Nuts are a good source of many minerals, including potassium.
We’re going to take a brief look at the amount of potassium in a variety of common nuts.
Note that all data on this page is per 100 grams of any nut mentioned.
Table of Contents
How Much Potassium Do You Need?
There doesn’t seem to be one definitive answer on how much potassium people need. I’ve come across recommendations ranging from 2,000 to 5,000.
Here’s a table from the NIH that you can use for reference.
Nuts High in Potassium
The table below shows the amount of potassium in 100 grams of each nut.
I’ve used a conservative RDA of 2,000 mg. The second column is simply for reference anyways, so don’t put too much stock into the specific percentages.
| Potassium (mg) | Potassium (%RDA) | |
|---|---|---|
| Pistachio nuts | 1024.4 | 51.2 |
| Almonds | 733.3 | 36.7 |
| Peanuts | 705.5 | 35.3 |
| Hazelnut | 680.0 | 34.0 |
| Brazil nut | 658.6 | 32.9 |
| Pine nuts | 597.0 | 29.9 |
| Cashews | 565.0 | 28.2 |
| Walnuts | 441.0 | 22.1 |
| Pecans | 410.1 | 20.5 |
| Macadamia nut | 368.7 | 18.4 |
Which Nuts Are Highest in Potassium?
Pistachio nuts are the highest in potassium by a significant margin, with over 1,000 mg per 100 gram serving. However, many nuts have around 30% of the RDA, including almonds, peanuts, hazelnuts, and brazil nuts.
Which Nuts Are Lowest in Potassium?
Macadamia nuts, pecans, and walnuts are the lowest in potassium of all common nuts, but still have a decent amount. They all have right around 400 mg of potassium per 100 gram serving, which is around 20% of the RDA for potassium.
Are Nuts a Good Potassium Source Compared to Alternatives?
When you look at plant-based sources of potassium, you’ll see 2 main things:
- Nuts are one of the best sources of potassium per 100 grams
- Nuts score poorly when it comes to potassium per 100 calories.
Nuts are very dense in calories, so while getting some potassium from nuts is fine, it’s generally not healthy to get a large portion of your potassium from them.
For most people, prioritizing foods like leafy greens (e.g. spinach, watercress, etc.) that are high in potassium per 100 calories is a better way to reach potassium targets on a regular basis.
Is It Healthy to Get A Lot of Potassium From Nuts?
Besides the calories, you may also want to consider that most nuts have poor omega 3 to 6 fat ratios. Getting too many omega 6 fats in particular can lead to inflammation.
The only nuts with “good” omega fat ratios are walnuts and macadamia nuts, which also happen to be relatively low in potassium.
In other words, getting a majority of potassium from nuts on a regular basis likely isn’t healthy in most situations. They are high in calories and omega 6 fats, which can both lead to negative health outcomes in excess.
