Potassium Caramel Salted Coffee

Salted caramel coffee is all the rage!  The bitterness from the salt and the coffee offset the sweet from the caramel.  

But beyond the taste, adding salt to your coffee is also smart because coffee increases your need for salt by about half a gram of sodium per cup.

However, while most people are getting enough salt from their diet, the majority of us not meeting our potassium intake because the potassium in our food system has been on the decline over the past sixty years or so as our use of chemical fertilisers has sped up the growth of crops that are being grown year after year in the same field.   

It’s also hard to get a significant amount of potassium from supplement tablets as they are limited to 99 mg per tablet.  You would need to take handfuls of these to get anywhere near the recommended daily intake for potassium.  

While the amount of potassium and sodium is important, it seems that the ratio of potassium to sodium is even more critical.  As a rule of thumb, you want to be getting more than twice the potassium as sodium (i.e. 2:1 potassium:sodium ratio) in your diet if you are sedentary and about the same amount if you are a very active athlete (i.e. 1:1 potassium:sodium).  

Improving your potassium:sodium ratio has a wide range of benefits, including improving your insulin resistance and optimising your metabolic health.   Potassium also helps your kidneys hold onto sodium, so you will need less salt if you are getting plenty of potassium.  

So, you are going to have your coffee anyway, why not try potassium coffee to boost your potassium intake?  The milk and caramel syrup gives you that indulgent salted caramel taste and offsets the potassium.

You can get potassium citrate powder and caramel syrup from iHerb.  Use the sugar-free chocolate syrup if you prefer a mocha or can’t get the caramel.  

This recipe was inspired by Raymund Edwards of the Optimal Ketogenic Living Facebook Group.  Raymund says,

“A potassium enriched coffee in the morning really wakes the muscles.  It’s better than any warm-up. Loose and alive we can feel the difference as they soak up actively the potassium, especially after the night fast (where muscles have been releasing potassium).  And the coffee in my view tastes so much better too.”

As you can see from the recipe analysis below, you would need more than five of these potassium coffees to meet the DRI for potassium and more than eight cups to exceed the upper limit for potassium. 

There is no upper limit of potassium from dietary sources, and it is said that some hunter-gatherer tribes were getting around eight grams of potassium per day. The recent PURE study shows that we get a more significant reduction in all-cause mortality as you get more potassium in your diet.  

However, if you are getting your potassium from supplements, you should start slow and not overdo it, especially if you are taking any blood pressure medications that work to help you recycle your potassium more effectively.  

Ingredients 

The simple option here is to add the coffee, potassium citrate and flavouring:

• One shot of fresh coffee. 
• 20 mL of full cream milk.  
• Half a teaspoon of potassium citrate powder (i.e. about 2.5g of powder). 
• 1 teaspoon of Walden Farms Caramel Syrup (Sugar-free) or Walden Farms Chocolate Syrup (Sugar-free).

If you want to add a protein boost to start your day tp help hit your protein target, you can add a scoop of protein powder.  

Directions 

1. Pour coffee shot from fresh grounds.
2. Add potassium citrate powder. 
3. Add caramel syrup.
4. Add a dash of full cream milk to taste (optional).
5. Add hot water to taste (depending on how you like your coffee) and stir
6. Add a scoop (30 g) of protein powder (optional).

Macronutrients 

One serving provides 29 calories, 2g of protein, 1g of fat, 2g of net carbs and P:E = 0.6.

With the added protein powder, you can get 40 g of protein with and P:E ratio of 7.1.  

Micronutrients 

The Cronometer screengrab below shows the nutrients provided by 2000 calories of this recipe relative to the Optimal Nutrient Intakes for the plain version (without protein).  

The Cronometer screengrab below shows the nutrients provided by 2000 calories of this recipe relative to the Optimal Nutrient Intakes with the protein powder.

More

• Want more amazing recipes like this that focus on satiety (feeling fuller for longer with less calories/energy) and the critical nutrients you’re probably missing? Check out our NutriBooster recipe books (including free recipe samples).
• If you want to finally lose excess weight without hunger using a guided program, including personalised satiety reports, check out the Macros Masterclass.