What Foods to Avoid if You Have High Potassium?

Potassium is a major dietary mineral that is essential for keeping your nervous and cardiovascular systems functioning. But, as with about anything, there is such a reality as too much of a good thing. A low-potassium diet may be ane of the showtime treatments recommended in cases of hyperkalemia, the medical term for having too much potassium in your claret. The status is common in people with chronic kidney disease and diabetes, and it left untreated, can be fatal.

Verywell / Cindy Chung

Benefits

Your kidneys regulate potassium in your body. Sure wellness atmospheric condition and some medications can touch how well your trunk gets rid of excess potassium, making your levels besides loftier (hyperkalemia) or besides low (hypokalemia).

An Overview of Hyperkalemia

Health weather that can pb to hyperkalemia include chronic kidney disease, kidney failure, type i diabetes, and Addison's disease. Examples of medications that may exercise the same include renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) inhibitors and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors.

If your potassium levels are high for a long fourth dimension, you may be more likely to have damage to your muscular and nervous systems. One of the reasons this can happen is that information technology may take months for your potassium to become to a dangerous level. During that time, you may not accept any symptoms.

Your healthcare provider may recommend monitoring your potassium and following a low-potassium nutrition in these cases to go alee of this potential adventure.

Normal potassium levels are betwixt 3.5 to five.0 mmol/Fifty. If your potassium levels are 6.0 mmol/L or higher, immediate intervention is necessary.

A low-potassium nutrition may aid keep potassium levels in check, and some enquiry has shown that certain negative effects of high potassium may respond to this mode of eating.

For example, a 2017 report published in the Clinical Journal of the American Club of Nephrology found that patients with phase 3 or four chronic kidney affliction were less probable to experience neuropathy on a potassium-restricted diet.

The benefits of a depression-potassium nutrition for everyone at gamble, however, are debated by some. Several research studies have looked at whether potassium-restricted diets are helpful for certain people, such as patients with kidney illness who are on dialysis. A 2016 study cited inconclusive show of a strict low-potassium diet'southward effectiveness, in part considering it's unclear whether the torso considers all dietary sources of potassium (plant and creature) equal.

The study's findings too propose potassium-restricted diets may exercise more than harm than good for some patients. However, because there are no other evidence-based dietary treatments for hyperkalemia, most researchers believe healthcare providers should continue to prescribe low-potassium diets.

How It Works

The average developed needs betwixt 3500 and 4500 milligrams (mg) of potassium each mean solar day. If you have hyperkalemia or are at chance for developing it, your healthcare provider will likely have you blueprint your depression-potassium diet then that your intake of potassium is 2,000 mg per day.

The bones guidelines, of course, are as uncomplicated as yous'd imagine them to exist: Eat foods that are low in potassium and steer clear of those that are good sources of the nutrient. Doing this, all the same, means that y'all volition demand to limit some otherwise good for you foods. Potassium-rich foods, including many fruits and vegetables, are staples of a balanced diet and provide a great deal of diet.

You'll demand to ensure that your low-potassium nutrition is full of low-potassium options that pack substantial diet; you may also be able to include small portions of high-potassium foods in your diet. Working with a registered dietitian tin can help you create a low-potassium meal plan that is both effective and nourishing.

Hyperkalemia Doctor Discussion Guide

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Duration

If your potassium levels are high due to a chronic health status, you may need to make permanent changes to your nutrition to keep your levels managed. Depending on the cause of hyperkalemia, your healthcare provider may allow you to add more than potassium back into your diet. However, if your potassium levels get high again, you volition likely need to resume a potassium-restricted diet until they are under control.

In some cases, following a potassium-restricted diet may not be plenty. If your potassium levels don't respond to changes in your nutrition, you may demand to have medication or have dialysis treatments.

What to Eat

Most foods contain some potassium. If you're on a potassium-restricted diet, you'll need to avoid foods that are high in potassium (mostly over 200 mg per serving). You'll also need to avert consuming large quantities of any nutrient or drinkable that contains potassium—even low amounts—as this tin can also raise potassium levels.

Your healthcare provider and a dietitian can aid determine how many servings of low-potassium foods (generally 150 mg or less per serving) you can have each day.

Compliant

Chicken or turkey (3 ounces)
Tuna, pork, shrimp (1 ounce)
Green beans
Peppers
Eggplant
Canned water chestnuts (tuckered and rinsed)
Onions
Parsley
Snowfall peas
Rhubarb
Radishes
Asparagus
Cauliflower
Cucumbers
Corn
Kale
Scallions
Zucchini
Watercress
Carrots (cooked)
Apples, applesauce
Blackberries, blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, strawberries, cherries
Peaches
Grapefruit
Plums
Grapes
Pears
Mandarin oranges
Tangerines
Canned fruit cocktail (drained and rinsed)
Watermelon
Pineapple
Difficult cheese
Cottage cheese
Egg whites
Refined white flour staff of life, pasta, and cereals
White rice
Corn chips, crackers, popcorn
Apple tree, grape, pineapple juice
Rice milk
Non-dairy creamer
Powdered mixed drinks
Iced or hot tea (16 oz/day) and coffee (8 oz/day)
Yellow cake, affections food cake, cookies without nuts or chocolate, pies without high-potassium fruit or chocolate

Non-Compliant

Well-nigh fish
Shellfish (east.g., clams, scallops, lobster)
Cerise meat
Greens (except kale)
Artichokes
Potatoes, sweetness potatoes, yams
Bok choy
Squash
Parsnips
Brussels sprouts
Mushrooms
Pumpkin
Okra
Beets
Papaya
Mango
Dried fruit
Dates
Nectarines
Avocado
Pomegranate
Bananas
Plantains
Kiwi
Oranges
Pears
Coconut
Cantaloupe
Honeydew melon
Tomato, love apple products
Apricots
All dairy products (except some cheese and sour cream); soy milk
Pinto, kidney, black, lima, soy, and navy beans
Tofu
Lentils
Bran
Granola
Oats and oatmeal
Whole-grain bread, baked goods, and cereal
Nuts and seeds (express portions may exist approved)
Nut butters
Molasses
Chocolate
Figs
Fruit and vegetable juice
Electrolyte-replacement/sports drinks

Fruits and vegetables: Fresh produce is generally rich in potassium. When eaten raw, many fruits and veggies are too high in potassium for a low-potassium diet. Nevertheless, you may be able to accept them if you limit portions and/or cook them to reduce the potassium content. Some canned fruits and vegetables tin can also piece of work every bit long every bit you bleed and rinse them.

Dairy: Milk products need to be avoided, or at to the lowest degree express, on a low-potassium diet. You may exist able to take a small serving of milk or yogurt each day. Some types of cheese (including cottage cheese) are low enough in potassium that you lot may be able to include them in your diet.

If you add together milk to your tea or coffee, switch to a non-dairy creamer or milk culling such equally rice milk. However, avert soy milk.

Grains: Instead of whole grains and bran, look for rice cereals or bread made from refined flour. White rice and pasta noodles fabricated from refined white flour are approved on a depression-potassium nutrition. Soda crackers, unbuttered popcorn, and puffed rice are lower-potassium snack options.

Poly peptide: Most animal and plant-based protein are high in potassium. However, you need to include some poly peptide in your diet. Choose lower-potassium options or have smaller portions of loftier-potassium sources.

Egg whites are one lower-potassium option. You lot may be able to have small servings of nuts (one small handful) or peanut butter (a single tablespoon).

Avoid sausage, bacon, tiffin meats, and any other processed meats with additives that may contain potassium. Whenever you melt meat of whatsoever kind, be sure to drain the juices and discard them instead of using them for sauces, basting, or gravy.

Sweets: Many desserts are made with ingredients that are high in potassium, such equally basics, syrups, and chocolate. Be conscientious when choosing cookies, cakes, and ice cream. Wait for manifestly yellow cakes (such equally angel food or sponge block) with no icing, frosting, toppings, or fillings.

Clear gelatin, beloved, and maple syrup are lower-potassium choices. If y'all're baking, white saccharide is a lower-potassium choice than chocolate-brown sugar.

Beverages: Dehydration tin can disrupt the electrolyte balance in your body and lead to hyperkalemia. H2o is the best choice for staying hydrated, only other approved beverages on a low-potassium diet include fresh lemonade and juice fabricated from low-potassium fruit or frozen fruit concentrate.

One 8-ounce cup of iced or hot java a twenty-four hours is OK. Tea is as well adequate, as long every bit yous stick to 16 ounces per day. It tin be served hot or on ice either plain or sweetened with lemon and carbohydrate or honey. Avert high-potassium herbs such every bit alfalfa, dandelion, and nettle, which are oft used in tea (and seasoning) blends.

You may want to avoid drinking alcoholic beverages if you're on a depression-potassium diet. In fact, consuming big amounts of alcohol is a hazard factor for hyperkalemia.

Cooking Tips

If yous don't want to completely give up your favorite loftier-potassium produce, y'all'll want to learn how to leach vegetables. While this cooking method tin make some higher potassium foods safer to eat, talk to your healthcare provider earlier you add leached vegetables to your diet.

Even if you remove some of the potassium from a vegetable, you'll still want to only have it on occasion.

How to Leach Vegetables

Wash veggies in cold h2o.
Peel and thinly piece them, then rinse under warm water.
Add unsalted warm h2o to a pot or bowl (you'll need a ratio of about x parts water to ane part vegetable).
Soak vegetables for at least 2 hours. You can soak for up to 12 hours, merely be sure to change the water every four hours.
Remove vegetables and rinse them in warm water.
Eddy in unsalted water using a ratio of nigh five parts water to one part vegetable.
Exist sure to bleed the cooking water when finished, every bit that's where the leached potassium has nerveless.

Modifications

If you typically consume a varied diet, reducing or eliminating certain foods volition be easier than if y'all are on a very specific type of diet.

For example, people following a vegetarian diet may find a low-potassium nutrition challenging because plant-based diets are typically built around potassium-rich fruits, vegetables, nuts, and beans; lower-potassium foods such as meat are avoided. Vegan diets also exclude eggs and dairy products.

Other diets limit the corporeality of refined grains, which tin can exist low-potassium choices.

If you follow a plant-based nutrition and accept hyperkalemia, it may be helpful to seek guidance from a registered dietitian to ensure you're able to get the nutrition you demand.

Considerations

While pretty straightforward, there are some things you need to be enlightened of when kickoff a low-potassium diet.

Safety

If you lot are following a depression-potassium nutrition, you may choose to take supplements to bridge the gap in terms of the nutrition your diet provides and what your torso needs. Taking supplements that incorporate potassium can thwart your eating efforts, then be certain to read labels advisedly. In fact, it is best to run any supplements you are because by your healthcare provider first.

Flexibility

Information technology'southward possible to dine out on a low-potassium diet, but you may need to exercise extra caution when evaluating your options.

Choose low-potassium foods and keep an eye on portions, which are oftentimes over-sized at restaurants. That said, y'all may find it easier to practice this when preparing your own meals.

Dietary Restrictions

You may have other dietary needs and preferences to consider forth with your low-potassium diet. For case, you lot may demand to avoid gluten due to celiac disease, or you lot may adopt to follow a plant-based diet.

Every bit additional dietary restrictions just enhance the challenge of getting proper nutrition while on a depression-sodium nutrition, information technology's best to get professional help to figure out how to run across all your dietary needs.

Additionally, if y'all have another health condition that can be afflicted by your diet, such as high blood pressure (hypertension) or diabetes, your healthcare provider may take you make other changes to what you lot eat and drink.

If you lot're overweight or have other chance factors (such as a family history of eye disease) your healthcare providerr may advise you lot limit your fat intake. High-fat, high-cholesterol foods not only put stress on your kidneys, but they can besides contribute to obesity and conditions such equally atherosclerosis.

Side Effects

The nearly common side effect of a depression-potassium diet is constipation. If you're not able to increase your intake of fiber-rich foods to help things along, your healthcare provider may suggest a fiber supplement.

Y'all should also exist aware of the signs of an acute fasten in your potassium levels, which can exist unsafe. More subtle symptoms of hyperkalemia include general fatigue and nausea, simply acute hyperkalemia can cause problem breathing, a racing eye, and chest pain. If yous have these symptoms, seek immediate emergency medical care.

Low-Potassium Diet vs. Other Diets

If you accept hyperkalemia due to chronic kidney disease, your healthcare provider may put you on a renal diet. Sodium-restricted diets and restricted fluid diets may also exist prescribed separately, depending on your needs.

On a renal diet, you volition reduce your intake of sodium, phosphorus, protein, and sometimes fluid, in improver to limiting your potassium intake.

Your potassium levels are related to your body'due south sodium levels. If your potassium levels are high because your kidney function is poor, your healthcare provider might tell y'all to watch your salt intake to make sure y'all don't put too much stress on your kidneys.

If y'all have high blood pressure level, yous may be prescribed a sodium-restricted diet. Yet, if you are besides on a depression-potassium diet, you would need to avert popular salt substitutes, every bit they are often made with potassium.

Drinking a lot of water or other fluids makes your kidneys piece of work hard. If your kidney office is impaired, your healthcare provider may ask you to restrict your fluid intake. Proper hydration is essential to your overall health, then you lot will need to closely follow your healthcare provider's orders to avoid dehydration. They will help y'all determine your individual fluid needs.

A Word From Verywell

Potassium is an essential mineral the body needs to function properly, merely sometimes too much builds up in the blood. Usually, this happens because of a medical status.

Your healthcare provider will probable want you to attempt eating less potassium-rich foods to help lower your levels. You may also need to take medications or restrict other elements of your diet, such as sodium or fluid, to become your potassium levels back to normal.

Having dangerously high potassium levels is a medical emergency. While high potassium doesn't always crusade symptoms, if y'all experience chest pain, trouble breathing, or heart palpitations, get to the emergency room.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much potassium is in an egg?

1 big egg contains well-nigh 63 mg of potassium. Eggs are considered a depression-potassium food, but bank check with your doctor or dietitian to find out how often you should eat them.
What meats and fish are all-time for a depression-potassium diet?

Beef and virtually types of fish are usually higher in potassium than chicken, turkey, and tuna. For instance, a 3-ounce ground turkey patty has 288 mg of potassium, a 3-ounce serving of canned tuna has 283 mg, a 3-ounce serving of salmon has 387 mg, and a three-ounce steak has nearly 360 mg. Your md or dietitian can help y'all make up one's mind which to eat and how to watch your portions.

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Source: https://www.verywellhealth.com/diet-for-managing-hyperkalemia-4138591