Fruits and veggies lowest in potassium are: apples, blueberries, limes, and iceberg lettuce.
Your safest bets include iceberg, arugula, Bibb, Boston, red leaf or green leaf lettuces. If you are not on a blood thinning medication, raw spinach, romaine and kale are good options as well. Keep your lettuce portion to about 1 cup or ½ cup if choosing kale or raw spinach.
Potassium, sodium, and the cardiovascular system
Romaine lettuce is also rich in the heart-healthy mineral potassium. Potassium helps muscles such as the heart contract regularly. One review in the BMJ concludes that higher levels of potassium might help lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of stroke.
Choose the Good Greens
Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and spinach are good greens for many people, but not if you're watching potassium. Instead, get your healthy greens in the form of celery, asparagus, green beans, and lettuce.
Generally, patients with CKD, especially those who suffer from hyperkalemia, should avoid consuming large amounts of raw vegetables, such as lettuce, in order to reduce their potassium intake from meals.
Cauliflower is also an excellent source of potassium, an essential dietary mineral that helps keep everything in your body up and running, from regular heart beats to proper bodily hydration.
Carrots contain a moderate amount of potassium and can healthfully be included in a kidney-friendly diet.
Dark leafy greens, such as spinach or kale, are packed with vitamins and minerals that promote healthy kidney function. These vegetables also contain antioxidants which can help make the kidneys' job of filtering out the blood easier.
Onions: Another great way to add flavor to any food, onions have health benefits, too. They are low in potassium and rich in flavonoids–a powerful antioxidant that can help reduce heart disease and protect against cancer.
Potassium in cheese is typically low. One exception is when potassium chloride is added to some of the low-sodium cheese options, such as low-sodium cheddar or Colby cheese.
Water pills (diuretics) help rid your body of extra potassium. They work by making your kidney create more urine. Potassium is normally removed through urine. Potassium binders often come in the form of a powder.
Even if hyperkalemia isn't a crisis, you still need to get your potassium levels down. Some medications lower potassium slowly, including: Water pills (diuretics), which rid the body of extra fluids and remove potassium through urine. Sodium bicarbonate, which temporarily shifts potassium into body cells.
Eat foods that don't have as much potassium. These low-potassium foods include: Fruits such as apples and applesauce, pineapple, grapes, cherries, strawberries, watermelon, honeydew melon, blueberries, and raspberries. Cucumbers, asparagus, carrots, cauliflower, peas, squash, and zucchini.
Be cautious – Soul food is often high in potassium. Avoid black-eyed peas, dried beans, cooked greens, spinach, yams, and sweet potato pie. All are high in potassium.
Zucchini has a good amount of potassium: 295 milligrams per cup, or 8% of your recommended daily value. According to the American Heart Association, potassium can help control blood pressure because it lessens the harmful effects of salt on your body.
The potassium in iceberg lettuce is low, making it great for a kidney diet.
Leafy greens like kale and spinach are nutrient-dense foods that are packed with essential vitamins and minerals that help to support kidney function as well as overall health. Leafy greens contain vitamins A, C, and K as well as carotenoids and flavonoids.
Traditionally, white bread was recommended for people with kidney disease because it has less potassium and phosphorus.
Kiwifruit. Bananas tend to get all the credit when it comes to potassium-rich fruits, but a single small kiwifruit has nearly as much potassium, at 215 milligrams, as an entire banana.