This Food Has Almost Double The Potassium Of A Banana

Potassium is an essential mineral that helps your body in many important ways. It supports nerve and muscle function, maintains blood pressure, and gets nutrients to the cells. It also helps to make sure your cells have enough fluid in them, preserves kidney function, and helps to support overall heart health. According to the National Institutes of Health, the daily adequate intake of potassium for adult males aged 19 and older is 3,400 milligrams, and 2,600 milligrams for adult females aged 19 and older. But since the body does not produce potassium naturally, we get it from what we eat. Luckily, it's found in many foods and beverages.

Bananas in particular are famously known for their potassium levels. And while they are rich in the mineral, there's another food that beats the fruit in potassium by almost double the amount. According to the USDA, a 100-gram portion of cooked white beans contains 561 milligrams of potassium. A typical banana weighing 115 grams, comparatively, contains around 375 milligrams of potassium. And if we're comparing the exact amount of each food, 115 grams of white beans would contain a whopping 645 milligrams — almost two times the amount of potassium in a single banana.

While you could easily whip up a quick white bean soup to get most of your daily potassium in, there are other foods rich in the mineral as well. For example, avocados contain a ton of potassium (more than a banana, actually, at 576 milligrams per 100 grams). Other fruits that contain a significant amount of potassium include pomegranates and tomatoes, which offer 236 and 226 milligrams of potassium per 100 grams of fruit, respectively. As for drinks, 1 cup of unsweetened coconut water will net you 404 milligrams of potassium.

There are also several veggies that are packed with more of the mineral than bananas, including sweet potatoes, spinach, and beets. The same amount of spinach as the fruit above contains 460 milligrams of potassium. Similarly, 100 grams of sweet potatoes contain 486 milligrams of the nutrient, while the same portion of beets comes in at 342 milligrams. So pick your potassium vehicles of choice to meet your daily nutritional need — you've got options.