Did you know that potassium is my favourite mineral? Or that I describe bananas as my spirit fruit? And that I can barely walk by any banana paraphernalia without wanting to buy it. You know banana napkins, Christmas ornaments, dish clothes? I can’t resist!
Fortunately for me, my pocket book and my marriage banana-theme isn’t THAT popular. I mean, if I was really into pickles for example, and purchased everything pickle I ever came across, my husband would probably kill me.
What’s so cool about potassium?
I love potassium because its a mineral that is so good for you (associated with reduced blood pressure, strokes, etc) until it isn’t. And then its so bad for you – because hyperkalemia is associated with increased mortality. I mean, think about that, potassium is good for you until we know there is a problem. This means our nutrition recommendations sound a bit like “GOOD, GOOD, GOOD, BAD, VERY BAD, STOP EATING ALL POTASSIUM RIGHT AWAY!!!!”
There aren’t many other minerals or nutrients that I can think of that go from really good to really bad in such as dramatic way.
The other interesting thing about potassium is that there is no evidence for the routine restriction of potassium in kidney disease if serum values are normal. This is different than phosphorus for example, where evidence suggests that disregulation of phosphorus metabolism actually begins before we see changes in serum levels.
What’s so cool about bananas?
For me the coolness of bananas became most apparent when I was living in a remote part of Canada – called Haida Gwaii. Haida Gwaii is a group of remote islands, that is about an 8 hour ferry ride from the mainland of British Columbia. For the American’s reading, it happens to be the southern tip of the Alaskan panhandle.
Food was expensive in Haida Gwaii. Food spoilage was also a huge issue. This meant that those beautiful raspberries that I could buy in my big-city grocery store any time of year were just not available in Haida Gwaii. Or if on the off chance, they were in our local CO-OP, they cost a ludicrous amount of money and half of them were rotten.
But do you want to know what fruit was always stocked in the grocery store? What fruit didn’t cost a gazaillion dollars and still tasted good after an 8 hour ferry ride from the mainland? Bananas! (Well, and potatoes too – but this post isn’t about potatoes).
Bananas also happen to be high in potassium and are the number 1 restricted foods on a low potassium diet.
Take Aways
Well, this is more of a letting you get to know me post. But here are my favourite potassium take aways:
- Don’t restrict potassium for adults living with kidney disease unless they have hyperkalemia
- If a potassium restriction is needed – try to start with processed foods first
- Try to avoid restriction of healthy, affordable, readily accessible foods (such as the banana) whenever possible
