Potassium-Rich Foods on the NCLEX
The high-K and low-K food lists, and which patients need which list.
Potassium food questions are list questions. Learn both lists and who belongs on each.
High-potassium foods
Bananas, oranges and orange juice, potatoes and sweet potatoes, tomatoes and tomato sauce, spinach and other leafy greens, avocados, dried fruits (raisins, apricots, prunes), cantaloupe and honeydew, beans and lentils, milk and yogurt, and salt substitutes. Salt substitutes are straight potassium chloride and out-test every other item.
Low-potassium foods
Apples and applesauce, berries, grapes, pineapple, green beans, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumber, white rice, white bread, refined pasta. Portion still matters: enough of a low-K food becomes a potassium load.
Who needs MORE potassium
Patients on loop and thiazide diuretics (furosemide, hydrochlorothiazide) waste potassium. Digoxin patients must keep K+ in range because hypokalemia triggers digoxin toxicity. Also chronic vomiting, diarrhea, and corticosteroid therapy. Encourage the high-K list unless something else forbids it.
Who needs LESS potassium
CKD and dialysis patients, anyone with hyperkalemia, and caution with potassium-sparing diuretics (spironolactone), ACE inhibitors, and ARBs. A spironolactone patient reaching for a banana and a salt substitute is a written invitation to intervene.
Kitchen tricks the exam accepts
Leaching: peel and slice potatoes or root vegetables, soak, then boil in a large pot of water and discard the water. It lowers potassium but does not erase it. Draining and rinsing canned fruits and vegetables also drops the load.
Frequently asked
Best breakfast for a patient on furosemide?
Something from the high-K list: orange juice, a banana, yogurt. The diuretic is draining potassium daily.
Patient on lisinopril asks about salt substitutes?
Advise against them. ACE inhibitors retain potassium, and salt substitutes are potassium chloride. Together they can push K+ high.
Normal potassium range?
3.5-5.0 mEq/L. Food questions are usually one step from a lab value, so keep the range loaded.
Quick check
Loading a question…
How ready are you right now?
10 real NCLEX questions, free, in your browser. See how close you are to ready and which subjects are costing you.
Try 10 questions free