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Question about salt & minerals

U

used2bfat

Member
Messages
7
Type of diabetes
Don't have diabetes
Hi, although I don't have diabetes I am really interested in eating low carb (ketosis) but most sites cater predominantly for Americans, I have been reading lots of posts on here which are really informative as they give ideas for UK food.
Something that I haven't seen though is any mention of needing electrolytes, a big section of low carb on myfitness pal states we need to add salt (which I have seen mentioned on here) but apparently you need extra magnesium & potassium too, does anyone add these to their diet?

I haven't had to worry about this before as I was on a very low cal/carb diet in which all the vitamins and minerals were accounted for and have lost 56lb, I want to stay in ketosis for maintenance as I always thought I had no "off switch" when it came to food but I now know it was the carbs making me hungry, hence searching UK low carb and found this brilliant forum!!

I did have arterial disease in my legs and had to have an angioplasty, although my cholesterol level was not high and the consultant was puzzled as to what caused it and blamed it on smoking, which I have since quit, I did have a bad carb heavy diet, which after a lot of research seems to cause inflammation of the arteries not a high fat diet, the doctor put me on a low dose statin which I hate taking but with so many doctors still of the mindset that statins and low fat is good I feel that I have to argue with my doc when he next calls me in for a cholesterol check.

Anyway that's my story and hope you can all help if I have any more questions on ketosis in the future.

Thanks :)
 
Hey, congrats on finding LC and getting those carb cravings under control. I was the same, and just not being obsessed with the next carb fix is a wonderful thing, isn't it?

Lots of us low carbers on here drink broth (home made or using stock cubes) to keep our salt up.
I also supplement with magnesium and potassium, which helps tremendously.

Its interesting that you haven't seen any refs to salt on the forum. :) I think it is the time of year.
Whenever the weather is hot, and summer has hit, we get lots of enquiries.
If you do a forum search for things like 'carb flu' 'cramps' and 'low carb salt' I expect you will find lots of them.

The best source of info on electrolytes and low carbing that I have ever seen is in the Voleck and Phinney book 'The Art and Science of Low Carb Living'. It is a great book, and if I remember correctly, they have a whole chapter on the subject, including the analysis of several LC studies which 'failed' largely due to the researchers not appreciating the importance of salt.

Hope that helps.
 
I add a little bit of salt to every meal and I take magnesium if I find Im getting dizzy, works well for me and my bloods come back with good levels.
 
Hi Brunneria thanks for your response,

I had seen mention of salt but not the magnesium bit, I do drink oxo & vegetable broth but best go get myself some magnesium, I bought Boots A-Z vitamins but notice that the mag amount is quite low so back to the shops....

Yes, not having the cravings are great although after been on my low cal diet it's been a relatively easy transition as that plan was keto too but it feels really weird eating fat again, although I'm only 5ft 1" and 8 stone so my TDEE is only around 1300 so it's now a matter of getting my fat intake right without going too over my cal intake, I do use MFP to log so guess it's now just a matter of monitoring and maintaining which is the hard part!

My VLCD was 3 shakes and a small meal which was sooo easy to plan as I didn't have to think much about food, now I feel the floodgates have opened and there is a whole world of nice keto friendly food, although I don't have much appetite I'm finding it hard looking at recipes at the moment as they make my mouth water, I best save looking until after I've eaten lol.

Off onto Amazon now to order the Voleck & Phinney book, I love anything relating to how LC can improve health

Bev
 
Hi 4ratbags,

Ok so I'm ok at the minute no dizziness, I do add liberal salt as I love it anyway, but good idea, I'll get the mag and use if and when needed :)
 
I don't take any supplements but I do add salt to my meals especially on my daily fix of tomatoes. I keep an eye on my blood markers, which I have 6 monthly. My sodium and potassium levels are bang in the middle of the normal range, and I do keep an eye on my blood pressure in case that starts to trend upwards with the additional salt intake. No worries on that score. I've never had magnesium checked, but if I noticed any deficiency symptoms I would possibly supplement.
 
Thanks Bluetit,

Oh tomatoes!! these were forbidden on my VCLD diet they said they were liable to kick you out of ketosis, but I love them and have recently added a few cheeky cherry toms in to my new diet and so far so good :)
 
used2bfat said:
Thanks Bluetit,

Oh tomatoes!! these were forbidden on my VCLD diet they said they were liable to kick you out of ketosis, but I love them and have recently added a few cheeky cherry toms in to my new diet and so far so good :)
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Blimey, I would have fallen at the first fence had I been on your diet! Was it explained why? They aren't high carb. There is 1g carb and 7 calories per 2 cherry toms, and 3g carbs and 14 calories per 80g of fresh toms. I have them every day. Fresh cherry toms and/or cooked normal ones.
 
I take a half teaspoon of salt in a glass of water every morning and 400mg of magnesium citrate each night before bed. Constipation problems appear to have gone with the magnesium. Currently experimenting with a 3 day eating 4 day fasting regime with a fortified coffee at 11 on the fasting days.. very few hunger pangs.
 
bulkbiker said:
I take a half teaspoon of salt in a glass of water every morning and 400mg of magnesium citrate each night before bed. Constipation problems appear to have gone with the magnesium. Currently experimenting with a 3 day eating 4 day fasting regime with a fortified coffee at 11 on the fasting days.. very few hunger pangs.
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Hi
I see you here regularly, so I know you give good advice. Do you mind telling me what brand of magnesium citrate you take, please? I have been told that magnesium stearate is bad, so want to avoid if poss. Regards Brian
 
Hi Bluetit,
No, no explanation except they are high in carbs but each shake pack had 13g in each, bars and meals varied in carb grams, some were higher at 18g each so you were allowed up to 70g to stay in ketosis so I guess anything added could take you over their recommended level, the other no no was citric acid as that was supposed to "kick you out of ketosis" and coffee could slow the onset of ketosis but I guess they cover themselves as they want the plan to work and if some people are sensitive to certain things then its better to avoid them, I personally never stopped drinking coffee and had the odd slice of lemon in a fizzy water and I was ok but as I liked to stay around 50g carbs per day I didn't want to add more carbs by adding tomatoes and risk going through ketosis again, I'm happy to have them now though just in moderation lol !
 
You were lucky to stay in ketosis on 50g carbs a day. I couldn't even get steady low BS with that amount. I have to stay under 30g.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
Blimey, I would have fallen at the first fence had I been on your diet! Was it explained why? They aren't high carb. There is 1g carb and 7 calories per 2 cherry toms, and 3g carbs and 14 calories per 80g of fresh toms. I have them every day. Fresh cherry toms and/or cooked normal ones.
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I'm not surprised, actually. At that rate, you don't need many to add up quickly. Like so many foods, these have been developed to contain extra sugar.
 
BrianTheElder said:
I'm not surprised, actually. At that rate, you don't need many to add up quickly. Like so many foods, these have been developed to contain extra sugar.
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I consider these low carb! 6 cherry toms with an otherwise carb-free salad means 3g carbs for an entire meal, and I have a cooked tomato with my bacon and eggs etc.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
You were lucky to stay in ketosis on 50g carbs a day. I couldn't even get steady low BS with that amount. I have to stay under 30g.
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Yeah, I keep reading that people should stay below 30g carbs to stay in ketosis but I wonder if it anything to do with the low cal side of the diet as well? no more than 750 cals, but oddly I've upped my cals to arounf 1200 now and still in ketosis so I'm happy with that
 
Bluetit1802 said:
I consider these low carb! 6 cherry toms with an otherwise carb-free salad means 3g carbs for an entire meal, and I have a cooked tomato with my bacon and eggs etc.
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Hi. I suppose I am looking at this from a different perspective in that I am on 15g carbs/day. Even lettuce contains carbs, so a salad can be quite significant and cherry tomatoes are one of the highest carb constituents. I do eat cherry tomatoes, but limit it to a few at a time, say 3.
 
BrianTheElder said:
Hi
I see you here regularly, so I know you give good advice. Do you mind telling me what brand of magnesium citrate you take, please? I have been told that magnesium stearate is bad, so want to avoid if poss. Regards Brian
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No worries I got these.. from there..

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00NEZBSAY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I must admit I didn't do much research but saw that a number of people on the 2ketodudes facebook page used it so thought I'd give it a go. As I said I did have a bit of constipation when intermittent fasting but this seems to have cleared it up.. anecdotal sure but it works for me.
 
used2bfat said:
Yeah, I keep reading that people should stay below 30g carbs to stay in ketosis but I wonder if it anything to do with the low cal side of the diet as well? no more than 750 cals, but oddly I've upped my cals to arounf 1200 now and still in ketosis so I'm happy with that
Click to expand...
I try and stay below 20g of carbs per day but with fasting that's fairly easy as I just have double cream in my coffee with some coconut oil and unsweetened hemp milk (new find). Then tea with lactofree milk for the rest of the day.
 
bulkbiker said:
No worries I got these.. from there..

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00NEZBSAY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I must admit I didn't do much research but saw that a number of people on the 2ketodudes facebook page used it so thought I'd give it a go. As I said I did have a bit of constipation when intermittent fasting but this seems to have cleared it up.. anecdotal sure but it works for me.
Click to expand...
Thanks bulkbiker. I see it does contain magnesium stearate, but so do they all as far as I can see, it's some form of anti-caking agent they add deliberately, but I've no idea why it might be a bad thing. I have already noticed that the salt in water every morning helps a lot, so I'll see how it goes for now.
 
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