Keto & high blood pressure.
candiigraham
Posts: 53 Member
Me and hubby will start on March 1st. We are pre-keto for this week. (Eating all the fruit in the house and getting more protein and fat in). I have been reading blogs, articles and every post here. I just read the "Keto flu" post and someone said replace the sodium you will lose by consuming 5000mg of sodium, (broths, salts, etc.)....I already have spoken to my doctor and she said to be careful and let's monitor this for the 1st month. My question/problem. I have hypertension and take 2 medications a day. I stay under 2000 mg of sodium a day. How can I do Keto with high blood pressure? Thanks in advance.
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@candiigraham
If you have high blood pressure as a result of obesity, other medication, age, etc., this generally will not be a problem. There is one rare genetic type of high blood pressure that reacts badly to sodium, but it is generally the only one.
You are REPLACING the sodium your body is dumping. Your body needs to stay balanced. I have high blood pressure and take medication for it, and I've not had any spikes in blood pressure unless I get majorly dehydrated or have way too little sodium... For the most part, it will become a non issue, as you're only replacing the sodium your body has stored along with water in order to be able to process carbs and the like.
I can guarantee you, if you start dumping sodium, you'll also start dumping magnesium, and eventually potassium, too. The magnesium losses will trigger blood pressure spikes, muscle cramps, and all around misery.
Personally, I recommend just monitoring yourself closely as you go through this, so as not to worry too much. Aim for 3000 mg at first. If your BP goes up, reduce that down a bit...if it doesn't and you have adaption symptoms, ramp it up and just watch for symptoms. If you don't already supplement magnesium, you might want to look into doing that, as 90% of soil and crops are depleted majorly from 50-75 years ago, pesticides and GMO's also interfere. They say more than 75% of Americans are deficient in magnesium, and most of those don't even know. It is required in over 400 bodily processes! But whatever you do, don't get magnesium oxide. It causes major digestive drama, to say the least. Here's one resource that spells out the types...
https://forum.bulletproof.com/discussion/2078/bulletproof-magnesium-thread
In our related group, there is a thread about a gentleman who went to his Nephrologist (kidney doctor) and had to do mega-doses of sodium to treat a condition, up to 15,000 mg of sodium a day or something, to no negative effect on the rest, etc. It's interesting, all of what we are told... Be careful, too, of blood pressure lows. For a select number of people, this dietary plan can rapidly lower conditions that contribute to elevated blood pressure, which results periodically in over-medicating...3 -
Glad I have a blood pressure cup and I have magnesium citrate powder at home as well. Will start incorporating that back into my diet. Thanks for the info. Will watch it closely. Good article also.
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My BP went down on keto. I still take mess, but the last few times BP at dr's offices have been great. I had a long bout of keto flu in the beginning and boullion helped me. Best of luck!1
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Great post KnitorMiss!! Everyone thinking about keto should read it!!0
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What are the keto flu symptoms?0
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goldengirl111 wrote: »What are the keto flu symptoms?
Tired, headache, dizzy especially upon standing, nausea, constipation... all caused by low sodium. You lose a lot of sodium with all the water you will lose and it must be replaced on a daily basis. Every single day. It's actually potentially dangerous to try to keep sodium low on keto.
Insulin causes sodium retention and when eating a high carb diet, keeping sodium lower can be important. Once insulin is reduced, you'll likely see a drop in BP and it could actually go too low if you don't keep an eye on it especially if you're on medication.
I know of one member this happened too because they were still limiting sodium and almost passed out from low blood pressure. Upon realizing the sodium needs they felt better but BP was still low. They went to doctor to discuss reducing or stopping meds. Doctor instead warned against this dangerous diet that was making BP too low. #facepalm!!!
She stopped meds and kept up low carb and BP was normal.1
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