Throughout my teen and adult years, my mom has always encouraged me to eat bananas. In fact, she would always say, “Eat a banana to get your potassium.” So I ate the banana even though I didn’t know why potassium was good for me and I’m not sure that she even knew why either. All I knew was that “mom’s always right!” Well, recently, mom did it again, she reminded me to eat my banana, but unlike the past, I decided to find out why I needed to have this banana! Needless to say, mom was indeed right to encourage me to get my potassium.
Through my research, I learned that potassium is one of three major minerals, called an electrolyte. The functions of potassium include the following1:
- Assist with regulating fluids and mineral balance in and out of the cells
- Assist with maintaining normal blood pressure by blunting sodium’s effects on blood pressure
- Assist with transmitting nerve impulses/signals
- Help muscles to relax
As you see, if you have challenges with high blood pressure or if you eat a lot of foods high in sodium, then you should definitely start to boost your potassium. So how much potassium is necessary daily for men and women to achieve these benefits1?
- Ages 9 – 13 4500mg
- Ages 14 and up 4700mg
- Breast feeding women 5100mg
Potassium can be found in almost all foods; see the table below to find out what foods have potassium; these foods are ranked from highest to lowest.
| Food | Amount | Potassium (mg) |
| Lentils, cook | 1 cup | 738 |
| Salmon fillet, baked | 3 ounces | 628 |
| Mahi-mahi fillet, baked | 3 ounces | 533 |
| Cod fillet, baked | 3 ounces | 517 |
| Portabello mushroom | 1 piece | 484 |
| Yam, baked in skin, peeled | 1 cup | 475 |
| Red beans, can, unsalted | 1 cup | 460 |
| Crimini mushrooms | 1 cup | 448 |
| Mustard greens, cooked, no meat | 1 cup | 404 |
| Potato, baked, no skin | 1 each | 391 |
| Almonds, dry-roasted | 1/2 cup | 373 |
| Banana, medium | 1 piece | 358 |
| Broccoli, florets, uncooked | 1/2 cup | 325 |
| Spinach, cooked, no salt | 1/2 cup | 302 |
| Broccoli, chopped, cooked | 1/2 cup | 293 |
| Turkey, breast, no skin, roasted | 3 ounces | 292 |
| Beef, any cut, trimmed, cooked | 3 ounces | 269 |
| Celery sticks, 4-inch long | 1 piece | 260 |
| Chicken, breast, no skin, roasted | 3 ounces | 256 |
| Romaine lettuce, shredded | 1 cup | 247 |
| Baby carrots | 10 pieces | 237 |
| Tomatoes, chopped, fresh | 1/2 cup | 237 |
| Okra, cooked | 1/2 cup | 234 |
| Cherries | 1 cup | 222 |
| Coconut milk | 2 tablespoons | 220 |
| Green beans, cooked | 1/2 cup | 159 |
| Lemon, fresh | 1/2 cup | 120 |
| Cow’s milk | 1 cup | 120 |
| Green peas, cooked | 1/2 cup | 110 |
| Apple, small | 1 piece | 107 |
1Duyff, Roberta Larson. Complete Food and Nutrition Guide. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2006.
