Potassium is a significant dietary mineral that is fundamental for keeping your apprehensive and cardiovascular frameworks working.
Yet, likewise, with most anything, there is such a reality as an overdose of something that is otherwise good.
Benefits of Low Potassium Diet
A low-potassium diet might be one of the first therapies suggested in quite a while for hyperkalemia, the clinical term for having a lot of potassium in your blood.
The condition is normal in individuals with constant kidney illness and diabetes, and if left untreated, can be deadly.
Each time you eat a banana or a prepared potato with the skin on (not simply the delectable buttered internal parts), you’re getting potassium.
This fundamental mineral has a significant role in our body to keeps your muscles solid and your pulse and circulatory strain consistent.
In the event that you show at least a bit of kindness or kidney condition, however, your primary care physician might suggest a low-potassium diet.
Your kidneys are answerable for keeping a sound measure of potassium in your body. In case they’re not working right, you might get excessively or excessively little.
You might have an excess of potassium in your blood, it can cause heart failure – when your heart unexpectedly quits pulsating.
In the event that you have too little potassium in your blood, it can cause a sporadic heartbeat. Your muscles may likewise feel feeble.
For that, You might need to follow a low potassium diet menu, but before following that you must know what foods are rich in potassium and foods that you must avoid while following a low potassium diet.
Foods that are High in Potassium (Must Avoid)
These are the foods that you must avoid while following a low potassium diet, as they are rich in this mineral.
To keep your levels low, stay away from or eat not exactly a half-cup a day of these high-potassium food varieties:
Low Potassium Diet Menu PDF – Free Download Here
High-Potassium Fruits
- Apricots
- Bananas
- Cantaloupe
- Dried fruit
- Honeydew melon
- Kiwi
- Mango
- Nectarines
- Oranges and orange juice
- Papaya
- Pomegranate and pomegranate juice
- Prunes and prune juice
- Pumpkin
- Raisins
High-potassium vegetables:
- Acorn squash, butternut squash, Hubbard squash
- Avocado
- Artichoke
- Beets
- Baked beans, black beans, refried beans
- Broccoli (cooked)
- Brussels sprouts
- Kohlrabi
- Lentils
- Okra
- Onions (fried)
- Parsnips
- Potatoes (white and sweet)
- Rutabagas
- Spinach (cooked)
- Tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste
- Vegetable juice
Fruits and Vegetables: Fresh produce is for the most part wealthy in potassium. At the point when eaten crudely, numerous leafy foods are too high in potassium for a low-potassium diet.
Nonetheless, you might have the option to have them on the off chance that you limit divides as well as cook them to lessen the potassium content.
Some canned leafy foods can likewise fill in as long as you channel and wash them.
Dairy: Milk items should be stayed away from, or possibly restricted, on a low-potassium diet. You might have the option to have a little serving of milk or yogurt every day.
A few kinds of cheddar (counting curds) are low enough in potassium that you might have the option to remember them for your eating routine.
On the off chance that you add milk to your tea or espresso, change to a non-dairy half and half or milk option, for example, rice milk. Nonetheless, keep away from soy milk.
Grains: Instead of entire grains and wheat, search for rice cereals or bread produced using refined flour.
White rice and pasta noodles produced using refined white flour are supported on a low-potassium diet. Soft drink saltines, unbuttered popcorn, and puffed rice are lower-potassium nibble alternatives.
Protein: Most creature and plant-based proteins are high in potassium. Nonetheless, you need to remember some protein for your eating routine.
Pick lower-potassium alternatives or have more modest bits of high-potassium sources. Egg whites are one lower-potassium choice.
You might have the option to have little servings of nuts (one little modest bunch) or peanut butter (a solitary tablespoon).
Stay away from hotdogs, bacon, lunch meats, and some other prepared meats with added substances that might contain potassium.
At whatever point you cook meat of any sort, make certain to deplete the juices and dispose of them as opposed to utilizing them for sauces, treating, or sauce.
Desserts: Many treats are made with fixings that are high in potassium, like nuts, syrups, and chocolate. Be cautious while picking treats, cakes, and frozen yogurt.
Search for plain yellow cakes (like heavenly messenger food or wipe cake) with no icing, frosting, fixings, or fillings.
Clear gelatin, nectar, and maple syrup are lower-potassium decisions. In case you’re heating, white sugar is a lower-potassium decision than earthy colored sugar.
Refreshments: Dehydration can disturb the electrolyte balance in your body and lead to hyperkalemia.
Water is the most ideal decision for remaining hydrated, however other endorsed refreshments on a low-potassium diet incorporate new lemonade and juice produced using the low-potassium natural products or frozen natural product concentrate.
One eight-ounce cup of frosted or hot espresso daily is OK. Tea is likewise adequate, as long as you stick to 16 ounces each day.
It tends to be served hot or on ice either plain or improved with lemon and sugar or nectar. Keep away from high-potassium spices like horse feed, dandelion, and vex, which are frequently utilized in tea (and preparing) mixes.
What is a safe level of potassium in my blood?
But in order to follow a low potassium diet, you must know when you have to follow that. For this, you must check with a doctor and measure the potassium levels in your blood.
Safe Zone: If it is 3.5-5.0 mmol/L
Caution Zone: If it is 5.1-6.0 mmol/L
Danger Zone: If it is higher than 6.0 mmol/L
If your Potassium level is in the danger zone you must avoid all foods that are rich in this mineral and start following this kind of diet.
You don’t need to follow a low potassium diet plan as the kidneys can usually filter excess potassium from the body.
But if you have diabetes or kidney disease, which prevents your kidneys from working properly, your dietician/doctor may suggest a low potassium diet.
If you are suffering from any kidney disease then you may need to limit your intake of
- phosphorus
- sodium
- calcium
Foods You Can Include in Low Potassium Diet/Plan
There are a variety of fruits and vegetables that are low in potassium and you can easily adopt them in your low potassium diet menu.
Low-potassium fruits:
- Apples (plus apple juice and applesauce)
- Blackberries
- Blueberries
- Cranberries
- Fruit cocktail
- Grapes and grape juice
- Grapefruit
- Mandarin oranges
- Peaches
- Pears
- Pineapple and pineapple juice
- Plums
- Raspberries
- Strawberries
- Tangerine
- Watermelon
Low-potassium vegetables:
- Alfalfa sprouts
- Asparagus (6 raw spears)
- Broccoli (raw or cooked from frozen)
- Cabbage
- Carrots (cooked)
- Cauliflower
- Celery (1 stalk)
- Corn (half an ear if it’s on the cob)
- Cucumber
- Eggplant
- Green beans or wax beans
- Kale
- Lettuce
- White mushrooms (raw)
- Onion
- Parsley
- Peas (green)
- Peppers
- Radish
- Water chestnuts
- Watercress
- Yellow squash and zucchini
Other low-potassium foods:
- Bread (not whole grain)
- Cake (angel or yellow)
- Coffee (8 ounces)
- Cookies (no nuts or chocolate)
- Noodles
- Pasta
- Pies (no chocolate or high-potassium fruit)
- Rice
- Tea (16 ounces max)
If you really need to follow Low potassium diet then you must know to cook your food by the process called Leaching.
How to Leach Vegetables
- Wash veggies in cold water (You can try with white and sweet potatoes, carrots, beets, winter squash, and rutabagas.).
- Peel and slice them, and rinse under warm water.
- Add 10x warm water to a pot or bowl (1 Part of Vegetable + 10 Parts of Water)
- Soak vegetables for at least two hours or up to 12 hours (but change its water every hour).
- Remove vegetables and rinse them in warm water again.
- Boil the vegetables (1 Part of Vegetables + 5 Parts of Water).
- After that Drain, the cooking water as that’s where the leached potassium has collected.
By this, you can maintain your potassium level, but also consult your doctor before following anything.
Some Common Questions about this is as follows:
1. How much potassium is in an egg?
Eggs are considered a low-potassium food, contains about 63 mg of potassium. Consult your doctor before including this in your diet.
2. How Much Potassium is considered High
If your Blood has more than 6.0 mmol/L levels of potassium, it is considered to be high. And, Immediate intervene is required.
3. How much potassium should you take?
At least 4700 mg/day Potassium is required per day for all adults (18 or above)
18 years and up – 4,700 mg/day
Pregnant women – 4,700 mg/day
Breastfeeding women – 5,100 mg/day
4. How much Potassium is in a Banana
Banana is rich in potassium as a regular banana contains 358 mg of potassium (approx). You must avoid this if you need to follow a low potassium diet.
