Potassium in Indian Foods, per Katori and Roti

Section 5

The Indian plate

Values from the Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (ICMR-NIN, Hyderabad), per 100 g raw edible portion unless stated, scaled to Indian Dietetic Association servings: one cereal serving 30 g raw, one pulse serving 30 g raw, one vegetable serving 100 g. Bands: LOW under 150 mg K, MOD 150 to 300, HIGH above 300.

Staples

Cereals and millets, per one serving of 30 g raw (one roti, or one katori of cooked rice)
Staple	Protein g	K mg	P mg	Band
Rice, raw milled	2.4	32	29	LOW
Maida roti	3.1	44	33	LOW
Rice flakes (poha)	2.1	44	59	LOW
Rice, parboiled	2.3	43	42	LOW
Rava upma (30 g rava)	3.4	85	36	LOW
Idli, one	2.9	93	41	LOW
Atta roti / phulka	3.2	93	94	LOW
Jowar roti	3.0	98	82	LOW
Bajra roti	3.3	110	87	LOW
Ragi roti or java	2.2	133	63	LOW

Per serving, staples are not the potassium problem. The reason millets look bad in renal handouts is that they are compared per 100 g of flour rather than per roti. Ragi carries four times the potassium of milled rice per 100 g, but a ragi roti is 133 mg, which is one third of a katori of toor dal. Where millets do matter is in a patient eating six ragi rotis a day, and in the calcium load of ragi at 364 mg per 100 g.

Dals, the single biggest lever

One katori of cooked dal, from 30 g raw
Dal	Protein g	K mg	P mg	P : protein	Band
Masoor dal	7.3	236	93	12.7	MOD
Chana dal	6.5	287	98	15.1	MOD
Chana / chole, whole	5.6	280	80	14.2	MOD
Urad dal	6.9	347	112	16.3	HIGH
Moong dal	7.2	380	125	17.4	HIGH
Rajma	6.0	397	123	20.5	HIGH
Toor / arhar dal	6.5	418	98	15.1	HIGH

Say this

"Change your dal, not your meal. Masoor dal gives you the same protein as toor dal with just over half the potassium. Same katori, same sambar, same rice."

Masoor at 786 mg per 100 g against toor at 1,395 mg is a 44 percent reduction for a change the family will barely notice. It is the highest yield single swap available in a Deccan kitchen.

Vegetables

Per 100 g raw, roughly one katori
Vegetable	K mg	Band	Vegetable	K mg	Band
Tinda, tender	56	LOW	Cabbage	233	MOD
Snake gourd	100	LOW	Brinjal	247	MOD
Bottle gourd (lauki)	124	LOW	Peas, fresh	249	MOD
Ridge gourd (beerakaya)	118	LOW	Pumpkin, orange	253	MOD
Capsicum, green	154	MOD	Bhindi	263	MOD
Onion, big	171	MOD	Carrot	273	MOD
Cucumber	183	MOD	Cluster beans	301	HIGH
Pumpkin, green	186	MOD	Bitter gourd	326	HIGH
Tomato, hybrid	167	MOD	Cauliflower	329	HIGH
Tomato, local ripe	204	MOD	French beans	324	HIGH
Radish, red	255	MOD	Ash gourd (petha)	372	HIGH
Tapioca	255	MOD	Drumstick pod	419	HIGH
Beetroot	306	HIGH	Sweet potato	345	HIGH
Yam, elephant (suran)	501	HIGH	Colocasia (arbi)	514	HIGH
Potato	541	HIGH	Green plantain	402	HIGH

Correct this in our handouts

Ash gourd is not a low potassium vegetable. IFCT 2017 puts it at 372 mg per 100 g, which is higher than brinjal, cabbage or carrot. It is classified as low in several Indian renal handouts, including the 2019 Indian diet CKD guide from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Reclassify it as high. The genuinely low ones are tinda, snake gourd, ridge gourd and bottle gourd, which are also, conveniently, the backbone of Deccan everyday cooking.

Leafy greens, herbs and spices

Palak 625 mg, amaranth 572 mg, drumstick leaves 397 mg per 100 g. These are genuinely high and a full katori of palak is a real potassium load in a hyperkalaemic patient. Methi leaves at 226 mg are the exception and are far lower than palak.

Herbs and spices are a different matter and we ban them wrongly. Curry leaves are 584 mg per 100 g, but nobody eats 100 g of curry leaves. A tempering of 5 g is 29 mg. Ten grams of coriander garnish is 55 mg. Half a teaspoon of turmeric is 47 mg, of red chilli powder 45 mg, of jeera 38 mg. Do not ban tempering, garnish or spice. They are what makes a low-salt Deccan diet edible, and edible is what makes it work.

Trap: tamarind

Tamarind pulp is 836 mg potassium per 100 g. A Hyderabadi or Andhra sambar, rasam, pulusu or chintapandu curry may use 20 to 30 g of pulp in the pot, adding 170 to 250 mg of potassium to a dish nobody counts. This is routinely missed. In a hyperkalaemic patient, cut the tamarind and acidify with lime instead.

Fruit

Per typical portion
Fruit	K mg	Band	Fruit	K mg	Band
Apple, 1 small	100	LOW	Sweet lime, 1	182	MOD
Pear, 1 medium	106	LOW	Musk melon, 1 katori	206	MOD
Apple, 1 medium	116	LOW	Pomegranate, 1 katori	206	MOD
Watermelon, 1 katori	124	LOW	Grapes, black seedless	237	MOD
Mango, half	144	LOW	Custard apple	278	MOD
Pineapple, 1 katori	143	LOW	Sapota (chikoo)	280	MOD
Orange, 1	164	MOD	Guava, 1 medium	283	MOD
Papaya, 1 katori	173	MOD	Banana, 1 medium	306–362	HIGH
Dates, 4 (30 g)	241	MOD	Raisins, 2 tbsp (30 g)	332	HIGH
Tender coconut water, 200 ml	430	HIGH	Jackfruit, ripe	279	MOD

Mango is worth naming out loud, because patients assume it is forbidden. Banganapalli at 144 mg per 100 g is lower in potassium than guava, papaya or orange. The reason to portion mango in this clinic is the glycaemic load, not the potassium. Say that explicitly, or the patient will hear "mango is bad for kidneys" and pass it on to the whole family.

Trap: tender coconut water

One tender coconut is about 430 mg of highly absorbable potassium, taken as a drink, often daily, and universally regarded in South India as healthy and harmless. It is one of the commonest identifiable triggers for hyperkalaemia in our patient population. Ask about it by name at every visit, because patients do not count it as food.