Don't Let Potassium Drive You Bananas

Potassium is a mineral that helps your muscles contract, helps your nerves work, and keeps your heartbeat and blood pressure steady. Your body needs potassium. But,

kidney problems can cause your potassium to be either too high or too low. Too little potassium can cause muscle weakness, or an irregular heartbeat. Too much potassium in your blood can cause cardiac arrest. If you have kidney or heart problems, your doctor may ask you to regulate the amount of potassium in your diet.

Today, WebMD has an article on potassium, how it functions, lists of foods high in potassium, and foods low in potassium. They also give instructions on how some foods can have the potassium lowered by leaching, something you can do at home with just a pot of warm water. For those who have been told by their doctor to lower potassium, the article has this encouragement: Don’t feel overwhelmed. For every food high in potassium, there is a food low in potassium. Here is a random sampling from their lists:

High Potassium

Bananas

Mangos

Raisins

Beets

Broccoli

Vegetable Juice

Low Potassium

Mandarin Oranges

Peaches

Lettuce

Pasta

Bread (but not whole grain)

8 oz coffee, 16 oz tea

Here is a link to the complete article:

https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/high-potassium-21/low-potassium-diet-foods