You may think that as long as you eat a banana every once in a while, you’re good on the potassium front. But the truth is, most of us need to up our intake of foods high in potassium.
“Only about 2% of people in the U.S. consume enough potassium,” says Jonathan Valdez, RDN, a registered dietitian and owner of Genki Nutrition.
Potassium is an electrolyte lost through sweat, so if you work out a lot, it’s especially important that you keep on top of your intake. It’s also crucial for heart health, including managing blood pressure. While you might already know that eating foods with a lot of salt can raise blood pressure, potassium intake impacts it too (specifically, not consuming enough). “Potassium has a strong relationship with sodium to help keep fluid balance in the body,” says Valdez.
Half of all men in the U.S. have high blood pressure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Even more concerning: One in three people with high blood pressure don’t even know they have it, according to the National Institutes of Health. That means you probably need to be thinking more about how your food choices are impacting your heart—including making sure you’re eating enough potassium-rich foods.
Fortunately, there are a wide range of potassium-rich foods that can easily be worked into any diet. You just have to know what they are.
What is potassium and why do we need it?
First things first: Potassium is an electrolyte that’s essential for helping maintain proper fluid balance in the body, says Chris Gunning, RDN, a clinical nutritionist at Rutgers University. It’s part of the team of other electrolytes the body needs to function properly, which includes sodium, calcium, and magnesium.
Gunning explains that potassium is crucial for muscle contraction and nerve function. He says it helps regulate heartbeat and keeps metabolism levels in check. Think of it this way: If your body was a rock band, potassium would be the bass player. It may not be front-and-center, but when it’s off, it screws everything up.
Not getting enough potassium will definitely mess with your workout recovery. “Potassium is arguably the second most plentiful electrolyte lost through sweat,” says Dana Angelo White, RDN, a registered dietitian and certified athletic trainer. (The first being sodium.) “Since so much potassium can be lost through sweat, it’s very important to replenish it,” White adds. If you don’t, she says it can lead to muscle cramping, weakness or fatigue, and lower athletic performance.
Not getting enough potassium long-term can impact your heart. A 2015 scientific article in Transactions of the American Clinical and Climatological Association says that being deficient in potassium can cause the kidneys to retain more sodium. This increases fluid volume in the bloodstream, which raises blood pressure. Not so coincidentally, having a potassium deficiency is linked to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, according to a 2025 study published in the American Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
10 foods high in potassium
How much potassium should you be getting? The National Institutes of Health recommends that adult men get 3,400 milligrams of potassium a day. And you don't have to crush an entire bunch of bananas to do it.
Even if you’re tracking your macros, you probably have no idea how much potassium you’re getting (or not getting) on a regular basis. That’s where knowing the symptoms for potassium deficiency come in handy. If you’re dealing with muscle cramps, lightheadedness, irregular heartbeat, and fatigue, Gunning says those are all signs you may not be getting enough potassium.
If these are one-off symptoms or it’s happening after you work out, the fix is getting more of the below foods high in potassium. If you’re experiencing these symptoms regularly, you should still up your intake of the below foods, but it’s also a good idea to see your healthcare provider who can run some tests to make sure there isn’t a contributing underlying factor.
And in the meantime, here are 10 potassium-rich foods to eat more of.
“If you want to get more potassium, tomato paste is going to be your best friend,” Valdez says. He says that one 6-ounce can of tomato paste has a whopping 1,724 milligrams of potassium. His favorite way to cook it is with Spanish rice or with pasta.
All three dietitians namecheck lentils as a top potassium source. Just half a cup has 949 milligrams. Lentils are full of other beneficial nutrients too, like protein, fiber, and magnesium. If you’re adding more potassium-rich foods to your diet to benefit your heart, just make sure the lentils you’re buying are low in sodium to get the maximum benefits.
Justice for 2016-era avocado toast? Gunning says the fruit (yes, fruit) is a good way to get your potassium, with 42 milligrams in roughly half an avocado. It may not sound like much, but it’s a pretty significant drop in the bucket and, ideally, it’s not the only potassium-rich food you’ll eat that day anyway.
This is one potassium source that all three dietitians say often gets overlooked. One cup has 1,511 milligrams of potassium, which is almost half the recommended daily requirement. Dried apricots are a good source of fiber and calcium too.
You knew this one was going to be on here, right? There’s a reason why bananas are the food most people think of when it comes to potassium. One banana has 375 milligrams of potassium. Coupled with the carbs and magnesium, it’s a great post-workout food to help with recovery, especially when it’s paired with some protein.
Gunning says that plantains (which are from the same genus as bananas) are also great sources of potassium. One serving has roughly 396 milligrams of potassium.
Citrus fruits, like oranges and nectarines, also contain potassium, Gunning says. One orange has 232 milligrams of the nutrient. It’s not a huge amount, but, again, ideally it’s not the only potassium-containing food you’re eating that day.
Another type of fruit that Gunning says is high in potassium are melons, which include cantaloupe, honeydew, and watermelon. One serving of cantaloupe, for example, has 157 milligrams of potassium.
While we’re talking about fruits with potassium, kiwi is another one to add to the list. One serving has 302 milligrams of it. This small, but mighty fruit is also full of fiber and vitamin C.
One serving of white potato has 450 milligrams, while a serving of sweet potato has 486 milligrams. In both cases, it’s more potassium than in a banana.
Yes, it’s technically a drink and not a food, but White says that coconut water is a great source of potassium. One cup has 600 milligrams. Think of it as nature’s Gatorade.
As you can see, there’s no shortage of foods high in potassium. All three dietitians say that since potassium is widely found in plant-based foods that contain many other beneficial nutrients, it’s recommended to get potassium through diet, not supplements. The 10 foods recommended above are only a sampling of potassium-containing foods. Gunning says that the nutrient is also found in nuts and seeds, dairy-based foods, grains, fish, beef, and poultry. Because of this, he says that needing to take potassium supplements is a very rare, highly specialized case.
The most common form of potassium supplement are electrolyte drinks. Unless you’re a competitive athlete—or training like one—Gunning says that food is still your best bet when it comes to getting the potassium you need.
When you eat foods with potassium, you’re getting other important nutrients too. There’s a reason why experts are always saying to eat more plants. Getting enough potassium is one of them.