Salt confusion

[NightOtter]

Hi folks, new here.

I have been looking into the Ketogenic diet. I have a question about salt intake. It seems to me that the foods that one eats on Keto are high in salt content, such as meat, pork, chicken, cheese, etc.

I did a test menu for a day and saw my sodium ramp up to 3000-4000 mg.

And yet, when I did a search for "excessive sodium" and Keto diets I was amazed to find mostly discussion about too little sodium.

It made me wonder what people eat on a Keto diet?

Can someone clarify? Nothing on my "menu" was radical (eggs, cheese, salmon, bacon bits in salad, etc)

thanks,

Otto

 

[archersuz]

Hi @NightOtter I'll tag @bulkbiker as I believe he follws a keto diet

 

[NightOtter]

thank you!

 

[Brunneria]

The best suggestion I can make is that you get a copy of a book called The Art And Science of Low Carb Living, by Voleck and Phinney, and read their chapter on salt.

The whole book is excellent, but that chapter on salt will answer every question you have on the subject.

I think there a lot of different things said about salt. Some of it sensible. Some of it not. Some people say we need lots, and the low salt guidelines are inappropriate, and others say that a % of the population are salt sensitive and need to cut down to prevent high blood pressure. Lots of division and debate. Then you add in the changes that happen when we go on a low carb diet (shedding excess water and electrolyte changes), and it can definitely seem rather complicated!

Personally, I don't need all that much salt, but I do need to supplement with potassium and a little magnesium, or I get cramps on low carb. Some people find that they need salt to prevent Carb Flu. It varies a lot from person to person.

I really do recommend that book.

 

[Lamont D]

Hi, Otto,
I have been Keto for three years.
The reasoning behind adding salt I because you have probably ate a diet, full of salt, sodium which is in a lot of processed foods. It is added during production.

Because a Keto diet lowers your salt intake, you need to add some to your food.

Also some diabetics have lower sodium levels as part of having the condition, as a necessary part of upping sodium levels, it is necessary to add as such as a nutritional supplement to their diet.

 

[NightOtter]

@ Hi Brunneria - Thank you very much. They have Kindle version so I downloaded it just now and will read the whole thing - but check in on the sodium section first.

@ Hi Lamont. Thank you for the response. I guess my confusion stemmed from the fact that when someone transitions to Keto they may be losing the sodium from junk food (and the like) but they are picking it up (in spades) from meat, cheeses and other foods that are recommended to keep fat levels up. I could see potassium and magnesium being an issue but not sodium. When I did my sample menu 3 slices of salami cranked up the sodium alone. Clearly, its something I need to learn about.

 

[bulkbiker]

I tend to cook a lot from fresh raw ingredients so add salt to my keto diet. I even sprinkle it in coffee sometimes. Keto can cause you to lose quite a lot of fluid from your body especially in the early days when you get the initial weight loss "whoosh" and this flushing of water can also flush out salt so it is usually recommended to add some. Hope that helps and welcome by the way.

 

[NightOtter]

Hi bulkbiker, thank you for the response. May I ask you two questions?

1. Do you monitor your sodium intake? If so, what is it on any given day, generally speaking?

2. Based on your response would you say that the food you eat doesn't contain enough sodium (which is why you add some)?

thank you.

Ot.

 

[bulkbiker]

To answer question 1.. sort of .. I have a food diary so I include the salt count there but I tend not to count things like herbs , spices and extra salt/pepper added to food so my readings will be lower than my actual intakes.
Hi so far this year I have averaged about 6g per day (mainly depending on bacon consumption) although thinking about it that is just from food I have eaten and doesn't include added to food/drinks which I never count but I do add a sprinkle to all meat (apart from bacon) that I cook (at least one meal per day). I vary between about 2g and 12g per day though according to my food diary.
As I eat very little processed food(we tend to cook from scratch most of the time) and after doing a lot of reading I thought that I might be missing a bit of salt because of this so add some to most meals. My blood pressure came down when I lost a lot of weight so reckon I could afford some extra salt (although I'm not sure that salt and hypertension are necessarily linked in a binary fashion as most GP's would have you believe).

Just as an aside if you stick the @ symbol in from of someone's name it will notify them when you mention them which will help get responses so for example @NightOtter lets you know I have replied.

 

[Incyb]

Here are Phinney and Volek talking about salt. https://blog.virtahealth.com/sodium-nutritional-ketosis-keto-flu-adrenal-function/

 

[bulkbiker]

Here are Phinney and Volek talking about salt. https://blog.virtahealth.com/sodium-nutritional-ketosis-keto-flu-adrenal-function/

Thanks for that .. interesting and new info to me.

 

[NightOtter]

@bulkbiker and @Incyb - Thank you both for the information and link. I will look into everything I have and post here when I feel comfortable that I know a good deal more. cheers Ot.

 

[bulkbiker]

@bulkbiker and @Incyb - Thank you both for the information and link. I will look into everything I have and post here when I feel comfortable that I know a good deal more. cheers Ot.

Happy to answer any questions you have either here or by PM if you like.
Regards
Mark

 

[Alexandra100]

I have been looking into the Ketogenic diet. I have a question about salt intake. It seems to me that the foods that one eats on Keto are high in salt content, such as meat, pork, chicken, cheese, etc.

I have had the same thoughts as you. I am concerned about the potassium/sodium balance, as in eating very low carb I have enormously reduced the amount of vegetables in my diet and increased, in my case, the cheese and olives. I also increased the chicken, but I'm not sure why chicken would be high salt? In addition, I have recently had to start taking a diuretic which is known to lower potassium in the blood. I decided to invest in some LoSalt, which contains more potassium than sodium. I think this must be working, as I recently had a blood test for potassium which came out OK. (Serum sodium level 138 mmol/L [133.0 - 146.0] Serum potassium level 4.2 mmol/L [3.5 - 5.3]).

On the other hand, my urea level is a bit high (Serum urea level 8.2 mmol/L [2.5 - 7.8]) which may be due to the de-hydrating effects of the diuretic, or too much protein, or both. However my urea level was not high enough to worry my GP. Replacing the calories lost with the carbs I am no longer eating is a problem, as if I eat too much fat I feel sick.