Guide
How much potassium is in dandelion root?
USDA composition data for raw dandelion greens shows a meaningful amount of potassium — about 397 mg per 100 g, roughly 8% of a typical daily target. No separate USDA data exists for dried root, and potassium is one reason kidney disease or a diuretic medication changes the math on dandelion use.
USDA composition data for raw dandelion greens lists about 397 mg of potassium per 100 g — roughly 8% of a typical daily target, and a meaningfully higher number than dandelion's other minerals. That figure is for the leafy green, though; there's no separate USDA entry for the dried root that's actually sold as tea, capsules, and extract.
What the data actually covers
USDA FoodData Central has a detailed nutrient profile for "dandelion greens, raw," including potassium. It doesn't have a comparable entry for dandelion root — the part used in tea, roasted "coffee," capsules and tinctures. Root and leaf are different parts of the same plant, and there's no published analysis confirming how closely root potassium tracks the greens figure.
Why potassium comes up with dandelion specifically
Dandelion's studied diuretic-type effect — shown in one small human trial of a leaf extract, and discussed in reviews of its pharmacology — is the reason potassium gets asked about here more than it does for most herbs. Some diuretic drugs cause the body to lose potassium along with fluid; whether dandelion's own potassium content offsets that in a person using it as a diuretic hasn't been tested in a trial. It's a reasonable question raised by the pharmacology, not a settled answer. See dandelion root benefits: what the research does and doesn't show for what that one trial actually measured.
What a real serving delivers
The 397 mg figure is per 100 g of fresh greens — far more plant material than a typical dandelion root serving. Tea bags commonly use 1-2 g of cut root, and capsules typically hold 500-550 mg of root powder, so the potassium actually delivered by a normal serving is a small fraction of the 100 g figure, even before accounting for any difference between root and leaf.
Ask a doctor first with kidney disease or a diuretic
Reduced kidney function makes it harder for the body to clear excess potassium, and a potassium-sparing diuretic combined with a potassium-containing plant can push intake higher than intended. That combination — kidney disease, a diuretic, or a potassium-affecting medication — is a reason to ask a doctor before regular dandelion use, not a reason to avoid the question. See who should not take dandelion root for the full list.
Questions people ask
How much potassium is in dandelion root tea?
There's no published mineral analysis of dandelion root tea specifically. The closest available figure — fresh dandelion greens — shows a meaningful amount per 100 g, but a cup of tea uses only a gram or two of dried root.
Does dandelion root extract have potassium?
Likely some, since it's concentrated from the same plant material, but no published analysis has measured potassium in a dandelion root extract specifically to give a number.
More on dandelion root's other nutrients: dandelion root and magnesium and dandelion root and zinc. On safety: dandelion root and medications.
Sources
- The diuretic effect in human subjects of an extract of Taraxacum officinale folium over a single day In the only human trial of dandelion as a diuretic, a liquid leaf extract (not root) increased how often 17 healthy adults urinated after the first two of three doses given in a single day.
- Taraxacum--a review on its phytochemical and pharmacological profile A 2006 review catalogued what's been studied about dandelion's pharmacology — mostly in the lab and in animals — and noted its traditional digestive and liver use rests on generations of use, not clinical trials.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.