Potassium

Analysis shows very low potassium. I research which foods increase potasium, like red kidney beans, but when I add them to my food diary is makes no difference !
Appreciate help with this as it's putting me off cronometer.
Thanks.

Answers

  • I'm no expert but 'til the smarter folks get here I'll try to shed a little light on it. If it doesn't make sense, consider the source and trust that a better explanation will soon follow.
    I looked at two data entries for red kidney beans.
    1. The first one was Sun Vista, Red Kidney Beans Food #4029317, Data Source: USDAWeb:45347089 It only lists 14 nutrients and potassium isn't one of them. That is typical for branded products. I assume they are listing only those items the FDA required on the nutrition label.
    2. The second was Kidney Beans, Canned, Drained Food #465171, Data Source: NCCDB. They list 76 nutrients including 78.53 mg potassium per ounce of beans.

    There is a lot more information about the data sources Cronometer uses on this page.
    The NCCDB is the database I prefer and usually lists the most nutrients. Most of the time I will select a generic entry from NCCDB instead of one for a specific branded product. I watch out for major discrepancies between the two and if they are significantly different the reason isn't too hard to figure out. Remember though, this stuff isn't purely mathematical. Or it is but the math is so incredibly complex that precision is impossible. Maybe there's just more potassium in Farmer Jones' dirt than in farmer Brown's. The FDA allows a 20% margin of error in nutrition labeling.

    Anyway if this helped great, if not, submit required forms in triplicate and I might refund the money you paid me for it. But don't let me or some wonky database business put you off cronometer. :smile:

    "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants." Michael Pollan

  • @OldHobo Great advice! Thanks for your contributions. :)

    Susan Macfarlane, MScA, RD
    Registered Dietitian Nutritionist
    cronometer.com
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