Potassium and chronic kidney disease (2024)

High-potassium vs. Low-potassium Foods

Plant-based foods such as fruits and vegetables vary in potassium content. These foods contain fiber, vitamins and minerals that help support a healthy body. Understanding how to balance your meals means knowing which foods are high or low in potassium. Your kidney dietitian can help you learn ways to include some high-potassium foods in your diet. Also ask your dietitian about the amount of low-potassium foods you can safely eat.

See Also

Snuff Box

FOOD TYPE	HIGH-POTASSIUM FOODS	LOW-POTASSIUM FOODS
Fruits	Avocados Bananas Cantaloupe Dried fruits Honeydew Kiwi Mangos Nectarines Oranges and orange juice Papaya Prune juice Raisins	Apples Apple, cranberry or grape juice Berries Dried cranberries Fruit co*cktail Grapes Lemon Peaches Canned pears Pineapple Plums Watermelon
Vegetables	Artichoke Dried beans and peas Pumpkin Potatoes, French fries Spinach (cooked) Sweet potatoes Tomatoes, tomato sauce or chili sauce Vegetable juices Winter squash such as acorn squash	Bell peppers Carrots Cabbage Cauliflower Cucumber Eggplant Garlic Green beans Lettuce Mushroom Mashed potatoes or hash browns made from double-boiled potatoes Onion Snow peas Summer squash such as crookneck or zucchini Sweet peppers Wax beans
Dairy and Nondairy Substitutes	Ice cream Milk Yogurt	Nondairy creamers Nondairy whipped topping Rice milk (unenriched) Sherbet, sorbet or Popsicle®
Miscellaneous	Chocolate Molasses Pudding made with milk Salt substitute Seeds and nuts	Hard candies Jelly beans Plain donuts Popcorn (unsalted) Pretzels (unsalted) Pudding with nondairy creamer Red licorice Unsalted popcorn, pretzels or rice cakes Vanilla- or lemon-flavored desserts

Other Potassium Considerations

High potassium in your blood test results does not always mean you are eating too much potassium. Talk with your care team if you have consistently high blood sugar, constipation, gastrointestinal bleed or about types of medications you take. If you are on dialysis, be sure you are asking about your blood clearance test.

Get help with a low-potassium diet from DaVita.com

DaVita.com’s Diet & Nutrition section has free tools and resources to help you stick to a kidney-friendly diet. Search for tasty, low-potassium recipes and save your favorites. Here are a few to help you get started:

You can also use the Food Analyzer tool to look up nutrient information (such as potassium and phosphorus) for thousands of foods.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment. Consult your physician regarding your specific diagnosis, treatment, diet and health questions