What should i eat if my potassium is high

• Foods to Avoid
  • What Foods Are High in Potassium to Avoid?
• Low Potassium Diet
  • How Can I Keep Levels of Potassium in My Diet Low?
• Guide
  • What Foods to Eat to Lower Potassium Levels Topic Guide

Eating a low potassium diet and avoiding high-potassium foods can help manage symptoms of chronic kidney disease (CKD).

A low potassium diet may be used to help manage symptoms of chronic kidney disease (CKD), a condition in which the kidneys are damaged and are unable to filter blood properly. 

Potassium is a mineral found in many foods that helps maintain muscle function and keeps the heartbeat regular. Patients with kidney disease may need to limit the amount of potassium in the diet.

Patients with kidney disease and high potassium levels may experience symptoms such as: 

• Weakness
• Numbness and tingling
• Lightheadedness
• Fainting 
• Irregular heartbeat
• Slow pulse 
• Heart attack

Foods low in potassium that can be eaten on a low potassium diet include:

What Foods Are High in Potassium to Avoid?

Foods that are higher in potassium (more than 200 mg per portion) to avoid include: 

QUESTION

How Can I Keep Levels of Potassium in My Diet Low?

In addition to consuming foods low in potassium and avoiding foods high in the mineral, additional tips to keeping potassium levels in the diet low include: 

• Most foods have some potassium and serving size is important
  • Too much of a low potassium food can become a high potassium food if it is consumed in excess
• High potassium vegetables can be made lower in potassium by leaching, a process by which some potassium is pulled out of the vegetable
  • How to leach vegetables such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, beets, winter squash, and rutabagas:
  • Peel and place vegetables in cold water so they won’t darken
  • Slice vegetable to 1/8 inch thick
  • Rinse in warm water for a few seconds
  • Soak vegetables for a minimum of two hours in warm water with a ratio of ten times the amount of water to the amount of vegetables
    • Change the water every four hours if soaking longer
  • Rinse vegetables under warm water again for a few seconds
  • Cook vegetables with five times the amount of water to the amount of vegetable
• Avoid drinking or using liquid from canned fruits and vegetables, or the juices from cooked meat
• Patients on dialysis must take care to get all treatment or exchanges they are prescribed

From

Reviewed on 4/14/2022

References

Image Source: iStock Images

//www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/kidney-disease/chronic-kidney-disease-ckd

//www.kidney.org/atoz/content/potassium