Potassium and blood-pressure drugs: what to watch if you take an ACE inhibitor, an ARB, or spironolactone
ACE inhibitors (lisinopril, ramipril), ARBs (losartan, valsartan) and potassium-sparing diuretics (spironolactone, triamterene) all make the kidney hold on to potassium. Add a lot of dietary potassium on top and it can build up in the blood — hyperkalemia — which at the extreme stops the heart. It is usually silent until it is not. Every number below is one ordinary serving, from USDA FoodData Central.
The part people get wrong
The danger is almost never the banana. It is the SALT SUBSTITUTE. Products sold as 'NoSalt', 'Nu-Salt' or 'lite salt' are potassium chloride — a teaspoon can carry more potassium than any food on this list, and people on blood-pressure drugs are precisely the people told to cut sodium, so they reach for it. Ask your prescriber before using one, and before taking a potassium supplement. Do not stop eating vegetables on the strength of a web page.
Potassium in common foods — per serving, not per 100 g
Values from USDA FoodData Central for the serving shown. These are foods people actually eat: ranking the whole USDA database by density would put dried thyme and defatted soy flour at the top, which is accurate and no use to anyone.
| Food | Serving | Potassium (mg) |
|---|---|---|
| Beanswhite, mature seeds | 1 cup (262 g) | 1189 |
| Squashwinter, acorn | 1 cup, cubes (205 g) | 896 |
| Spinachcooked, boiled | 1 cup (180 g) | 839 |
| Potatoesbaked, flesh and skin | 1 potato small (1-3/4" to 2-1/2" dia) (138 g) | 738 |
| Lentilsmature seeds, cooked | 1 cup (198 g) | 731 |
| Tomato productscanned, sauce | 1 cup (245 g) | 728 |
| Avocadosraw, all commercial varieties | 1 cup, sliced (146 g) | 708 |
| Bananasraw | 1 medium (7" to 7-7/8" long) (118 g) | 422 |
| Broccolicooked, boiled | 1 stalk, small (5" long) (140 g) | 410 |
| Carrotsraw | 1 cup strips or slices (122 g) | 390 |
| Mushroomswhite, raw | 1 cup, whole (96 g) | 305 |
| Beetscooked, boiled | 2 beets (2" dia, sphere) (100 g) | 305 |
| Yogurtplain, low fat | 0.5 container (4 oz) (113 g) | 264 |
| Orange juiceraw (Includes foods for USDA's Food Distribution Program) | 1 fruit yields (86 g) | 172 |
| Ricewhite, long-grain | 1 cup (158 g) | 55 |
Frequently asked questions
- Which foods are highest in potassium?
- Per serving, the highest on this list is beans — 1189 mg in 1 cup (262 g), per USDA FoodData Central. These are common foods rather than the absolute maximum in the USDA database: ranking every food by potassium density puts dried herbs and defatted soy flour at the top, which is true and useless to someone deciding what to have for dinner.
- Do I need to avoid potassium if I take these medicines?
- The danger is almost never the banana. It is the SALT SUBSTITUTE. Products sold as 'NoSalt', 'Nu-Salt' or 'lite salt' are potassium chloride — a teaspoon can carry more potassium than any food on this list, and people on blood-pressure drugs are precisely the people told to cut sodium, so they reach for it. Ask your prescriber before using one, and before taking a potassium supplement. Do not stop eating vegetables on the strength of a web page.
- Where do these numbers come from?
- USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy), for the household serving shown next to each food — not per 100 g. Per-100-g figures are what most "foods high in potassium" lists use, and they are misleading: nobody eats 100 g of dried thyme.
Sources
- Potassium — NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, Health Professional Fact Sheet ↗
- Lisinopril tablet — FDA label, Warnings (DailyMed) ↗
- USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy ↗
Nutrient values are USDA reference data for the serving shown and vary with variety, growing conditions and cooking. This page is general information, not medical advice — never change your diet or your dose on the strength of a web page. Talk to whoever manages your treatment.