There is a stickie on the launch pad about electrolytes.

Start supplementing now. When you experience the headaches and cramps, it's too late. You are already imbalanced.

As we deplete the glycogen in our system, we lose water (that's why we lose fast in the beginning). Losing water means we lose sodium. If we continue to drink water without supplementing sodium, we upset the balance even more.

Pickles are great for sodium and so is broth. Salting your foods is usually not enough.

Potassium is generally thrown off if you are too low in sodium. If you want sodium intake is good, potassium generally isn't a problem. Sources of potassium include spinach and avocado.

Magnesium helps muscle cramps as well. It comes in different forms but try to get one that ends in 'ate' as others are not absorbed as well. Avoid magnesium oxide. That's what they put in colonoscopy prep solution.

I'm typing from my phone but I think I got everything...

Xwxjackiexwx wrote: »

@samanthaluangphixay I keep reading "broth" but what is that exactly? Any kind of broth? Chicken? Beef?

That is personal preference. I like beef better than chicken.

Even a dissolved bouillon cube does the trick!

Just my personal experience: prior to keto I was on BP meds, lost my excess weight and was taken off BP meds. I continued to keep my sodium intake around only 1500mg of sodium. Upon my decision to try keto you can bet I was concerned about increasing sodium but at my 1st hint of what I thought might be keto flu (light headedness in my case) I started drinking salty bouillon with added salt. I also monitored my BP almost daily via the Higi stations at our local supermarkets and drug stores. My blood pressure remains AOK. I still check it regularly though there appears to be no pressing need to.

I suggest you check yours regularly so you have a good baseline if you decide to or need to up your sodium.

6 months into keto I don't seem to have a need for sodium levels as high as generally suggested ( 3000-5000 mg). I did but I don't currently.

I think potassium and magnesium supplements are helpful if you allowed your sodium to get low. Once sodium gets low for too long, the body starts to leach out K and Mg to use as an electrolyte since Na is too low. If you keep up your sodium levels, K and Mg should not get low or need extra supplementation.... As I understand it.

My daily Na level is probably about 2000mg at the most. I get my sodium from food (like pepperoni stick) and I lightly salt my coffee. When I was newer to LCHF I needed more sodium, and I used to add a small teaspoon of salt to my water every morning on top of salting my food and coffee.

On a broader and more general note, in response to the original question, you do not need to supplement any of those things on a low carb diet. This is more likely to be true after adaptation, meaning you might want/need to supplement this things at the start. Some people find they have trouble maintaining their levels without including some extra of these minerals, even after adaptation.

Still, in a broad sense, no. You don't need to. There are many low-carbers who don't supplement anything and some of those don't season or salt their food. It is not a requirement for everyone. You need to determine your own need. Based on your experience so far, you probably don't need to supplement these things.