High blood pressure while on Keto

#1

After some substantial online research decided to try it out. Started keto diet about 10 days ago. Three nights ago woke up at 1.30 AM with a fast pounding heartbeat, which lasted for about 3-5 minutes. In the morning woke up with a headache and 155/90 blood pressure. Over the last 3 days I reduced my intake of food/fat and coffee and my blood pressure went down a little, but it is still higher than normal.

In my online research about Keto-diet I would find many references to people’s blood pressure going when on Keto diet. For me the opposite has happened.

Any thoughts? Thanks

#2

Are you properly hydrated and supplementing your electrolytes? Both of those will raise your BP in no time. Given that keto (especially at first) has a diuretic effect and flushes electrolyte you’re hitting those problem from both angles. Some believe that more salt is the answer to all problems… which it’s not. BUT when you’re starting out using something like Mortons Lite Salt 2-3x day which will give you both sodium and potassium can be a game changer. Most people completely avoid keto flu just from that alone.

(Bunny) #3

Your sodium and potassium are not balanced right which will effect your blood pressure? I would check with your Doctor although it may look normal when they test it, it could be fluctuating more rapidly than any test can catch. Your excreting more of one through the kidneys and not having enough of the other? If your getting leg cramps that’s good indication that sodium and potassium are unbalanced?

The headache would most likely be low blood sugars your not use too after being keto 10 days?

You may need to eat more carbs and gradually bring them down to 20 grams (if that’s your goal or what you were doing?) over a period of time?

And for sodium and potassium to work correctly you need magnesium.

#4

Thank you Ifod14 for your thoughts and suggestions. I’m drinking a lot of water and I thought that my salt intake is OK. I’m not taking any supplement at the moment but may need to look into it.
I’m new to the experience of “Keto” even though I’ve been considering it for a while now. I thought that the spike in my blood pressure could have been caused by the radical change of the kind of food I started eating few days ago, which (I thought) “shocked” the body. In the past use to eat a lot vegetables, fruits, lean meat, but also a lot of bread, past etc. While I’s still very keen to change my eating patters, (and loose weight) I’m a little worried about this side effect.

#5

Thank you all.
If my blood pressure continues to be out of whack I will have to see a doctor. I know that my GP will ask me to get off the diet and go back to a “balanced low-fat” diet. I may try to find a local GP who is “Keto-sympathetic.” In the meantime I will try to get some supplements.

#6

ALMOST guaranteed that more water and a sodium/potassium lite salt mix should fix you up. Pretty rare when it doesn’t. Also consider that the first step in blood pressure “medication” is usually just a diuretic, which in your case would make it worse. Keep us up to date, my money is on it fixing you! Good Luck!

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #7

Welcome to the Ketogenic Forums! As people have mentioned, hypovolaemia from not getting enough salt and liquid is the most likely source of your trouble, so give that some attention first, and see whether your problem resolves.

The optimal sodium intake, from several studies published in the past decade, is roughly 4-6 grams a day. This translates to 10-15 grams of table salt (sodium chloride), inclusive of salt already present in food. As already mentioned, the normal rate at which the kidneys excrete sodium is faster when we are not slowing them down by eating lots of carbohydrate (elevated insulin interferes with sodium excretion), so on a ketogenic diet, which allows the kidneys to return to that faster, normal rate, we may have to work a bit to keep up salt intake. Be advised that the studies all indicated that the healthy sodium range is the same for everyone, but the risk curve for salt-sensitive hypertensives is much steeper when that range is exceeded.

The advantage of keeping salt intake in the healthy range is that the bodily mechanisms that regulate sodium levels are also intertwined with the mechanisms that regulate calcium, magnesium, and potassium, so it should be easier to keep all those minerals in balance if your sodium is right.

If you adjust your sodium intake and your blood pressure does not come down on its own, you may need medical help. Elevated insulin levels increase blood pressure in a number of ways, partly by interfering with the production of nitric oxide and partly by various other means, so lowering your carbohydrate intake, which will lower your insulin levels as a consequence, should bring your blood pressure back down. The process will be faster or slower, depending on how insulin-resistant you are. So in addition to looking at sodium intake, keep your carbohydrate intake as low as you can manage. The goal is to keep your insulin level as low as possible for as much of the day as possible. A well-formulated ketogenic diet, eaten to satiety, is a great aid to achieving this goal.

(Marianne) #8

Did you have “normal” bp before starting keto, or is this new?

#10

High potassium foods include avocado, celery, radishes (yummy when sliced and fried or roasted), salmon, and pork. Also asparagus, spinach, kale.

I strongly encourage people new to Keto to supplement with Morton’s Lite salt (sodium and potassium) and to take magnesium glycinate. Freely use salt. But at least until you have “fat adapted” you need to use supplements as your body will dump electrolytes in your urine.

Many people don’t use any food trackers, but this is why I like them. It’s not about tracking calories, but nutrients. I like to see when I’m a bit low in some area.

(Full Metal KETO AF) #11

Perhaps I’m missing something here but hypovolaemia or low blood volume would not cause high blood pressure. Being dehydrated causes low blood pressure, dizziness, seeing stars…I experienced this myself recently when I got home after a long emergency room stay without water when I woke the morning after. I started chugging water and eating pink salt crystals to raise my Blood pressure/volume as fast as possible.

Henk, most people’s blood pressure drops on KETO, mine has not but got better and worse requiring adjustments to my blood pressure medication. I had big hopes of ditching it when I started because of all the positive testimonies about people’s hypertension being corrected but my doc told me that some people just have a natural disposition for higher BP. I have other factors too. I would talk to your doctor but not go into KETO just yet because it’s the elephant in the room that gets blamed for every broken thing in most doctors minds. Make him do the work. Keto isn’t causing the issue. You’re dealing with stress both bodily and with teens and I’ll venture that this SIP isn’t helping either. Give the KETO way of eating some time, it does get easier and I think you’re going to feel better pretty soon. :cowboy_hat_face:

#12

Thank you all for your kind comments. Went to a local chemist today and got some electrolyte powder called “Hydralyte Sports,” which among other ingredients contains sodium, potassium and magnesium. I must also clarify that I live in Sydney, Australia and the supplements, especially those containing potassium, are not available as they are in the US.

Regarding my blood pressure history, yes, I have been taking BP medications for for about two years now but it has been more or less under control, with 135/80 on average.

To be honest, I thought, my BP would go down on KETO, as most of the literature I read seemed to suggest that KETO lowers BP. I know, it is probably not as simple as that, but still, I’m a little disappointed.

#13

You are dissapointed that 10 days on keto has not started to reverse the high BP you have had for years, possibly stemming from years, maybe decades, of a high carb diet?

Its going to take a much longer period of consistency and diligence.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #14

If you start feeling dizzy or lightheaded, you will probably need to get your physician to lower the dose. And give yourself some time. My blood pressure was consistently 135-140 over 90 before I went keto, but after I’d been keto for about a year, it had dropped to 112/70. It tends to read higher when I’m at the doctor’s, however—the nurses call it “white coat syndrome” :smile:.