You Always Wanted To Know About Potassium by Betty Kamen, Ph.D. Potassium is one of the most important elements in our diets. Persons who consume 4,000 mg. of potassium or more per day have a much lower incidence of all degenerative diseases including insulin resistance syndrome, hypertension, stroke, obesity and adult onset diabetes. All of the dietary programs that lower cholesterol, normalize weight or improve blood pressure contain high amounts of potassium. You may choose the sources of potassium that you like but make sure you get a minimum of 2 mg. per calorie and try to get even more. Whole foods such as vegetables, legumes and fruits all have high amounts of potassium.
Grains have very little potassium except in the bran.
Adding rice bran, corn bran or wheat bran to foods can increase the potassium content. Most of my clients find they need to use potassium broths or drinks to get the suggested amounts. They are not used to consuming the quantity of food necessary to get 4,000-6,000mg. of potassium a day. One potassium trick is to use tomato sauce, juice, paste or salsa. Tomatoes are very high in potassium.