What are the health benefits of potassium?

Potassium is one of the seven essential macrominerals (requiring >100mg/day) along with calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium, chloride and sulfur.

High potassium intakes are associated with a 20% decreased risk of dying from all causes, a reduced risk of stroke, lower blood pressure, protection against loss of muscle mass, preservation of bone mineral density and reduction in the formation of kidney stones.

Potassium's primary functions in the body include building muscle, synthesizing proteins, controlling the electrical activity of the heart and maintaining acid-base balance.³ Potassium is needed for maintenance of total body fluid volume, keeping electrolytes in balance and ensuring normal cell function.¹

This article provides an in-depth look at recommended intake of potassium, its possible health benefits, foods high in potassium and any potential health risks of consuming potassium.

Contents of this article:

1. 1.  Recommended intake
2. 2.  Possible health benefits of consuming potassium
3. 3.  Foods high in potassium
4. 4.  Potential health risks of consuming potassium

Recommended intake

The Adequate Intake recommendation for potassium is 4,700 mg per day for adults. Most adults fall far short of this recommendation. According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) report, the average potassium intake for Americans is 2,640 mg per day, a number that has remained unchanged since the 1990's.

High potassium intakes are associated with a 20% decreased risk of dying from all causes.

NHANES also reported that fewer than 2% are meeting the daily 4,700mg potassium requirement. Females tend to take in less potassium than males.

The World Health Organization recommends an even higher daily intake of 3,510 mg per day and agrees that most of the world's population is not meeting this recommendation.

Potassium supplements are available, but it is best to obtain any vitamin or mineral through food. It is not the individual vitamin or mineral alone that make certain foods an important part of our diet, but the synergy of the foods nutrients working together.

It has been proven that isolating certain nutrients in supplement form will not provide the same health benefits as consuming the nutrient from a whole food. First focus on obtaining your daily potassium requirement from foods then use supplements as a backup.

Possible health benefits of consuming potassium

Blood pressure and cardiovascular health

Low potassium intakes have been linked time and again with high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.¹Most people know that maintaining a low sodium intake is essential to lowering blood pressure, but did you know that increasing potassium intake may be just as important?

An increase in potassium intake along with a decrease in sodium is the most important dietary change a person can make to reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease, according to Dr. Mark Houston, a professor of medicine at Vanderbilt Medical School and director of the Hypertension Institute at St Thomas Hospital in Tennessee.³

In one study, those who consumed 4,069 mg of potassium per day had a 49% lower risk of death from ischemic heart disease compared with those who consumed less potassium (about 1,000 mg per day).³

Bone and muscle maintenance

Potassium-rich foods produce an alkaline environment in the body that battles the common acidosis caused by the typical Western diet. Metabolic acidosis is triggered by a diet full of high acid foods like meats and processed cereal grains, which can cause nitrogen excretion, loss in bone mineral density and muscle wasting. 

One study found that participants that took in 5,266 milligrams of potassium per day maintained an average of 3.6 more pounds of lean tissue mass than those with a potassium intake 50% lower. Some studies also show an increase in bone density with high potassium intake.³

Foods high in potassium

Potassium is found in many whole, unprocessed foods. Some of the best sources of potassium are leafy greens, avocados, tomatoes, potatoes, beans and bananas. Processing greatly reduces the amount of potassium in a food; therefore a diet high in processed foods is likely low in potassium. Many processed foods are also high in sodium and as sodium consumption rises, increased potassium is needed to negate sodium's effect on blood pressure.¹ A good rule of thumb is to have a high potassium fruit or vegetable with each meal.

Avocados are a great source of potassium, with half of one providing 602 mg.

• Potato, large, baked, with skin: 845 milligrams
• Sweet potato, baked (146 grams): 694 milligrams
• Avocado, ½ medium: 602 milligrams
• Cantaloupe, raw, 1 cup: 417 milligrams
• Mushrooms, 10 small: 415 milligrams
• Beet greens, cooked, ½ cup: 650 milligrams
• White beans, canned, ½ cup: 595 milligrams
• Tomatoes, 1 cup: 528 milligrams
• Soybeans, green, cooked ½ cup: 485 milligrams
• Lima beans, cooked, ½ cup: 484 milligrams
• Winter squash, cooked, ½ cup: 448 milligrams
• Banana, 1 medium: 422 milligrams
• Spinach, cooked, ½ cup: 419 milligrams
• Yogurt, low fat, plain: 398 milligrams
• Pear, 1 medium: 333 milligrams
• Mango, 1 medium: 323 milligrams
• Orange, 1 medium: 300 milligrams
• Pistachios, dried, 1 oz: 310 milligrams
• Raisins, ¼ cup: 271 milligrams.^2,4,5,6

Potential health risks of consuming potassium

In individuals with healthy kidneys, excess amounts of potassium are efficiently excreted in urine with no adverse side effects. There have been a small number of reports of potassium toxicity associated with an extremely high intake of potassium supplements. No potassium toxicity has ever been reported related to food consumption.

Consuming too much potassium can be harmful to those whose kidneys are not fully functional. If your kidneys are unable to remove excess potassium from the blood, it could be fatal.

It is the total diet or overall eating pattern that is most important in disease prevention and achieving good health.

References:

1. WHO Guideline: potassium intake for adults and children, Geneva, World Health Organization (WHO), 2012, accessed 10 December 2014.
2. Potassium intake of the U.S. population: what we eat in America, NHANES 2009-2010, Hoy MK, Goldman JD, Food Surveys Research Group Dietary Data Brief No. 10. September 2012, accessed 10 December 2014.
3. Increasing dietary potassium — find out why most people need to consume more of this mineral, Antinoro RD, JD, LDN, Linda, Today’s Dietitian,
Vol. 14 No. 12 P. 50, accessed 10 December 2014.
4. Dietary guidelines for Americans 2005 appendix B-1, food sources of potassium, USDA, last updated 09 July 2008, accessed 11 December 2014.
5. High potassium food chart, Rockford Cardiovascular Services, accessed 11 December 2014.
6. Sources of dietary potassium, UMass, accessed 11 December 2014.