High Potassium Foods

All the cereals in the table are high potassium foods, and have a favorable ratio of potassium to sodium. The ratio is better than 3 potassium for every sodium – a ratio that will help promote lower blood pressure, better bone density, and less chance of kidney stones. To achieve those goals the entire day's intake of potassium should be more than 4.7 grams and less than 1.5 grams of sodium, as recommended by the Institute of Medicine.

There are quite a few cereals that will provide a lot of potassium. Maltex, chocolate Malt-o-Meal, oats, Maypo, Ralston, Roman Meal, Wheatena, and Whole Wheat are the cereals that have the most potassium.

The table can be misleading, though. If you compare the dry to the cooked version of the same cereal, it will appear the cereal lost potassium. However, the serving size is the same – 1 cup – for both cooked and dry cereal. The cooked serving has a lot more water and a lot less cereal. The proper comparison is between the dry cereals. Add enough water to cook a cup of the dry cereal and you will have more than a cup of cooked cereal, but the amount of potassium will be the same as the amount shown for a cup of dry cereal.

The weights for the potassium and sodium are milligrams. The potassium and sodium values given are for 100 grams of food.

K is potassium. Na is sodium.

Except for the potassium to sodium ratio (which we calculated), the source of data is: USDA National Nutrient Database Standard Reference – Release 22.