foods with low and and moderate amounts of potassium I found apple juice in the moderate category and apples in the low category. Maybe it's a typo.

[GSlob]

OK. So, now - everyone up the banana tree (an irony of evolution). Those in poor shape who cannot get up the banana tree, are to gather melons and cantaloupes.

[Born Conservative]

Here is another list of foods high in K+:

 

High Potassium Foods

Fruits
Apricots, canned and fresh
Banana
Cantaloupe
Dried fruits - apricots, dates, figs, prunes
Honeydew melon
Kiwi
Nectarine
Orange
Orange Juice
Pear, fresh
Prune Juice

Vegetables
Asparagus
Avocado
Bamboo Shoots
Beets
Beet Greens
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage, Chinese
Celery
Chard
Kohlrabi
Okra
Pepper, Chili
Potatoes, white and sweet
Pumpkin
Rutabaga
Spinach, cooked
Squash, winter
Tomato
Tomato sauce
Tomato juice
Vegetable juice cocktail

Legumes
Black-eyed Peas
Chick Peas
Lentils
Lima Beans
Navy Beans
Red Kidney Beans
Soybeans
Split Peas

Nuts and Seeds
Almonds
Brazil Nuts
Cashews
Peanuts
Peanut Butter
Pecans
Pumpkin Seeds
Sunflower Seeds
Walnuts

Breads and Cereals
Bran
Whole Grain

Miscellaneous
Chocolate
Cocoa
Coconut
Milk and Milk Products
Molasses
Substitute Salt

 

[reg45]

And the atomic symbol for potassium is "K".

As in kalium?

Yes

[neverdem]

Thanks for the link.

[Auntie Mame]

Also, you might want to trash your table salt and start buying Real Salt, available in your local health food store or online at www.realsalt.com

It has all the trace minerals (including iodine) and tastes much better than Mortons or table salt. Voted best cooking salt by professional chefs, it is how salt comes from the earth naturally. It's not as "salty" as what we're used to using at the table and is sometimes called one of the "sweet salts."

It will clump like salt used to do in the old days when it was humid, which shows that the sellers of salt are putting something in the salt these days to keep it free flowing. Once you've used it, you'll never go back. It's just that good.

[not2worry]

I like the first one on your "Miscellaneous" list!

[Lael]

IIRC, cantaloupe and honeydew melons have the highest concentrations of potassium.

And, Potassium 40 is a mildly RADIOACTIVE isotope, occuring in Nature.

Potassium is VERY important...and Sodium is overloaded in processed foods!

[PGalt]

Thanks for the post/ping.

[neverdem]

You're welcome.

[Katya]

Good culinary advice as well as nutritive, natural salts are much better tasting...I am shocked at the amount of Prefab food people consume. Beyond the health concerns, it's over priced and tastes awful.
A friend of my sons came over, and they went to raid my fridge which is pretty full. His friend suggested they order pizza because there was nothing to eat....apparently at home he was used to popping everything into the microwave.

[oldcomputerguy]

This sodium/potassium balance is not trival nor is it easily explained or controlled.

I take both a diuretic and an ACE receptor blocker. I do lose potassium and supplement it periodically. I find it easy to tell when my potassium level is low, my resting pulse rate increases too high.

Interestingly my normal pulse my entire life was 80. As I got older, it dropped and my blood pressure went up commensurately. After I started on diretics, my pulse rate gradually increased, presumably as I lost excess?? potassium, not sure but it is my thought. Now as it tends to get near 90, I take some potassium and down it comes.

BTW potassaium chloride is what is commonly referred to as salt substitute, it is also what is used to stop the heart in lethal injections if memory serves.