Only follow this advice if you have been advised by your healthcare team to lower your potassium levels.

Why do I need to lower my potassium levels??

When potassium is absorbed into the blood, it helps to keep your muscles and heart working properly.

Your kidneys help to control the amount of potassium in your blood. If your kidneys are not working properly, too much potassium can build up which can cause problems with your heart.

Lowering your potassium levels if they are high can help reduce the risk of developing problems.

How can I lower my potassium levels?

Medications

Always take any medications you have been prescribed to control the levels of potassium in your body.

Healthy bowels

Regular bowel movements can help prevent potassium from building up in the blood. If you are struggling with constipation, you may benefit from eating more fibre. Fibre is found in fruit, vegetables, wholegrains, beans, pulses, lentils, nuts and seeds. Your dietitian may also recommend a fibre supplement.

If you are still constipated, your healthcare team may prescribe some laxatives.

Blood sugar control (if you have diabetes)

High blood sugar levels are linked with high potassium levels. Talk to your dietitian or diabetes team for help with managing your blood sugar levels.

Dietary changes

Potassium is found in many foods and drinks, including processed foods such as fruit juice, crisps, chocolate and food containing potassium additives. You may not need to limit all high-potassium foods, but you may need to reduce your portion sizes, or how often you eat them.

A well-balanced diet contains a variety of foods from different food groups to make sure you get all the nutrients you need to stay as healthy as possible. It can be harder to get a good balance when you have been advised to limit the amount of some foods you eat. You may also find it difficult to follow this advice if you are already following a special diet for another reason, such as religious or ethical beliefs, or due to a medical condition.

A dietitian can give you personalised advice to help ensure you still get the healthy nutrients while managing your potassium intake.

What changes can I make to the food I eat to lower potassium?

Avoid potassium chloride as a salt replacement

Potassium chloride is sometimes used to replace some, or all, of the salt in a product, but it can increase your potassium levels.

Avoid any salt substitutes which list potassium chloride on the ingredients list, including SoLo®, Lo-Salt® or sodium-free salt.

Check processed foods such as crisps for potassium chloride on the ingredients list. You may be able to find a similar product which does not contain added potassium.

Processed foods are also often high in salt. Wherever possible, limit your intake of processed food and cook from scratch.

For seasoning, try pepper, fresh or dried herbs, spices, lemon juice, chilli or garlic.

Cooking methods

Boiling potatoes and other vegetables reduces their potassium content as some of the potassium leaks into the cooking water. Potatoes that have been par-boiled (partly cooked by boiling) can then be fried, roasted or added to casseroles.

Avoid using cooking water to make gravy, stocks or soups to keep out the extra potassium.

Avoid steaming or microwaving vegetables as this keeps more of the potassium inside.

These simple steps can make a real difference lowering potassium in your diet.

Choose low potassium food options

Fruit

Lower potassium choices:

• apples
• pears
• small citrus fruits like satsumas and clementines
• grapes
• drained tinned fruit

High potassium foods to reduce:

• bananas
• avocado
• dried fruit such as raisins, sultanas, currants, dates or dried apricots

Vegetables

Lower potassium choices:

• carrots
• broccoli
• runner beans
• peas
• cabbage
• aubergine
• bean sprouts
• green salad

High potassium foods to reduce:

• beetroot
• tomato purée
• sundried tomatoes
• dried and fresh mushrooms
• baby spinach
• artichoke
• chard
• pak choi

Dairy and milk

Limit milk and yoghurt to a total of ½ pint (300ml) per day

Lower potassium choices:

• dairy products such as cow’s milk and cow’s milk yoghurt
• cheese
• crème fraîche
• cream
• rice, almond or oat milk

High potassium foods to reduce:

• condensed milk
• evaporated milk
• milk powders

Protein

Lower potassium choices:

• meat (chicken, turkey, pork, beef)
• fish including canned tuna
• eggs
• beans and pulses such as kidney beans, chickpeas, lentils and soya beans

High potassium foods to reduce:

• ham and other deli meats
• processed meats such as Spam®

Starchy foods

Limit potato or starchy vegetables to maximum one portion (150g) per day

Lower potassium choices:

• boiled potatoes or potatoes which have been par-boiled before roasting or frying
• boiled starchy vegetables such as cassava, yam, plantain, taro or sweet potato
• pasta
• rice
• noodles
• couscous
• bread
• breakfast cereals such as wheat biscuits, porridge (oats), shredded wheat or rice or corn-based cereals

High potassium foods to reduce:

• jacket or baked potatoes
• oven, microwave or shop-bought chips
• manufactured potato products such as hash browns, potato waffles, frozen roast potatoes or potato wedges
• starchy vegetables such as cassava, yam, plantain, taro or sweet potato that have not been boiled
• breakfast cereals containing lots of dried fruit, nuts or chocolate, such as muesli or granola

Snacks

Lower potassium choices:

• corn, rice, wheat or maize-based snacks
• popcorn
• boiled or jelly sweets
• marshmallows
• mints
• plain biscuits such as rich tea, digestives, shortbread, custard creams
• plain cakes such as sponge cake, madeira cake, angel cake

High potassium foods to reduce:

• potato, vegetable or lentil-based crisps and snacks
• chocolate
• fudge
• nuts
• dried fruit
• biscuits and cakes containing lots of dried fruit, nuts or chocolate

Drinks

Lower potassium choices:

• tea
• herbal tea
• squash
• cordial
• water

High potassium drinks to reduce:

• coffee (limit to one cup a day)
• malted milk drinks such as Ovaltine® or Horlicks®
• hot chocolate
• fruit and vegetable juices
• smoothies
• wine (limit to one small glass of white wine)
• beer
• cider

Where can I find more information?

Please speak to your kidney dietitian for individual dietary advice, and for information about your specific dietary requirements.

• NHS Choices - Live Well
• Kidney Kitchen from Kidney Care UK: healthy, delicious multicultural food for every stage of kidney disease. Approved by kidney dietitians and enjoyed by everyone!

Lowering your potassium levels: download or order Kidney Care UK's information leaflet

You can download our Lowering your potassium levels leaflet for free.

You can also order a printed copy of Kidney Care UK’s Lowering your potassium levels leaflet to be sent to you in the post.

Publication date: 08/2023

Review date: 08/2026

This resource was produced according to PIF TICK standards. PIF TICK is the UK’s only assessed quality mark for print and online health and care information. Kidney Care UK is PIF TICK accredited.