Usually a discussion of high potassium foods includes vegetables, fruits and other plant based foods.
If not preserved with salt, animal meats can be good sources of potassium.
However, if the meat is injected with salt, the sodium will counter the benefits of potassium.
The Institute of Medicine has recommended getting more potassium and less sodium to control blood pressure and improve bone density.
Poultry is an excellent animal source of potassium.
It has a potassium to sodium ratio of better than 3 to 1.
A typical 3.
5 ounce serving will supply 250 to 300 mg of potassium.
Since the Institute of Medicine has recommended getting more than 4.
7 grams of potassium each day, poultry can provide potassium while being a good source of animal protein.
For many poultry animals, most of the calories come from protein, and only 10 to 30% of calories come from fat.
For most poultry, there is only a small percentage of calories from saturated fat, the bad fat that clogs up arteries.
In the better poultry, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat comprise the major source of fat, while still supplying plenty of potassium.
Poultry has no carbohydrates and no fiber.
The calories come from protein or fat.
For many poultry only a small percentage of calories come from fat.
Only 20% of calories come from fat for chicken, and only 12% come from fat for young tom turkey meat.
If the meat is dark, the animal domesticated, or the skin included during cooking, the fat content of the meat will increase.
Domesticated duck, goose, and quail get more than 50% of their calories from fat.
If skin and dark meat are included, it can get as high as 80%.
The method of preparation can make a difference in the fat content.
Grilling suspends the meat and allows the fat to drip off.
Roasting is another way that lets some of the fat drip off and will lower the fat content.
If duck is roasted without skin, the percentage of calories from fat can drop below 50%.
Although most poultry is low in fat, the best poultry is chicken, guinea hen, emu, squab and quail.
They provide a good serving of potassium and have approximately equal amounts of monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and saturated fats.
Less than 30% of calories come from fat.
Turkey has slightly less monounsaturated fat.
But pheasant, duck, goose and ostrich have about 40 to 50% of their fat calories provided by saturated fat.
Although they have favorable amounts of potassium, the saturated fat content makes them a less favorable choice of poultry.