Which method do you use to track your ketos?
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Thanks to all of you for information. The reason I wondered is because I'm into week 2 and have experienced none of the signs. Carbs have been under 20 on all but one day ... and I feel great.0
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Great!!! And being that low on carbs you should have no doubt ur in ketosis so no need to waste $0
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ettaterrell wrote: »Great!!! And being that low on carbs you should have no doubt ur in ketosis so no need to waste $
My thoughts exactly
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What about if my doctor told me to stay away from sodium because of my high blood pressure? Anyone have any experience with this?0
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I've been on bp meds for a few years now and over the last 3 1/2 mo and 33lbs down my doc just dropped my bp pill to 1/4 of pill. My bp is so low I've been getting dizzy so I cut it in half for about 2 weeks and that helped now 2 weeks later it's gotten low again and I eat a lot of salt! But if ur worried about it take magnesium pills. I will have a cup of broth with butter for a few days if I start having head aches or leg cramps. the salt doesn't effect my bp at all but everyone's different0
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Get a bp machine and keep a check on it, I check mine a few days a week0
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You will be losing salt unlike you would eating a high carb diet. Adding extra salt with low carb is just to replace the salt you're losing. You want to maintain the same balance as you had before and the only way to do that with your body dumping it is to eat more of it.
So adding salt to your diet is not to end up with more salt than you had before low carb. It's to maintain a healthy level so that you feel well and so that it doesn't go low and your body starts dumping magnesium and potassium in an effort to hold onto sodium. When that starts to happen you get the leg and foot cramps. It's a good idea to take a magnesium supplement anyway. Pretty much everyone is deficient. And if you add some LoSalt or NuSalt (potassium chloride salt substitute) to foods also, then that will probably give you enough extra potassium to offset any losses without needing a supplement.
Everyone I know that eats low carb at 50 or so grams or less, ends up being able to reduce or eliminate bp meds within a short time even with the added salt. You will want to keep a regular check on it, as I imagine anyone on meds should anyway, so that you can respond to any issues with your doctor.0 -
Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »You will be losing salt unlike you would eating a high carb diet. Adding extra salt with low carb is just to replace the salt you're losing. You want to maintain the same balance as you had before and the only way to do that with your body dumping it is to eat more of it.
So adding salt to your diet is not to end up with more salt than you had before low carb. It's to maintain a healthy level so that you feel well and so that it doesn't go low and your body starts dumping magnesium and potassium in an effort to hold onto sodium. When that starts to happen you get the leg and foot cramps. It's a good idea to take a magnesium supplement anyway. Pretty much everyone is deficient. And if you add some LoSalt or NuSalt (potassium chloride salt substitute) to foods also, then that will probably give you enough extra potassium to offset any losses without needing a supplement.
Everyone I know that eats low carb at 50 or so grams or less, ends up being able to reduce or eliminate bp meds within a short time even with the added salt. You will want to keep a regular check on it, as I imagine anyone on meds should anyway, so that you can respond to any issues with your doctor.
This! Thanks for explaining it sunny ! What magnisum meds did u tell me to try I can't remember0 -
Hi @smartgirl88. Almost all medical advice that should make us healthy has been wrong (think obesity and diabetes here). When LCHF the recommendations change to opposite of what they were. Our doctors give us their best guess for problem resolution, but, it's not accurate for ketosis (which most know nothing about!). Sodium is a necessity with this woe. I used to have terrible edema that I thought was from salt, to the point where I was unable to wear shoes. I now know it was the carbs that created the vicious cycle. Now, I will have swelling if my sodium isn't high enough. Plus, I'm off my blood pressure meds too! Good luck!0
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I've been using blood test strips, damn they are expensive!
One of the main reasons I haven't done that from the get go!
Jimmy Moore did a recent Periscope on the cheapest way to get strips. IIRC it was a foreign order - Australia I think (forgive my US centrism) - way cheaper than Amazon.
I don't try and "dance around the edge" of ketosis by doing carbs in the 50 to 100 range (perfectly acceptable for many, but unworkable for me because of insulin resistance and morbid obesity).
Keeping below 20 or 25 grams total I know I'm good, although I must admit to frequent curiosity as to my betahydroxybutetate levels in association with how I feel and think.
My weight loss has slowed a bit 6 months into this, and I'm about 50 lbs or so from where I want to be. In maintenance or close I think blood testing really becomes valuable.
I'm in the same boat with the insulin resistance. I started my first couple of weeks aiming for < 50g per day, but after that I adjusted my goal to < 30 and usually I hit right around 20 unless I go out for a big dinner at which point I still end up only around 30 - 35.0 -
ettaterrell wrote: »Great!!! And being that low on carbs you should have no doubt ur in ketosis so no need to waste $
My thoughts exactly
Even eating < 30 g a day, I rarely pull a blood keytones # larger than 1.0, I know I'm dropping weight, but I would just say that everyone's body is different.0 -
smartiegirl88 wrote: »What about if my doctor told me to stay away from sodium because of my high blood pressure? Anyone have any experience with this?
If you have a genetic predisposition to high blood pressure, then sodium can complicate your blood pressure, but as others said, you're primarily replacing what you're losing through waste. In general, if you DEVELOPED high blood pressure as you gained weight, sodium does not affect it as doctors once thought. So if you have true genetic complications, you may have to find a good balance, but for most of us with high blood pressure, sodium was never a factor to begin with - it was just a medical hypothesis...0 -
