Need potassium! Help
 

What foods can we have that has a good potassium level in it? My feet/legs are starting to cramp bad and I know from experience it is because my potassium level has dropped. I used to eat bananas all the time but stopped since I started on Atkins.

I used to have the same problem and what I noticed was that I get leg cramps when I don't drink enough water. I started using morton "no salt" which has potassium in it, started a calcium/magnesium/zinc supplement and make sure to drink all my water and I no longer have the leg cramps. Hang in there, I know how miserable they are!

Eat your veggies.Especially green ones. Spinach in your salad will up your potassium, and some broccoli too. My hubby was skimping on the salads and he got charlie horses, while I never had any problem ( I had all the salad stuff here at home) Do a google search on potassium and vegetables, you'll see a huge variety. Even some nuts like Almonds, pecans, cashew, brazil nuts have potassium.

One other thing, the Atkins Advantage Shakes have a good bit of potassium, and only 1 net carb. You could have one of those for breakfast .

I had cramps in my feet twice last week too. I know I get enough potassium so is there some other mineral that you need in order to absorb the potassium that I am missing maybe??

Jenn

Bananas aren't bad as far as potassium content, but there are other foods such as avocados and salmon that are much higher. :)

Check out this thread for a list ... What's the best low carb food for potassium ??.

Doreen

I notice magnesium was mentioned.. do you need that too in order to absorb the potassium? Magnesium is something that I see a little low quite frequently on my fitday. That and vitamin D are pretty much the only things I seem to have a consistent hard time getting enough of.

jenn

Green Veggies are great for potassium...there was another thread written about this approximately one month ago...I believe.
You may want to also get a good multi-vitamin.
I find that I get cramps in my left leg when I drink red wine and don't have water afterwards.

Ohhh, thanks Doreen. Good to know.

Angel

Hi
You can buy a potassium-Mag suppliment...one pill....they are very resonably priced even in most drug stores and supermarkets....$3-$4 a bottle...I have to take a Water pill every once in awhile to help with the swelling in my feet...it flushes out all the minerals with it if I dont take a potassium supplemnt with it Horible leg cramps happen.....Big John

You need it to absorb calcium.

Karen

avacados are good and so are psyllium husks, the powder form anyway I believe has a lot of potassium.

Elash- cramps are also caused by not enough calcium and magnesium. Many pills have them all together w/ zinc because they are good together. :)

As to vit D. Well you only need the sun, sunscreen free, in early morning or evening when the suns rays are less intense, for 15min a day.

Thanks CS.. I had cut back on my yogurt in the past couple weeks and I am not a big cheese eater so that's probably what the problem was. Thanks again! :)

Jenn

I feel your pain I used to be plagued with leg, foot, toe, & ankle cramps. I was up several time a night trying to walk them out. I drink a gallon of water a day and take potassium, magnesium, and other assorted supplements. I eat 2 to 3 cups of green veggies a day and I still get them every now and then. Hang in there it will get better. :D

Many thanks!
 

I just want to thank you all for your advice! I bought a potassium supplement today so we'll see if it helps. My feet cramp so badly, I almost can't walk. I also take a water pill so maybe I also need more water than the usual 64 oz.

Oooh, I hope your cramps go away soon!

Basically, there's little need for supplements--I found that out after buying a bottle last December that's still sitting on top of the fridge to this day. ;)

There are four things that can cause muscle cramps: potassium, magnesium, calcium and vitamin C.

One thing I dearly love about FitDay is that it's helped me to learn which foods are the highest in these nutrients. I typically get over 100% of my RDA of the majority of vitamins and minerals.

Vitamin C eat green peppers, tomatoes, raw broccoli and cauliflower (love these chopped in salads!), strawberries (post-Induction, of course) and parsley (my favorite salad green!).

Potassium: Avocadoes, meat (a 3-ounce serving of beef or pork has over 300 mg potassium, chicken and turkey over 200 per 3-ounce serving), broccoli, cauliflower, celery, peanuts (post-Induction), green beans, cream (apparently this is in the whey because cheese doesn't have much) and I know there are more I'm not thinking of. My average potassium intake is 2,000 mg daily just from my food.

The best sources for magnesium are nuts, meats and broccoli. Sometimes this one's a bit tough for me to get 100%.

Anyhow, if you don't have an account at FitDay, you might want to set one up--if for nothing else but to find out which foods are the most nutrient dense. I've learned that there are a lot of misconceptions about foods out there and things I've always been told are 'healthy' (ahem, alfalfa sprouts for example) have virtually no nutrient value and others I thought weren't so good are a storehouse of vitamins and minerals.

Just a note to deal with leg cramps when they happen...if you feel one coming on...straighten you leg and arch your foot/toes upward toward your knee (you can use your hand to pull your toes if needed). It will stop a cramp in your calf almost instantly. Learned this trick while training to scuba dive and found it REALLY works.

Thanks again!
 

Guys, I really appreciate all your input about this subject and Ladycody thank you for telling me how to get rid of the leg cramps. Once you have one, getting rid of it as fast as possible is the main thing you want to do!

I sure am glad I found this website! It has been so informative for me! :p

When I first started low carbing I had horrible cramps hip pains and leg pains I took vitamins potassium and ate all of the right foods I am just severly prone to deficiencies and found the only relief was by taking a few bites from those "dreaded" meal replacement bars (the low carb kind that are loaded with vitamins) I would just take a few bites and I bar would last me days and the vitamins were absorbed so that I no longer suffered horrible cramps.

I did some research on this problem and one thing that kept coming up, besides potassium, calcium/magnesium, and WATER, was Vitamin E. Apparently taking 400 to 800 IU of Vitamin E per day really helps some people. I've added Vitamin E pills to my daily handful, and haven't had any charley horses since. Maybe this will help?