High Potassium Foods

Of course, the main purpose of drinks is to supply the body with water. However, all drinks other than pure water consist of something in addition to water. Of 264 drinks listed in USDA National Nutrient Database 94 have a favorable potassium to sodium ratio. Those that contain 3 times as much potassium as sodium are included in the table. Not all of them would be considered one of the high potassium foods because the individual serving has less than 200 mg of potassium. But almost any of them would be a healthy way to rehydrate.

Those with the most potassium are the fruit juices and vegetable juices. Many powders are also high in potassium, although some are for several servings. But one envelope of cocoa mix is a great way to increase the potassium content of a drink. It adds 400 to 500 mg of potassium to a single drink.

The alcoholic drinks are included because of the favorable ratio of potassium to sodium. Although resveratrol is felt to be the factor contributing to cardiac health from a glass of red wine, no studies have separated the favorable cardiac effects of the potassium to sodium ratio found in red wine from the resveratrol effect – food for thought.

The weights for the potassium and sodium are milligrams. The potassium and sodium values given are for 100 grams of food, a little less than 1/2 of an 8 oz cup.

As usual, K is potassium, and 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.