low potassium drinks

[chelli]

Hi,
My potassium levels are high so I'm trying to stick to low potassium foods & drinks, but I'm sick to death of just drinking water all day long. I'd love to be able to drink coffee or anything hot that has more flavour than water but can't find anything that's not high in potassium.
How does everybody else go on? Does anybody know of any hot drinks that are low in potassium that I could try? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Debbie F]

Hi,
Is there another reason for high K? Maybe BP medication.... just a thought but mine was always raised by ACE inhibitors. Didn't matter how good I was! Fresh coffee better than instant, fruit teas can be nice. Good luck
Deb

[JMan]

As far as I know tea is poss the only hot drink (and some fruit teas, or flavoured teas). As for cold drinks, lemonade or apple juice from concentrate.. Most squashes or diluted cordials. Fizzy drinks (like colas etc) are likely to contain a certain amount of phosphate and or potassium.
The hospital should be able to provide you with some advice although I've found many of the nurses wouldn't know **** from tuesday when it comes to actually giving any full advice!!

[chelli]

Thank you all very much for your replies.
Yes Debbie, I am on BP medication that might be causing it to be high despite me trying really hard to reduce it, nice to know I'm not the only one who gets bad test results despite trying my hardest though!
Thanks for telling me about the filter coffee though Steve. All the hospital have given me is one sheet of paper with a list of high/medium/low potassium content foods & drinks on it and I found tea & coffee were both in the high catagory so I've been totally avoiding them. Maybe I could have the odd filter coffee then to break up the monotony of water, or some fruit tea. Thanks so much.

[JMan]

I would have thought freshly ground coffee would be higher in potassium. Will def ask my dietician when I next see her! hehe. I'm guessing they have most people on low potassium dialysate in the unit:)

[susancrellin]

I was told to try " CAMP " coffee instead of instant and ground. It has no restrictions in it..

[Rik]

Blimey!!!
Camp Coffee!!!
I havent thought about it in years!!
I always remember my Scottish aunt always drank camp coffee ... but then it is a Scottish product ... so I'm not surprised ... a true Scot was she!!

Camp coffee has about a 4% coffee content ... but around 25% chicory content ... and chicory is supposed to be a benificial herb for kidney patients ... apparently ...

hmm?? ... was that a again a serious reply to a post ...
OMG!!! I think I may be growing up!!!

[pgt67]

Hi Chelli,
I can only tell you what the unit dietician tells us, but that is that if you make coffee from ground coffee it is okay. My dialysis unit gives the day patients coffee during dialysis and us night hawks have a pot of coffee waiting for us in the morning when we've finished, and apart from any individual liquid restrictions there is no limit on how much we drink.
They say that the high potassium level is in instant coffee, so they are very anti drinking instant at all.
I'm not sure about any other drinks since I tend to stick to tea and so far my potassium levels have been okay.
Hope that helps a bit.

Interesting that as Coffee was served in all the units until some years ago it was stopped for various reasons, one of them that it affects the heart and could have adverse effects whilst on dialysis, although this study says differently!

http://www.allkidney.com/2009/11/benefi ... ients.html

Paul

[SteveEnglish]

Hello, Regular Coke is ok,it's very Low in potassium, I drink a can or 2 a day, as i never feel like eating much, ice cold out of the freezer, my only treat at the moment, but been here before it's not for ever!!

[wagolynn]

I am drinking Lift, this is dried lemon tea, you may have had it from a vending machine, it can be drunk hot or cold. Most supermarkets stock it.

Most soft fizzy drinks are loaded with salt, and sugar.

[chrisb]

I was told that 'coke' of any description is an absolute no no which is a shame as I love Pepsi. I do admit to having a very occasional small glass

[wagolynn]

Yes I was also advised that Coke/Pepsi is a no no.

I came across this http://wanttoknowit.com/soft-drinks-high-in-potassium/

Looks as though Coke is not a good idea.

[Henriettab]

Dad is in hospital with a notice behind him saying low potassium diet but he is still being given cups of tea and bananas which I thought had potassium in them.

[freddyy]

Dad is in hospital with a notice behind him saying low potassium diet but he is still being given cups of tea and bananas which I thought had potassium in them.

Tea has some potassium, but rather low compared to, say, fruit juices. It should be alright with a few cups.

One banana however is equivalent of 10 cups of tea and should probably be avoided. I would certainly ask them if they have taken the potassium content of the banana into account.

[Henriettab]

Thank you