# dietary potassium **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 10, 2014, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dietary-potassium/692745 "2014-07-10T05:36:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dietary-potassium/692745/21 "2014-07-10T19:52:12Z")
> [@needtoknow](#): > > … I am only asking for how _i_ can get potassium into my diet. The best answer is, of course, in real food, in ways that even most restricted diets can achieve. > [@needtoknow](#): > > … I didn’t ask anyone for a list of good food … No sarcasm is intended here: I do hope you get the bigger issues that challenge you addressed. Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![needtoknow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f9ae1b/32.png) [@needtoknow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needtoknow)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dietary-potassium/692745/22 "2014-07-10T19:52:19Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Doesn’t sound like you’ve come to the correct position with “settled.” > > Good luck. Using “lite salt” or “salt substitute” in place of regular “table salt” is not a decent way of getting a possibly adequate intake of potassium, when at the moment i can find none in any foods i am eating? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dietary-potassium/692745/23 "2014-07-10T19:53:24Z")
None? Mind sharing what a typical day’s intake (menu plan if you will) looks like for you? ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dietary-potassium/692745/24 "2014-07-10T19:59:17Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > If their diet is so poor that it’s potassium deficient, they’ve got bigger problems than potassium deficiency to attend to. I’m on Potassium supplements because the BP medicine I take “leaches” potassium back out - according to my doctor - is that accurate or not? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dietary-potassium/692745/25 "2014-07-10T20:03:43Z")
> [@simster](#): > > I’m on Potassium supplements because the BP medicine I take “leaches” potassium back out - according to my doctor - is that accurate or not? Probably, especially if you’re on meds like furosemide or other potassium-wasting diuretics. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dietary-potassium/692745/26 "2014-07-10T20:11:53Z")
> [@needtoknow](#): > > why are most vitamin pills missing potassium, and the stores carry tablets of only 1% to 2% of RDA? 5g of potassium would be a heck of a big pill to swallow :eek: ---
**Author:** ![needtoknow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f9ae1b/32.png) [@needtoknow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needtoknow)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dietary-potassium/692745/27 "2014-07-10T20:24:52Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > None? > > Mind sharing what a typical day’s intake (menu plan if you will) looks like for you? Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, ramen or generic pasta with added flavor packet (no spagetti sauce). Candy. Occasional whey protein shake, which has helped immensely, for years i could not lift my arms above my shoulders. If i need to go out of the local area (maybe once a month), i get a burger with lettuce and tomatoe and fries, eat covertly in the car. Granted a vitamin pill has 90mg (1%) and the whey drink has 420mg (12%) , but i am concerned about the quantities of other stuff in the “muscle drink”, and don’t drink it every day. Since you are going to keep pestering me, i’ll tell you the local District Attorney’s office has decided if the neighbor’s dogs bark, i must be guilty of animal abuse (mental cruelty), and that is a 10 year jail term, and they have arrested me for having a window fan 300ft from the property line, arrested me for mowing my yard, for having a garden, for driving my car, for having trash pickup, for spraying the poison ivy, and for having the car headlights on at night. Why?, because the dogs bark at everything. I have tried relocating myself to another county, to another state. I now don’t have the money to move. One DA attorney told me to gravel the lawn and garden area. They also told me to arrange, with the nighbors, special times to go to the road to get my mail, or drive to town. The insanity of the situation, the threat of going to jail for 10 years, leads me to not have any evidence of a dog-offensive garden. Plus veggies tend to spoil, making frequent replenishment drives to town necessary. Which irritates the dog, which will get me arrested again. It also puts me in harm’s way, because it was declared in court, in a loud yelling tone of voice, that the dog has a right to bite me, and i have no right to tell it to let go of me. I am talking pit bulls and rottwilers. There is a county animal control law. People have been killed by dogs all around here, every year. You cannot help with this, give it a rest, get off of me about it. I shall get the “lite salt” or “substitute”, and use it as regular “table salt”. The topic is settled. ---
**Author:** ![needtoknow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f9ae1b/32.png) [@needtoknow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needtoknow)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dietary-potassium/692745/28 "2014-07-10T20:27:38Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > 5g of potassium would be a heck of a big pill to swallow :eek: And make you literally bloody sick. Use (un)common sense: 1) you don’t need 5g per day and 2) spread it out to multiple doses with each meal. I am looking for only 1 or 2 grams per day for myself. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dietary-potassium/692745/29 "2014-07-11T00:01:35Z")
Just a data point - I’m not commenting on what daily dose of potassium is appropriate or how to get it. I am on Hydrodiuril (a diuretic) for blood pressure (also on Bisoprolol, but I don’t think that is relevant here). I had been on it for a little while when my doctor noticed my potassium was low (I forget what it was). So, I have been on Slow-K once per day since then. The bottle says “SLOW K 600 MG / POTASSIUM CHLOR SR 8 MEQ”. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dietary-potassium/692745/30 "2014-07-11T00:20:56Z")
Slow-K is convenient but you can’t always be sure that the 8 mmol (or meq) of potassium it contains is absorbed by the body (see ‘[bioavailability](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioavailability)’). With that in mind, I’ve heard it claimed that one inch of a typical banana contains about 1 mmol of potassium. Since the potassium in a banana should be 100 percent bioavailable, that means that one good-sized banana has as much potassium in it as a tab of Slow-K. And it’s tastier! ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dietary-potassium/692745/31 "2014-07-11T01:32:54Z")
> [@needtoknow](#): > > Dseid, thanks for your sarcasm. It’s a long involved story, but having a 1/4 acre veggie garden on my 12 acres in a rural area set me back many thousands of dollars in court fights. I no longer have a garden, and i stay clear of anything related to gardens, their produce, or growing plants in the ground. I didn’t ask anyone for a list of good food, and i bought Cecil’s book decades ago (and read it). > > Qadgop, i ran across the Mortons Lite Salt containing potassium last nite, still have no price on it. Walmart’s online search is brain dead, but they may have it in a local store, i shall try to get there later today. If not in the store, i’ll order it online, and simply use as a regular table salt. The stores you mention all require some form of sponsored membership, or at least they did last time i tried to buy there. Ebay has oddly been no help (but there’s a remarkable amount of false advertising!). The words people use to advertise potassium products isn’t helpful, the “salt substitute” is still salt, and “Lite Salt” tells me it’s low calorie. I also discovered last night the local Home Depot sells potassium in their pool dept, but no clue to translating it to a gram of dietary potassium, probably a real iffy and dangerous endeavor. They also sell acid and peroxide for etching pcbs in the pool department! > > Anyhow, i believe this topic is settled, thanks for replying. If you hit google shopping, it shows 2 stores selling it for 6-7 $$ shipping, and $3US per 11 oz cannister. I would guess that the price from Wal-Mart is probably similar. I seem to remember it was roughly that about 5 years back when I bought one to have on hand for any guest that needs to restrict sodium. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dietary-potassium/692745/32 "2014-07-11T02:09:53Z")
> [@needtoknow](#): > > Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, ramen or generic pasta with added flavor packet (no spagetti sauce). Candy. Occasional whey protein shake … Unless you eat a lot of candy lack of calories may be a bigger problem for you than potassium. 2 tbsp of peanut butter has about 190 calories (and 208 mg potassium), two slices of white bread about 165 calories (and 120 mg more potassium), 1 tbsp of jelly or jam about 60 calories (15 mg potassium), a package of Ramen 195 calories (52 mg potassium), the whey depends on the product but usually about 100 calories (you credit yours with 420 mg). Without the candy that comes to roughly 810 calories a day (counting the sometimes skipped whey). I apologize that you interpreted my comments as pestering you. You have somehow concluded that these food behaviors are a rational response to that which you experience around you. I decline further comment on that (and doubt that any expression of concern would be well received anyway) other than on the nutritional facts as presented: potassium lack is not the big problem here no matter which vitamin/mineral supplements you take. Maybe canned or frozen products would allow you vegetables and fruits that don’t go bad so easily and that can be stocked up on infrequently? Again, good luck and hoping for your good health in every sense of the word. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dietary-potassium/692745/33 "2014-07-11T04:00:24Z")
On a semi-related point, my dad is on a restricted diet for medical reasons because his potassium level is too high. He’s finding it quite hard, because so many common foods contain lots of potassium. ---
**Author:** ![needtoknow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f9ae1b/32.png) [@needtoknow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needtoknow)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dietary-potassium/692745/34 "2014-07-11T04:16:12Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Unless you eat a lot of candy lack of calories may be a bigger problem for you than potassium. > > 2 tbsp of peanut butter has about 190 calories (and 208 mg potassium), two slices of white bread about 165 calories (and 120 mg more potassium), 1 tbsp of jelly or jam about 60 calories (15 mg potassium), a package of Ramen 195 calories (52 mg potassium), the whey depends on the product but usually about 100 calories (you credit yours with 420 mg). Without the candy that comes to roughly 810 calories a day (counting the sometimes skipped whey). Neither the PB, jelly, or ramen list potassium as a nutrient, or as an ingredient. I find that odd. This bread, a new version of bread to me, does list potassium as 60mg per slice, as you stated. I accept your numbers on the potassium, which total 395mg per day, or ~9% of USRDA. I don’t know why i thought the PB&J was higher in calories. The fact remains: i need more potassium, especially in summer, and now i know how to safely get it. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dietary-potassium/692745/35 "2014-07-11T05:25:06Z")
What. The. Fuck. Did i just read?! ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dietary-potassium/692745/36 "2014-07-11T05:46:18Z")
> [@needtoknow](#): > > Neither the PB, jelly, or ramen list potassium as a nutrient, or as an ingredient. Potassium is a basic element of life, found in all living things. All foods (except highly some refined ones, such as sugar or cooking oil) contain it in significant amounts. Unless you have actually got some illness or are taking drugs that cause you to lose potassium at a higher than normal rate, it is very difficult to get a potassium deficiency if you are eating any remotely like a normal (never mind healthy) diet. From what you say about your diet, however, it is nowhere near being normal or healthy, and you are going to suffer from (or already are suffering from) other, much worse dietary deficiencies long before potassium deficiency becomes a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dietary-potassium/692745/37 "2014-07-11T06:01:59Z")
> [@needtoknow](#): > > Since you are going to keep pestering me, i’ll tell you the local District Attorney’s office has decided if the neighbor’s dogs bark, i must be guilty of animal abuse (mental cruelty), and that is a 10 year jail term, and they have arrested me for having a window fan 300ft from the property line, arrested me for mowing my yard, for having a garden, for driving my car, for having trash pickup, for spraying the poison ivy, and for having the car headlights on at night. Why?, because the dogs bark at everytbutter have tried relocating myself to another county, to another state. I now don’t have the money to move. One DA attorney told me to gravel the lawn and garden area. They also told me to arrange, with the nighbors, special times to go to the road to get my mail, or drive to town. > > The insanity of the situation, the threat of going to jail for 10 years, leads me to not have any evidence of a dog-offensive garden. Plus veggies tend to spoil, making frequent replenishment drives to town necessary. Which irritates the dog, which will get me arrested again. It also puts me in harm’s way, because it was declared in court, in a loud yelling tone of voice, that the dog has a right to bite me, and i have no right to tell it to let go of me. I am talking pit bulls and rottwilers. There is a county animal control law. People have been killed by dogs all around here, every year. You cannot help with this, give it a rest, get off of me about it… Wtf is this? And what does it have to do with potassium?? ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dietary-potassium/692745/38 "2014-07-11T08:06:30Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > As with iron, potassium is problematic in high and concentrated doses because of potential toxicity. > > The most significant potential risk is hyperkalemia which is potentially lethal; I believe concentrated doses also have a significant effect of local GI irritation. > > You might notice relatively weak concentrations of potassium in sport drinks, and for the same reason. The rat LD50 for potassium chloride taken orally is 2,600 mg/kg ([http://avogadro.chem.iastate.edu/MSDS/KCl.htm](http://avogadro.chem.iastate.edu/MSDS/KCl.htm)). For a 150 lb (68 kg) human this would be 177,000 mg (6.24 oz) worth. Even if supplements contained 100% of the USRDA you’d need to consume almost 40 pills a day to reach that. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dietary-potassium/692745/39 "2014-07-11T10:29:56Z")
> [@Surreal](#): > > The rat LD50 for potassium chloride taken orally is 2,600 mg/kg ([http://avogadro.chem.iastate.edu/MSDS/KCl.htm](http://avogadro.chem.iastate.edu/MSDS/KCl.htm)). For a 150 lb (68 kg) human this would be 177,000 mg (6.24 oz) worth. Even if supplements contained 100% of the USRDA you’d need to consume almost 40 pills a day to reach that. A key consideration, though, is whether the person (or animal) ingesting the potassium has normal kidney function. Since one of the earliest manifestations of poor kidney function is loss of the ability to excrete potassium in the urine, taking in so much potassium can still be very dangerous for some (and, note that early on, poor kidney kidney is usually asymptomatic - other than a blood test, there is not a lot available to diagnose it at that stage, i.e. a person may not be aware they are at risk). Further, if the person is taking any of a number of commonly used drugs (e.g. ACE-inhibitors, Dyazide et al, Aldactone et al, . . .), their ability to excrete potassium in the urine can be extremely compromised even in the setting of normal kidney function. So, from a population perspective, you can be almost guaranteed that some people will get into serious trouble from taking so much potassium. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dietary-potassium/692745/40 "2014-07-11T12:16:12Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Wtf is this? And what does it have to do with potassium?? One symptom of potassium deficiency (according to WebMD) is “Abnormal psychological behaviour: depression, psychosis, delirium, confusion or hallucinations.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dietary-potassium/692745.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dietary-potassium/692745.md?page=3)