⚡ Foods Highest in Potassium — TOP 30(per 100g)
Helps control blood pressure by countering sodium. Essential for heart and muscle function. FDA Daily Value: 4700mg.
1–30 of 7,798 foods
What Potassium Does
Potassium is the main mineral inside your cells, balancing sodium outside them. That balance governs fluid regulation, nerve signaling, and muscle contraction — including the heartbeat — and higher potassium intake is associated with lower blood pressure.
The ranking opens with cream of tartar at 16,500mg per 100g and low-sodium baking powder at 10,100mg, both leavening agents used by the teaspoon. Freeze-dried parsley and instant tea powder follow for the same concentration reason.
In practice, potassium comes from volume rather than density: potatoes, beans, leafy greens, tomatoes, bananas, yogurt, and fish. Few foods are spectacular per 100g, but ordinary portions are large.
Daily intake reference (FDA Daily Value)
FDA Daily Value: 4,700mg per day. Most Americans fall well short. Because the sodium-to-potassium ratio matters as much as either number alone, raising potassium is often as useful as cutting sodium.
Getting Enough Potassium
Think in portions, not per 100g
A banana has only about 358mg per 100g, but a medium banana is 118g. A baked potato, a cup of beans, or a large serving of greens each contribute several hundred milligrams.
Keep the cooking liquid
Potassium leaches readily into water. Soups, stews, and steaming retain what boiling and draining discards — the same reason boiled potatoes lose more than baked ones.
Check with a clinician if you have kidney disease
Impaired kidneys cannot clear potassium efficiently, and high intake becomes dangerous rather than beneficial. Anyone with reduced kidney function should follow medical guidance rather than general advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Is a banana really the best potassium source?
A. No — it is just the most famous. Potatoes, white beans, lentils, spinach, avocado, and plain yogurt all deliver more potassium per typical serving than a banana does.
Q. How does potassium affect blood pressure?
A. Potassium promotes sodium excretion and relaxes blood vessel walls. Diets high in potassium and moderate in sodium are consistently associated with lower blood pressure, which is the basis of the DASH eating pattern.
Q. Why does cream of tartar top the list?
A. Cream of tartar is potassium bitartrate — chemically a potassium salt, so it is genuinely potassium-dense. It is used in quarter-teaspoon quantities and contributes nothing meaningful to daily intake.
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Data source: USDA FoodData Central (Public Domain) — fdc.nal.usda.gov