Potassium is an important mineral required for the normal functioning of your body cells. It helps to maintain the electrolyte balance, regulates your heartbeat, and ensures the proper functioning of the muscles and nerves. This article highlights the top 8 potassium-rich foods and their benefits.
Hypokalemia is a condition that occurs due to the insufficient levels of potassium in your blood. This causes headaches, heart palpitations, fatigue, muscle cramps, digestive problems, numbness, and many other complications. If any of these symptoms appear persistently, consider seeking medical advice. You can also consult a doctor online.
To avoid this condition, you should take at least 2000 to 4700 mg of potassium on a daily basis. One easy and best way to meet this requirement is by including sufficient potassium-rich foods in your diet.
Best Potassium Rich Foods
Here is a list of top 8 potassium-rich foods. Keep reading!
Spinach
You may not be a fan of spinach, but this dark green leafy vegetable serves as a good source of many vital vitamins and minerals, including potassium. 100 g of raw spinach contains 558 mg of potassium. Spinach is a versatile ingredient that tastes great. You can toss it in salads, blend it with soups, mix with other veggies, or add them in any dish that you like.
Eating spinach can benefit you in many ways. It improves your eye health, strengthens your bones, reduces oxidative stress, prevents fatigue, and also reduces blood pressure.
Read: Energy-Boosting Foods
Avocado
Also known as ‘makkhan fal’ in India, this creamy nutrient-dense fruit is one great source of potassium. One medium-sized avocado contains around 975 mg of potassium. It tastes perfect when served in the form of dips, desserts, or even salads. Avocado is also rich in folate, manganese, copper, zinc, iron, vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin E.
The high nutritive profile of avocado contains various health benefits such as aiding digestion, improving eyesight, managing blood pressure levels, reducing the risk of heart disease, and promoting healthy skin.
Read: Healthy Breakfast Foods For Better Digestion
Banana
Need a little kick start for your day? Bananas are all enough! Being a rich source of potassium, this delicious fruit helps to manage blood pressure levels, regulates heart health, and keeps your brain healthy. One medium-sized banana contains around 422 mg of potassium.
Banana has high soluble fibre that has the tendency to keep your stomach full for a longer time. Also, due to its high iron content, bananas help to fight anaemia, a condition that leads to fatigue, paleness, and shortness of breath.
Read: High Fiber Foods
Orange
Orange is a highly nutritious fruit known for being an excellent source of vitamin C. However, this popular citrus fruit is rich in potassium and also contains many plant compounds as well as antioxidants that wards off many diseases. 100 g of orange contains 181 mg of potassium. Apart from being potassium-rich, oranges also contain vitamin A, folate, thiamine, and antioxidants.
The nutrients in orange offer a wide range of health benefits. It lowers blood pressure, reduces the risk of cancer, improves your immune system, prevents skin damage, and aids digestion.
Read: Vitamin C Deficiency – Causes, Symptoms, and Home Remedies
Beetroot
Beetroots are deep root vegetables with a naturally sweet flavour. They are rich in potassium, folate, manganese, vitamin C, iron, and many other essential vitamins and minerals. One hundred grams of beetroot contains 325 mg of potassium.
Beets are known to have amazing health benefits such as lowering blood pressure, which may lead to a reduced risk of heart diseases and other health conditions. This veggie can also improve your stamina as well as exercise performance.
Read: Iron Rich Foods
Watermelon
This large, delicious fruit with high water content is a rich source of potassium. One cup of diced watermelon contains about 170 mg of this essential mineral. Watermelon also contains other essential nutrients such as vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin B5, and copper.
Watermelon helps to lower blood pressure, improves heart health, helps you sleep better, promotes blood flow in the sexual organs, acts as a natural diuretic, and also prevents conditions such as arthritis, asthma, atherosclerosis, and diabetes.
Read: Foods That Help To Improve Sexual Health
Prunes
Prunes are plums that are sun-dried naturally without undergoing any fermentation process. This all crinkled and wrinkly fruit is loaded with many vitamins and minerals including potassium, iron, retinol, vitamin K, and vitamin A. Eating 4 to 5 prunes a day provides you with 280 mg of potassium.
Prunes can improve your vision, relieve constipation, prevent osteoporosis, lowers blood pressure, reduces cholesterol, and makes your skin healthy.
Lentils
Lentils are one among the top potassium-rich foods. One cup of lentil contains 731 mg of potassium. They are also a rich source of fiber, folate, selenium, iron, manganese, thiamin, and vitamin B-6. Add lentils to your soup or stew recipe or pre-cook lentils, and keep them in the refrigerator. You can also make a lentil dip by smashing cooked lentils using a fork and adding garlic, chilli powder, onion, and chopped tomatoes.
Lentils can lower blood pressure, prevents heart diseases, reduces the risk of gestational diabetes, prevents cancer, and fights fatigue.
Read: Foods That Instantly Boost Your Metabolism
If you are someone taking medications or have any kind of health problems, consider talking to a doctor before you plan on including the above-mentioned potassium-rich foods in your diet.
