What Are Some Potassium-rich Foods?

“I’m looking for food high in potassium. Do you know where I can find information on something like that?”

The only potassium-rich food we could think of off the top of our head was bananas, but there had to be more out there. Fortunately for us, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services published a chart of potassium-high foods listing the portion size, amount of calories per portion, and amount of potassium (in milligrams) per portion. The banana, surprisingly, ranks solidly toward the middle. A medium banana has about 422 milligrams of potassium, but a baked potato in its jacket has 738 and a sweet potato baked in its skin has 542. Other foods on the list include tomatoes, kidney beans, Pacific cod, and dried apricots. For the curious, the list is available here.

According the Health Reference Series Diet and Nutrition Sourcebook, potassium can lower blood pressure and may also decrease the risk of kidney stones. Also, if there’s a lot of salt in your diet, eating foods rich in potassium can lower the effects of the salt on your blood pressure.

We have an assortment of health-related cookbooks, such as the American Heart Association’s Go Fresh, available here at the library for anyone to come and browse.