Sodium
dietbepsi
Posts: 136 Member
Do you all continue to get at least 5000g of sodium a day no matter how long you have been doing this? Or is it only in the beginning when you're adapting? I'm just curious. It's been a couple of months now and I haven't had the keto flu since the very beginning. But I've been taking magnesium every night and every couple of days I take a sodium tablet. I have a whole bottle of them I got from the pharmacy. And I definitely needed them in the beginning. But ongoing I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be having that much sodium, or if it's only while you're becoming keto adapted....thoughts? What made me think of it today was our other poster that was having some issues from lack of sodium, and honestly I'm feeling pretty groggy today but I could just be tired....
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Replies
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If you have symptoms, you should try getting some more sodium. If they are sodium-related, they'll clear up pretty quickly.
As long as you're low-carb, it'll help to supplement sodium. Do you need 5000mg/d? Probably not.
How do you know if you need more sodium? Light-headedness, headaches, fatigue.
How do you know if you're losing a lot of sodium? Ketostix are a pretty good proxy. If you're still peeing out ketones, you're losing sodium.
Do we ever stop losing ketones in the urine? Not as far as I can tell. The level drops after a couple weeks, but people still continue to pee out ketones for at least a year on ketogenic diets.0 -
I just had a couple pieces of jerky and some broth, plus I had a tablet today. I actually feel better now so it must've been that.0
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I've been keto for a year and I still have to get at least 4000mg of sodium daily! It becomes habit and the symptoms will remind you! You will recognise them and know what to do about it. I don't mind because it tells me that my body is burning fat
Other things happen too, if I don't get enough sodium; I will retain fluid, and my blood pressure goes up (an amazing bodily change that's completely opposite to conventional wisdom, and what I always believed!)!!0 -
I am 10 months in and still feel best if I make sure to stay around 2500-3000 minimum. I think I can often go lower than others because I don't drink much water or fluids in general. I can easily have a lot more sodium than that and have no problem either. I also tend to take twice the dose of magnesium that my bottle recommends.0
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I've been LCHF now for a little over 16 months and unfortunately, yes, it seems that I do have to get 5000mg of sodium every day. My body appear to require at least that much.0
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I'm only 3 months in but have found that I need at least 4000 sodium and 500 magnesium daily or I WILL have leg and foot cramps in the morning. This was brought home to me this morning ... forgot my second BPB yesterday (wasn't hungry) which gave me only half my requirements for yesterday.0
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I can get by between 2000 and 3000, any less and I will really start to feel weak and dizzy. I typically try for 3000 or a bit more. I don't stress if I have more, either0
