Potassium!!?? HolyCow!

[Bzilla27]

4,700mg a day?

Well... I know we can get our majority of potassium from most foods, but I can't eat so high on the glycemic index If I want to feel full, and I hear potatoes aren't so great. So! I bought some potassium pills from the herbal supplement area, and they contain 99mg. Potassium and reccomend one a day with a glass of water.

Hmm...

So, If I ate even half of my potassium for the day, I would need to eat 20 of the pills?

I even spoke with the pharmacist, and he seemed confused. Does anyone else know anything about this?

[crblack1218]

You are probably already getting enough potassium. While potatoes and bananas are a good source of potassium, plenty of other foods are high in potassium (more than 200mg per serving), including:

* Tomatoes and tomato products, such as tomato juice, tomato soup, and tomato sauce
* Nuts and seeds
* Raisins, prunes, and other dried fruits
* Legumes, including peas, lima beans, baked beans, pinto beans, soybeans, and lentils
* Plantains
* Spinach
* Papayas
* Milk and many dairy products, including milk shakes, cheese, and yogurt
* Brussels sprouts
* Orange juice
* Broccoli
* Oranges
* Melons
* Squash and other deep yellow vegetables

Fish, many fortified breakfast cereals (especially bran cereals), and other products made with 100% whole grain wheat flour (such as whole wheat bread, brown rice, or oatmeal) are also good sources of potassium.

Keep in mind that unlike other vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin A, Vitamin C, calcium, and iron, nutrition labels typically don't list the amount of potassium that is present in foods. That makes it even more important to learn which foods are high in potassium.

[Kathy13118]

Fruits and vegetables are the best sources of potatssium. You can definitely overdo it trying to supplement potassium when you low-carb, and even end up in the hospital (or worse). No wonder your pharmacist was confused.

Talk to your doctor instead. Here's the best thing about fitday: you can show him on the office computer (his office) exactly what you're talking about. Just pull up the reports of what you've accurately been eating. Short in potassium? It will show how short. And what have you been eating, by the way? Show him. And the reports that go with that.

That's what fitday does so well.Call me a report-a-holic...I'm constantly pulling up reports that show I'm getting 150% of my vitamin A requirement but 80% of my pantothenic acid!

[VitoVino]

Originally Posted by Bzilla27

4,700mg a day?

Well... I know we can get our majority of potassium from most foods, but I can't eat so high on the glycemic index If I want to feel full, and I hear potatoes aren't so great. So! I bought some potassium pills from the herbal supplement area, and they contain 99mg. Potassium and reccomend one a day with a glass of water.

Hmm...

So, If I ate even half of my potassium for the day, I would need to eat 20 of the pills?

I even spoke with the pharmacist, and he seemed confused. Does anyone else know anything about this?

This list will help you get your 4700 mg/day naturally:

http://www.fitday.com/fitness/forums...ed-ratios.html

I am now getting over 5K a day after struggling with the big K.

[lusciousL]

Thanx for this thread, I seem to be lacking in potassium and pantothenic acid (sp?) daily, I do eat tomato and nuts etc but I am going to look further into foods high in these two trace elements/minerals.

[RunbikeSki]

Originally Posted by Kathy13118

Fruits and vegetables are the best sources of potatssium. You can definitely overdo it trying to supplement potassium when you low-carb, and even end up in the hospital (or worse). No wonder your pharmacist was confused.

Talk to your doctor instead. Here's the best thing about fitday: you can show him on the office computer (his office) exactly what you're talking about. Just pull up the reports of what you've accurately been eating. Short in potassium? It will show how short. And what have you been eating, by the way? Show him. And the reports that go with that.

That's what fitday does so well.Call me a report-a-holic...I'm constantly pulling up reports that show I'm getting 150% of my vitamin A requirement but 80% of my pantothenic acid!

Originally Posted by lusciousL

Thanx for this thread, I seem to be lacking in potassium and pantothenic acid (sp?) daily, I do eat tomato and nuts etc but I am going to look further into foods high in these two trace elements/minerals.

Actually FitDay doesn't do as great a job with potassium as it should - but it isn't FitDay's fault. Potassium and Panthonenic acid are not required reporting units for many foods, so while what you eat may contain both, the manufacturer/chef may not have to report it - thus it appears to be zero.

However, thankfully, both nutrients are hard to overdose on. BTW, potassium supplements are teeny-tiny compared to the human requirement - I have not idea why

[VitoVino]

Originally Posted by RunbikeSki

However, thankfully, both nutrients are hard to overdose on. BTW, potassium supplements are teeny-tiny compared to the human requirement - I have not idea why

I think it's to make the supplement less potentially harmful by overdose. Basically you'd have to take an entire bottle of 99 mg supplement for an overdose which is more difficult to do than just a handful.

An overdose of potassium can stop the heart. It's part of the "lethal cocktail" they use in lethal injections for capital punishment.

I make sure to log my potassium if I take any supplement or am ingesting any KCL "table salt substitute". From what I've read, and I'm not sure, but I think the lethal does has to be around 10 grams at once.

[NikkiKimball]

Coffee is also high in potassium, a large cup of black coffee (like a Starbucks Venti) has 225mg

[kcal11]

Wow, good to know coffee has potassium...I do add too much sugar to my coffee. Is there a way to track sugar? I am also using another tool (testing both out right now, really good strengths to both so far.