One of the more interesting challenges I think keto dieters face is figuring out how much sodium to consume. I suffered from high blood pressure, about 160/110, when I started the keto diet, and was about at 280 lbs. I’ve cut down to about 205 lbs right now and my blood pressure is a much more respectable 138/89. The last few months I’ve been pursuing what my wife is calling 1+1 Keto, which is alternate day fasting and keto eating, so the ketogenic process has been somewhat accelerated. All this is to say, the question of sodium supplementation is a big one. I’m 55 years old, coming off high blood pressure, and everything out there is all about reducing sodium (ie, blood volume).
My wife’s in a very different boat. She’s a professional Muay Thai fighter in Thailand, and has been for 7 years. She’s 33 and in excellent shape. She’s been ketogenic for maybe 9 months, and has been thriving on it. The last few months she’s been 1+1 Keto with even more benefits. Long story short, she’s discovered that she really probably should be consuming much, much more sodium than she has been. The regular “electrolyte powders” in water and salty foods just were not cutting it. She just wrote and vlogged about the powerful effects really upping her sodium WAY up have had: Energy, Mental Clarity: Upping Your Sodium | 1+1 Keto.
In our reading we’ve kind of come upon the realization that low sodium can have some pretty negative effects. Not only was she training at a very high level in humidity and heat, but the ketogenic diet and the fasting was very likely shedding sodium and potassium. Once sodium is low hormonal responses push more potassium out, and raise cortisol the stress hormone. This is a big deal for any very active ketogenic dieter. Without too much exaggeration one could say that the sodium/potassium relationship grounds workings of the entire body.
So, here I am at 55, having lost 75 lbs, recovered from high blood pressure (at least temporarily) not in great shape, and I’m seeing that my wife, at 33 and in world class shape has realized that sodium deficiencies while in ketogenesis may have been really been a problem. Rather than the RDA 2,300 mg, she might have been needing 6,000 or even 8,000 mg (or even higher), as a ketogenic athlete. For her the choice is fairly obvious. Sodium.
But for me I come up against the very widespread demonization of sodium. Just how much sodium should I be pursuing as I seek to balance my potassium and sodium needs, as a non-athlete? The story that sodium has been too much maligned is an interesting one, one that runs parallel to the same kind of boogieman stories about fats and heart disease. Could it be that high level supplements of sodium would benefit even in classic hypertension risk subjects like myself? I think the plan is to up my sodium beyond RDA levels and watch and see how my blood pressure reacts over time. To make sure my calcium is up (apparently helpful for the elasticity of blood vessels), and find a middle ground between adequate sodium and hypertension risk. But, I do think that this is an under-talked about dimension of the ketogenic diet. Not only is the Keto Diet running up against the “fats are evil” myth, but they may also be running up against the “salt is evil” myth as well.