Potassium, Magnesium and Sodium
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petr8888
Posts: 47 Member
Hello
I have seen various people post re need to take potassium and magnesium to avoid muscle cramps. I am taking a supplement now but got a doozy of a cramp last night. How much is needed daily due to ketosis.
On sodium - I am eating a lot of bacon so getting lots of sodium but I have also seen a couple of posts re sodium re water retention. How much sodium are we supposed to get daily if in ketosis?
Peter
I have seen various people post re need to take potassium and magnesium to avoid muscle cramps. I am taking a supplement now but got a doozy of a cramp last night. How much is needed daily due to ketosis.
On sodium - I am eating a lot of bacon so getting lots of sodium but I have also seen a couple of posts re sodium re water retention. How much sodium are we supposed to get daily if in ketosis?
Peter
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Hello
I have seen various people post re need to take potassium and magnesium to avoid muscle cramps. I am taking a supplement now but got a doozy of a cramp last night. How much is needed daily due to ketosis.
On sodium - I am eating a lot of bacon so getting lots of sodium but I have also seen a couple of posts re sodium re water retention. How much sodium are we supposed to get daily if in ketosis?
Peter
I am learning about this right now. Look at the RDV (recommended daily value) on your fitnesspal food diary (nutrition section). I was getting way too little sodium, potassium and magnesium. Using Celtic sea salt, or himalayan sea salt should help, but it doesn't always say how many mg are in a serving. Low sodium makes you lose the other minerals (potassium and magnesium).
I will now be drinking boullon cubes daily to keep my sodium up (wasn't sleeping and was light headed upon standing).
I take one mag capsule in the evening for muscle cramps.
Potassium - looks like they want you to have about 1000mg/day.
Hope this helps. Or that someone with more knowledge can help you get an answer.
-Dawl0 -
I don't believe there is any "official" recommended value of these minerals. Take potassium, for example. If you do a Google search, you'll find recommendations ranging from 1600-2000 mg (Mayo) to 4700 mg (WebMD).
For what it's worth, I take a combination magnesium/potassium supplement twice daily. Each dose has 250 mg of each mineral. I had a blood test two weeks ago that showed my serum potassium (they don't measure magnesium) to be in the happy range, and I no longer have any cramping issues, so I figure it's adequate.
As for sodium.... who knows? My daily intake is already well above the maximum recommended by the USDA. But what do they know? According to the USDA guidelines, all of us on ketogenic diets should be knocking on death's door from all the fat we consume. I hate to break it to them, but I feel better now than I have in the 30 previous years of following their recommendations.0 -
If you are drinking 1/2 your weight in oz of water (ex: 200lb =100oz of water) you shouldn't have a problem with water retention due to sodium intake. I use pink salt on almost everything but have no clue what my total sodium intake is because I don't record the sprinkles of salt.
I also take 2 magnesium supplements prior to bed (not sure on the dose, but they are two huge purple pills) If I forget them I will wake up with leg cramps in the middle of the night. I don't take a potassium supplement only because they make me nausea.
I have also noticed the darker my ketostrips are the worse the leg cramps get. Even though you want to say the darker strip is the better ketosis, I aim for the moderate.0 -
SteveKroll wrote: »But what do they know? According to the USDA guidelines, all of us on ketogenic diets should be knocking on death's door from all the fat we consume. I hate to break it to them, but I feel better now than I have in the 30 previous years of following their recommendations.
Isn't it great fun to be such a rebel and prove that the "talking heads" really don't know what the heck they've been "talking" about?? ;-) There's a certain bratty, anti-authority part of me that would keep eating this way JUST for that reason. <vbeg>0 -
Hello
I have seen various people post re need to take potassium and magnesium to avoid muscle cramps. I am taking a supplement now but got a doozy of a cramp last night. How much is needed daily due to ketosis.
On sodium - I am eating a lot of bacon so getting lots of sodium but I have also seen a couple of posts re sodium re water retention. How much sodium are we supposed to get daily if in ketosis?
Peter
I take (2) 400mg magnesium citrate. I was taking one a day, but still had cramps. If you take too much magnesium, you'll get diarrhea. Goldilocks. I weigh 264ish, bigger people need bigger doses. Also, Keto causes the liver to flush out minerals faster than glycogen diet. Couple that with ever larger water uptakes and you have the perfect storm for mineral deficiencies.
If you Google Keto Magnesium, I am sure you'll find a good site.
What type of Magnesium supplement are you taking? Some compounds are better than others. E.G. Magnesium oxide isn't as good as magnesium citrate.
Dan the Man from Michigan
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On Magnesium, from
ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/
From the IOM:
iom.edu/Activities/Nutrition/SummaryDRIs/~/media/Files/Activity%20Files/Nutrition/DRIs/New%20Material/9_Electrolytes_Water%20Summary.pdf0 -
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Glad you posted this here TQ. I answered on your Blog.0
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If it's been helpful, then
I'm happy, too...
Thx, Shades..!0 -
i think Dr.Phinney recommends 3-5gms per day through home made bouillon. i did not do this because i had borderline hypertension and the occasional mild edema but mostly my "fear" of excess sodium after being told for many, many years that salt is bad. in addition, two blood tests in 2 months showed me within low "normal" range.
about 3 months into keto, i began to experience heart palpitations that grew increasingly worse. started supplementing with sodium and occasionally potassium and within a couple of weeks, everything was fine. i now liberally salt my food, and take an extra 2-3gms every other day.
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Thanks very much to all of you for all your help. Besides my normal vitamin supplements I now have stand alones for potassium and magnesium and I also got boullion.0
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This link might be useful: http://www.reddit.com/r/keto/wiki/faq There is a lot of good info in the faqs and in the reddit forum: http://www.reddit.com/r/keto/0
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I had a whole pound of sautéed mushrooms to boost my potassium. It worked better than taking the supplements. Also use a substitute for salt called Nu salt. It comes in a shaker like salt, but it is potassium chloride0
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I started the new year at 218 pounds. 26 days later I weigh 201 pounds. Lost 17 pounds so far. I usually don't feel that hungry or feel satisfied even on 1200 to 1500 cal. I adjust cal according to exercise. If I burned 300 cal exercising, I can have 1500 to 1800 cal and still feel satisfied. I've noticed this works well unless I consume too many carbs. On days when I overdo the carbs I will feel hungry later that day or the next day. Also I lose weight almost every day except the days when I eat too many carbs. I try to have absolutely no sugars. I'm not talking about refined sugars like cane sugar and corn sugars. I'm talking sugars from fruits and berries. I've eliminated those sugars for the time being. Later I'll plan on adding fruits and berries back in moderation. 17 pounds down so far, 21 pounds to go. Hope to have it all done by St. Patrick's Day.0
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jamesedwards6 wrote: »Also use a substitute for salt called Nu salt. It comes in a shaker like salt, but it is potassium chloride
And Morton's "Lite Salt" is a mix of both potassium and sodium
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