Eat Your Way To A Healthy Heart: 5 Foods High In Potassium
Much like sodium and calcium, potassium is also a mineral and electrolyte commonly found in our food. This magical mineral helps to keep us healthy, especially our hearts. Your body needs potassium to maintain normal blood pressure levels, support your nerves, transport nutrients to your cells, and help out muscle functions. This mineral is considered an essential nutrient as our bodies can’t make it on their own. The daily recommended dose for women is 2,600 milligrams, while for men it is around 3,400 milligrams. And while many enjoy bananas as their go-to food for increasing potassium, there are plenty of other foods high in potassium, as well. Let’s check them out.
Your body needs potassium to maintain normal blood pressure levels
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Foods High In Potassium
People who don’t get enough potassium in their diets are much more likely to be at risk of high blood pressure, kidney stones, and brittle bones. Yikes! That’s why it is crucial to have plenty of potassium in your daily diet. On the bright side, foods that are high in this mineral are pretty easy to come by, so adding more of them to your diet should be pretty simple. Here are some foods other than bananas that are rich in potassium.
Foods that are high in this mineral are pretty easy to come by
#Potatoes
Who doesn’t love a good baked potato? But potatoes aren’t just delicious, they are also pretty great for your health. The skin of the spud is packed with potassium. So, eating a medium baked potato (with skin) can have around a whopping 900 milligrams of potassium. Wow! Sweet potatoes also have more than 500 milligrams of potassium when baked with the skin. So, whatever spud you choose, you will still be getting a hefty amount of potassium.
Who doesn’t love a good baked potato?
#Legumes
White beans, soybeans, lentils, pinto beans, chickpeas, and pretty much any type of legume is great for your overall health. They are all also great sources of potassium, and you can easily incorporate them into your daily diet. For example, white beans and adzuki beans have around 600 milligrams of potassium per half a cup! Amazing! Add more legumes to your salads, stews, soups, and so on to enjoy their benefits.
Pretty much any type of legume is great for your overall health
#Leafy greens
Leafy greens are amazing for our overall health. Spinach, for example, is super nutrient dense. Just 90 grams or 3 cups of raw spinach has around 11% of your daily potassium intake recommendation. A cup of cooked spinach has around 400 milligrams of potassium. This leafy green is also packed with vitamin A, vitamin K, folate, and magnesium! Other leafy greens, like Swiss chard, are also high in potassium and have more than 450 milligrams of the mineral. Whereas beet greens have more than 600 milligrams of potassium.
Leafy greens are amazing for our overall health
#Avocado
Avocados are a real health powerhouse. This fruit is packed with healthy fats, vitamin K, folate, and potassium! Just half of an avocado (skin and seed not included, of course) has nearly 400 milligrams of potassium, which is around 7% of the daily recommended amount. So, if you eat a whole avocado, you will get even more potassium. This fruit is amazing for people with high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels. Just one avocado a day or two a week can have a positive impact on your health. So, start eating more avocado toast!
Avocados are a real health powerhouse
#Tomatoes
One cup of chopped tomatoes has around 400 milligrams of potassium. Amazing! These juicy fruits are an excellent way to add more potassium to your diet as you can eat them fresh, add them to a stew, a salad, a sauce, and more. Not only that but a quarter cup of concentrated tomato paste is even richer in potassium with around 650 milligrams of the mineral. You can also drink tomato juice or tomato purée as both have around 500 milligrams of potassium.
These juicy fruits are an excellent way to add more potassium to your diet
These were some foods high in potassium you can add to your diet for a healthier heart. We hope you found this article useful. Now you can start adding more potassium-rich foods to your daily diet and enjoy their benefits.
These were some foods high in potassium you can add to your diet for a healthier heart
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