Potassium in food: chart of high and low potassium foods

Potassium is a mineral your muscles and heart need to work. Healthy kidneys remove what the body does not need. When kidney function is severely reduced, or you take certain blood pressure medicines, the potassium in your blood can get too high. Then it can help to choose food with less potassium.

Many people with kidney disease have normal potassium and do not need a low-potassium diet. The limit depends on your blood tests. Do not cut out fruit and vegetables unless your doctor or dietitian has asked you to. If you cannot find your food in the tables here, search the food lookup, which shows potassium per 100 grams and per portion for more than 2,100 foods.

Which foods are highest in potassium?

Per 100 grams, the most potassium is in dried fruit, brunost and prim (Norwegian whey cheese and whey spread), crisps, nuts and almonds, spinach, potatoes and avocado. Bananas also have a fair amount. The Norwegian clinical handbook Metodebok counts over 300 mg of potassium per 100 grams as high, 150 to 300 mg as medium and under 150 mg as low.

The portion matters as much as the number per 100 grams. A slice of bread with brunost (16 grams of cheese) gives around 230 mg of potassium. A portion of boiled potatoes (170 grams) gives almost 900 mg, and a baked potato gives even more.

How much potassium is in a banana?

A banana of around 120 grams gives about 420 mg of potassium, which is around 11 mmol. That is a lot for one piece of fruit. If you have been told to eat a low-potassium diet, where the daily target is often 1.5 to 3 grams, a whole banana is a large part of the day. Many people then choose half a banana, or fruit with less potassium, such as an apple, blueberries or pineapple. See the numbers for banana and other fruit in the food lookup.

Which foods are low in potassium?

White rice and pasta, apples, berries such as blueberries and lingonberries, pineapple, watermelon, eggs, white bread and boiled vegetables such as carrot, swede and onion are low in potassium. These are good choices if you have been told to eat a low-potassium diet.

Is there potassium in eggs and oats?

Eggs are low in potassium: a boiled egg gives around 75 mg. Rolled oats have more, 413 mg per 100 grams, but a normal portion of one decilitre (40 grams) gives around 165 mg. Both can fit in a low-potassium diet. Porridge made with water gives less potassium than porridge made with milk, because one glass of milk alone gives around 350 mg.

How much potassium is in coffee, milk and juice?

Drinks give more potassium than many people think, because the glasses and cups add up over a day. A cup of coffee gives around 170 mg. NHI, the Norwegian health information service, writes that one litre of coffee a day can make up a third to half of the allowance if you are on a low-potassium diet. Tea, water and fizzy drinks have little. For beer and wine, see also alcohol and the kidneys.

How do you reduce potassium in potatoes and vegetables?

What works is peeling, cutting into small pieces, soaking and boiling in plenty of water that you pour away. Potassium passes into the water. Metodebok states that potassium can be reduced by fifty to sixty-five per cent when all the steps are followed. Frying, oven baking and microwaving keep most of the potassium.

1. Peel the potatoes or vegetables.
2. Cut them into small pieces or slices, so more of the surface meets the water.
3. Soak the pieces in water for a while before cooking. NHI suggests leaving potatoes in water overnight.
4. Boil in plenty of fresh water.
5. Pour away the cooking water, and do not use it in sauce or soup.

Matvaretabellen shows how much difference boiling makes for vegetables. NHI counts cauliflower and carrot, among others, as high in potassium when raw. Boiled vegetables have about half as much potassium:

For potatoes, Matvaretabellen gives the same amount of potassium in boiled as in raw potatoes, 522 mg per 100 grams for maincrop potatoes. That is because the figure for boiled potato is calculated without any loss to the cooking water. Boiling in plenty of water still works, but for potatoes it is the cutting, soaking and plenty of cooking water that have to do the job. Baked potato (709 mg), chips and crisps are high in potassium because nothing is boiled out.

Dried beans and lentils should be soaked overnight, and the water changed before and preferably during cooking.

NHI also gives this advice: pour away the liquid from tinned fruit and vegetables, and choose frozen vegetable mixes, which have less potassium than raw vegetables.

What raises potassium in the body?

The most common cause of high potassium is reduced kidney function. Certain medicines also raise potassium, including ACE inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor blockers and aldosterone antagonists, which many people with kidney disease and heart disease take because they protect the kidneys and the heart. Do not stop such medicines yourself. Talk to your doctor.

Some sources of potassium are easy to overlook:

• Salt substitutes with potassium chloride, such as Seltin (a common salt substitute in Norway). The Norwegian Directorate of Health advises against them with chronic kidney disease. Read more in the guide on salt and the kidneys.
• Juice gives a lot of potassium per glass. A glass of orange juice gives over 300 mg.
• Processed food can have added potassium. KDIGO points out that potassium from processed food, meat, dairy products and juice is absorbed more easily than potassium from fresh fruit and vegetables.
• Dietary supplements can contain potassium. Read the ingredient list.
• Rapid weight loss can break down muscle, and potassium is then released from the muscles, NHI writes.

Is there medicine for high potassium?

Yes. Potassium binders are prescription powders that you mix in water and drink. They bind potassium in the gut, so it leaves with the stool instead of being absorbed into the blood. In Norway, sodium zirconium cyclosilicate (Lokelma) and patiromer (Veltassa) are used. KDIGO 2024 lists potassium binders as one way to handle high potassium in people who take kidney-protecting blood pressure medicines, so they can keep taking the medicine instead of stopping. Your doctor decides whether they suit you. Read more about medicines with kidney disease.

How much potassium do you need a day?

Healthy adults are advised to get around 3.5 grams of potassium a day. In the latest national diet survey in Norway, Norkost 4, men got around 4.2 grams and women around 3.3 grams. If you are told to eat a low-potassium diet, the goal is often 1.5 to 3 grams a day, according to NHI and Metodebok. Your doctor or dietitian decides the amount you should have based on your blood tests and your stage.

What are the symptoms of too much potassium in the blood?

High potassium often gives few or no clear symptoms, and is usually found on a blood test. When it is noticed, it is typically as muscle weakness and heavy arms and legs, and in severe cases paralysis and an irregular heartbeat. The most dangerous part is disturbances in the heart rhythm.

The Norwegian medical encyclopedia Store medisinske leksikon grades high potassium like this: mildly raised 5.1 to 5.9 mmol/l, moderate 6.0 to 6.9 mmol/l and severe from 7.0 mmol/l. Hospital laboratories often have a lower upper limit, for example 4.6 mmol/l for serum potassium at Oslo University Hospital, so a value of 4.8 may be flagged as high on your result. Mildly raised potassium is usually handled with diet and a review of your medicines, but your doctor should assess it. A sample can also show falsely high potassium if it has stood too long before analysis, so the doctor often takes a new sample.

What are the symptoms of too little potassium?

Too little potassium in the blood rarely causes problems until the value is below about 3.0 mmol/l. Then you may feel weak and have nausea and constipation, and at very low values paralysis and heart rhythm disturbances. The most common cause is water tablets (diuretics), but vomiting and diarrhoea can also cause low potassium. Do not take potassium supplements unless your doctor has asked you to, especially not when you have kidney disease.

When is it urgent?

• Call 113, the Norwegian emergency number, if you have chest pain, faint, feel your heart beating very irregularly or suddenly lose strength in your arms or legs.
• Contact a doctor the same day, or the out-of-hours doctor (legevakt) on 116 117, if you have been told your potassium is high and you feel muscle weakness or palpitations.
• Get in touch with your doctor if your potassium has been raised on several tests, so that your diet and medicines can be reviewed.

Read more about other blood tests in understand your test results, and about your diet as a whole in food with kidney failure. On dialysis, potassium is extra important, especially on haemodialysis, see also life on dialysis.

How Nyrami can help

With the food scanner in the Nyrami app, you scan the barcode in the shop and see the potassium content assessed for you. The 148 recipes in the app are assessed per portion, so you see the potassium before you cook. The app is free for iPhone and Android.