Potassium content of Indian foods

Potassium is the main mineral inside the body's cells. It keeps fluid balanced between the cells and the blood, carries nerve signals and lets muscles, including the heart, contract normally. It also works against sodium: diets high in potassium and low in salt are linked with healthier blood pressure.

Indian diets tend to take in plenty of salt from pickles, papad, namkeen and packaged foods, while potassium depends on how much dal, vegetables and fruit reach the plate. For most healthy people, more potassium from food is welcome. For people with advanced kidney disease it is the opposite: potassium can build up in the blood and must be limited under medical supervision.

This table ranks 243 foods in IFCT 2017 by potassium per 100 g, and also lists the lowest. Spices lead because they are dry and concentrated. Behind them come the dried pulses, from toor, moth bean and rajma to moong, cowpea and urad, with raisins and pistachio standing out among dried fruit and nuts. At the bottom, mangosteen, tinda, paneer and kodo millet all fall below 100 mg.

The ICMR-NIN 2020 summary note on Recommended Dietary Allowances does not include a daily figure for potassium, so none is quoted on this page. The general advice is to eat more vegetables, fruit and pulses and less salt, which shifts the balance between the two minerals in the right direction.

If you have kidney disease, take medicines that affect potassium, such as some blood pressure drugs, or use a salt substitute, ask a doctor or dietitian how much potassium is safe for you. Many salt substitutes replace part of the sodium with potassium chloride.