Salt Sensitivity/Low Potassium

[fendertele]

Hi,

Hoping someone may be able to help me. I've always been either Salt Sensitive or Low potassium but noticed it much more since switching to low carb.

Since going low carb as mentioned in previous a few things had been worrying my gp and one of them was my elevated blood pressure... and this makes sense to me as i've also noticed i carry a ton more water weight all the time and have had broken capillaries appearing on my face and other areas and along with needing to urinate all the time and dry mouth thought it was dehydration... i upped my water intake and all this did was make me bloat up like a balloon and this is when i realised it's tied to the sodium intake or lack of other electroydes.

How do we get round the too much sodium not enough of the other electrolytes issue when low carb ?

All my meals are basically meat and eggs problem is the meat is frozen so most of them contain sodium - frozen sausages, frozen steak, chicken wings etc.... I don't salt my food but the amount i get in these packaged meats seem to be more than enough to throw my balance off.

Do you supplement for other electrolytes ?

 

[AloeSvea]

Good ol' dietdoctor website to the rescue!

'Do you need electrolyte supplementation on a Keto diet?'

Do You Need Electrolyte Supplementation on a Keto Diet? — Diet Doctor

It’s becoming more and more widely accepted that keto diets can be healthy and also nutritionally complete. Meat, fish, eggs, dairy, nuts and vegetables are rich in key nutrients that your body needs on a daily basis. In some cases, however, supplementing with minerals known as electrolytes may...

www.dietdoctor.com

I was curious reading your post, as to what Doctor Google would say about electrolytes etc, on a very low-carb way of eating. I do remember feeling like a bomb had exploded in my head and body in first few weeks of a low-carb diet - so understand the symptoms of 'low carb flu'. I was also exercising a lot too (walking everywhere). It soon sorted itself out though.

Our bodies and response to different foods and so on is very individual. I have never had a blown up like a balloon response to eating salt and drinking a lot of fluid. Poor you on that one!

Good luck for getting the sodium/potassium/magnesium thing right for you.

 

[catinahat]

Just shows how different we all are, for me switching to low carb meant i needed to add salt. Switching from a diet of highly processed carbs to fresh cooked food caused my blood pressure fall too low, I had to stop my blood pressure meds and up my salt intake to sort it out

 

[Outlier]

Why not buy your meat fresh and then freeze it at home?

 

[fendertele]

Hi guys sorry for the late response, it's mainly due to money and also convenience as supermarkets deliver and cheap.

But I think the culprit are the meats I get with some flavour.. spicy chicken wings etc.. as I eat a whole packet in a go it must contain a decent amount of sodium.
I've also tried upping my green veg, broccoli, spinach, cucumber along with potassium tabs after eating to see if it helps.

But had no joy constantly hold tons of water, skin is dried out and even get breathing issues when along with it and as mentioned before my BP is one thing doc pointed out had increased alongside higher trig.

Will try drinking more water than i currently do, I have one of those large gym jug things that I drink daily.. maybe need a bit more as urine is always very dark despite the amount i'm drinking so must be getting dehydrated due to the imbalance.

 

[finzi1966]

Maybe you should check with your doctor about the holding water thing. There could be other reasons why that might be happening beyond diet or electrolytes

 

[KennyA]

Hi guys sorry for the late response, it's mainly due to money and also convenience as supermarkets deliver and cheap.

But I think the culprit are the meats I get with some flavour.. spicy chicken wings etc.. as I eat a whole packet in a go it must contain a decent amount of sodium.
I've also tried upping my green veg, broccoli, spinach, cucumber along with potassium tabs after eating to see if it helps.

But had no joy constantly hold tons of water, skin is dried out and even get breathing issues when along with it and as mentioned before my BP is one thing doc pointed out had increased alongside higher trig.

Will try drinking more water than i currently do, I have one of those large gym jug things that I drink daily.. maybe need a bit more as urine is always very dark despite the amount i'm drinking so must be getting dehydrated due to the imbalance.

I had pretty severe fluid retention to the point where sticky fluid was oozing out of my swollen lower legs..... this seems to have been caused by my system attempting to dilute my blood glucose by holding back every bit of water it could. It was the first symptom I noticed back in 2010 and the last to go. In my case it doesn't seem to have been an electrolyte problem, as it began to clear up as soon as my BG came back into normal range. That could of course be a coincidence as a lot of other things (diet mainly) were changing about the same time so I can't be certain.

 

[Mini Dachs Mum]

you can also pee a lot if you are dehydrated. It’s your bodies way to tell you to drink more. Your urine should be a pale straw colour. When you are properly hydrated you will pee less often as your body is balanced.
I eat mostly vegan keto or very low carb with intermittent fasting so can add some salt to food. It would be better if your could get unprocessed meats and add your own herbs and spices.