It’s common knowledge that bananas have a lot of potassium. You need potassium? You eat a banana. But what if you don’t like bananas? What if you aren’t into that gushy texture? Or even more importantly, what if you’re not ok with eating the 14 grams of sugar that comes in your average banana?

Yes, that’s right. 14g of sugar. For a little comparison, that’s more than a popsicle or almost as much as a package of Capri Sun, or the same as two fruit roll-ups and I’m not even kidding, it’s only 5 grams less than a twinkie.

But potassium is really quite important. It’s the third-most abundant mineral in the human body. So to stay healthy, do you have to take the good with the bad and just eat a banana?

No! Down below you’ll find ten foods lower in sugar and higher in potassium than a banana. But first, let’s talk a bit about potassium.

Why you need potassium

• Potassium is crucial for every cell in your body. It enables the cells to use water by keeping the balance of water inside and outside of the cell at normal levels.
• Potassium helps the kidneys get rid of sodium. This then helps lower blood pressure by keeping the body’s level of sodium at optimal levels.
• Potassium keeps your body’s pH levels balanced. This is important for two main reasons. First, when the body is too acidic, this raises the risk of developing any kind of cancer. Second, when the body becomes too acidic, your bones lose calcium and phosphorus and become weak and brittle.
• Potassium helps the kidneys get rid of a mineral called citrate that, when it builds up, causes kidney stones.
• Potassium is essential for the communication between electrical signals from the brain and muscle contractions. Without enough potassium, you can experience muscle spasms and cramps.

A potassium deficiency can be dangerous and, in extreme circumstances, lead to stroke and paralysis. It rarely gets that bad, but deficiency can also lead to things like weight gain, cellulite, high blood pressure, chronic fatigue and muscle cramps.

How to get potassium

The amount of potassium your body needs is quite high. The recommended daily intake is 3500mg. Thankfully, many foods contain potassium, not just bananas. Here are 10 foods higher in potassium than bananas.

1. A medium-sized salmon filet will get you 41 percent of your daily value of potassium–and omega-3 fatty acids, and protein, and Vitamin D. This is a clear winner.
2. Avocados – You aren’t going to find any vegetable with more potassium (and healthy fats) than an avocado. One will get you about 30 percent of your daily value.
3. Coming in at a close third is a sweet potato. One, including the skin, will get you 27 percent of you daily value. Plus, your body processes sweet potatoes differently than regular potatoes so you don’t have to worry about turning starch to sugar.
4. One cup of acorn squash will get you 26 percent of your daily value. And there are plenty of other micronutrients in this veggie that you can get fresh during the fall and winter.
5. One cup of spinach will get you 24 percent of your daily value. And eating two cups in a salad is perfectly reasonable–which would get you to about half your DV.
6. One cup of coconut water will get you 17 percent of your daily value.
7. One cup of yogurt (sugar-free of course) will get you 15 percent of your daily value.
8. A half cup of white beans will get you 15 percent of your daily value. Great for stews.
9. One cup of mushrooms will get you 12 percent of your daily value. That’s just about any type of mushroom, but the measurement is based on standard, white cap mushrooms.
10. A chicken breast will get you 10 percent of your daily value. Just be sure it’s free range!

Runners up include red meat, nuts, milk and cheese. Thankfully, potassium is abundant in many of the foods we naturally eat, so getting your daily value (or even more–which is fine) isn’t that difficult if you have a diverse and healthy diet.

My only warning: don’t eat potassium salts. That is generally the only way a person can overdose on potassium. And if you do, just practice moderation.