High Heart Rate


#1

Hi, all! I’m hoping you can help me with an issue that I’ve been having a bit. I’m in my 4th week of keto and have been experiencing higher than normal heart rate. Usually my heart rate is around 65-68, but it’s been easily going up to 95-100. Does this mean I’m potentially low on sodium and electrolytes? It’s making me not feel the best and want to get it back to a normal range. Thanks for your insight and advice!


(Chris W) #2

I would first say go get your blood pressure checked(BP) this WOE of tends to deplete salt and if you are not used to it your BP can tank, it did for me. I was not adding enough salt to things, I figured that out around 4-6 weeks in. Potassium can also cause issues, but if you are eating leafy greens then you should be ok on that one unless you exercise a lot. I did not really supplement potassium until well later about 4 months when I started to fast more, I believe that it is stored better in the system than salt is. And of course water, dehydration can cause this as well, so make sure you are really drinking water. When I was in the keto adapation phase I was easily drinking 2 liters of water a day, at the time I was 230 with about 27% BF. This of course is why you need more salt as your body tends to dump it during water shedding. I was listening to the salt episode over the weekend and your kidneys filter salt in your body in range of pounds every day. There is a whole lot happening in the first few weeks, if you really suspect a problem see your doctor and explain to them what is happening.


#3

Hi, Chris! I’ve never had a problem with high blood pressure at all and have always been within a normal range. I haven’t really been getting in very many leafy greens. I could definitely make more of an effort there. I have been making sure to drink lots and lots of water. I’m probably not using as much salt as I should or could be either. Would you recommend taking a potassium supplement? Or would you recommend the Lite Salt that I’ve seen others mention? As far as getting more sodium, what are some ways to increase my salt intake? What are some other ways to increase electrolytes?


(Chris W) #4

So I do not have high BP either, I went from text book to low inside of 4 weeks of measurements and that was only 3 weeks of keto diet.

I would say you need salt, I average a large teaspoon a day now, the more active I got the more I noticed the need. If you were a carb adict the salt is buried in everything! So it was a little adjustment since bacon was my only means of salt outside supplements. Salt also helps with hunger prangs or at least it does for me.

Potassium is easy to over do, so be careful it truly needs to be balanced with salt. At the on set of the keto diet through until fat adaption I was eating more potassium then I needed, some times my heart would raci in bed but more often than not I felt real warm and angst sort of like a sugar high. Natural sources such spinach and salmon are Staples in my diet. Once I fat adapted fully I stopped eating as much and yes I use lite salt, I use it sparingly I add it to special fat bombs as well. How much would more specific to each person’s needs, all factors need to be figured.

The other minral you need to watch is magesium one of the holy Trinity I like to call them. I only started that in the last few weeks when I really started EF but you several months from that if you desire.

I have learned more about my body now, I can tell when I need minrals based on cravings and the way I feel.


(Diane) #5

Sounds like salt is needed. I work with Rachel at IDM and she suggests 1.5 teaspoon of salt a day, taking it .25 under tongue spread through-out the day. It’s a mazing when I take salt I no longer have cramps or headaches. The book “The Salt Fix” is a great resource.


(Chris W) #6

I know I think that is the author of the book that was speaking about salt and its importance, I was on an extended road trip and I think I listened to 25 episodes I would say it was around 68 or so. The podcast itself was excellent information and pretty much affirmed what I had been already practicing.


#7

When you say .25 under tongue, what kind of salt?


#8

I use an external magnesium spray and started taking baths with epsom salt. I’m just feeling head achy and kind of in a bit of brain fog. It doesn’t feel good at all.


(Chris W) #9

Does not matter terribly for the salt, I buy pink Himalayan in bulk from costco, some people like sea salt, some people like Celtic salt. I use plain table salt when I am in a pinch like packets from a gas station. I actually just wet my finger and stick it in the salt and put it under my tongue if I feel I need it as well wash it down with some water.

I have to ask what is an external magnesium spray, and what are its uses?


#10

Magnesium spray is a concentrated form of magnesium chloride dissolved in purified water. It is a hypertonic solution that feels slippery to touch, so sometimes it is marketed as an oil (but it has no fats. It is water based). it is sprayed on the skin, or massaged over sore muscles. The magnesium is absorbed transdermally (across the skin into the body). It is a good way to get magnesium to complement oral supplements absorbed through the gut that may sometimes have a laxative effect at high doses.


#11

As others have mentioned; sea salt, pink Himalayan salt. Those to have a greater range of minerals than industrially manufactured table salt that tends to be sodium chloride (NaCl)


#12

I woke up this morning at 4:30a very hungry. I got up around 5 and made scrambled eggs with shredded cheddar and sausage. A couple hours later I had bullet proof coffee. I did a small amount of pink himalayan sea salt under my tongue twice so far today (it’s 12:09pm now). I had a quest bar for lunch as I was on the run. I just got home and made some fat bombs, which I haven’t done before. I ate about of teaspoon of butter. Haven’t had any of the fat bombs yet. I still have a headache and not sure what else to do. My heart rate is up and down. If I’m up doing anything it easily goes over 100, which is not normal for me. What else should I be doing? What other supplements should I get? Should I buy some supplemental ketones?


#13

You need to be adding salt to everything… and lots of it. Use Pink Himalayan salt ideally and make sure it goes in your cooking, on your food when serving and at any other times possible. You can add some to water or coffee, as well as just putting some under your tongue.

A good electrolytes tablet is worth using. I have a pint of water first thing everyday with this added. Usually followed by a coffee and then another pint of water. Make sure you are well hydrated all of the time, personally I think you need a lot more than 2 litres per day, I would say more like 4.

It’s also worth adding Epsom salt or Magnesium salt to a bath and having a long soak in this regularly. Not only is it relaxing but your body absorbs the salt and magnesium and they go hand in hand with a good nights sleep!


(Chris W) #14

Supplemental Ketones defeat the purpose of being in ketosis its not a short cut and confuses your body. Adding keytones does not help you with keto if you are not able to make ketones on your own you need to adjust diet to allow that to happen naturally.

So based on what you ate today I see a couple glaring things in my mind.

1 add salt to the scrambled eggs,
2. I add leafy greens to most of my meals, you have had none today thus far.
3. Add salt to the BPC, use salted butter, I will admit I am not a coffee person, my version of BPC is hot lemon water with coconut oil and salt.
4. add salt to the fat bombs if you did not, I do makes them taste better in my kind (chocolate coconut oil).
5. was the butter salted?

And did you ever get your BP checked, several of the pharmacies in my area have a BP machine that is free. Also out of curiosity what are you using to check your heart rate?


(Roy D) #15

I’ve seen 3 salts discussed;

  1. Sodium
  2. Potassium, and
  3. Magnesium

Sodium can be acquired by typical table salt. (This includes sea salt, Himalayan pink salt, Kosher salt, …)

With respect to potassium, The common source is Potassium Chloride. You can purchase Potassium Chloride over the web (i.e. Amazon), or at a natural/health food store. Pill form is typically limited to 99 mg/pill (a very small amount). It can also be purchased in a granulated form, which can be sprinkled onto food (a salt shaker can be handy for dispensing).

A. “Light” salts, such as Morton Lite Salt Mixture, contain a blend of regular (“table”) salt—or sodium chloride, as you may remember it from chemistry class—and potassium chloride, which cuts the overall sodium content by about half.

Magnesium can be purchased in pill form, or can be absorbed thru the skin. (One method is to soak in a bath containing Epsom Salt for 15 to 30 minutes.) An additional symptom of a shortage of magnesium are leg cramps.

An excess of caffeinated beverages can also cause rapid heartbeats. If your intake of coffee, caffeinated soft drives, energy drinks, … have increased, you may want to cut back.

I’ve also noted an increased heart rate at time I under eat (severely low caloric intake) during times of excessive exercise. In this case I found I was “pushing it too hard”.

Other factors such as medications can results in elevated heart rates. Are you currently taking any prescription medications, or have conditions such as diabetes that may be mitigating factors?

Previous posts have also listed consuming an adequate amount of liquids, it sound like you have that covered.

There are some separate threads on this board that discuss elevated heart rates. Use the magnifying glass icon in the upper right corner to search for key words and phrases. One such search resulted in the following;

https://www.ketogenicforums.com/t/hmmm-why-is-my-heart-racing/34857?u=rkd999


#16

Sorry to revive and old thread, but I’m experiencing exactly what @veryvette described in the OP. Did you ever find a solution for your high heart rate issue?

My usual resting heart rate is between 50-55, which I think I got from my dad and from regular exercise.

I’ve been out of the gym for a month due to injury, and am 3.5 weeks into Keto and my resting heart rate has gone up to 60-65.

Not the biggest jump, but the big difference comes with activity. Usually I have to really work to get my heart rate monitor up to 150-160 bpm, but lately i’ve been hitting 160-170 with way less effort.

I’m not doing Keto for weight loss, so this isn’t a benefit. Also it’s uncomfortable. I’m usually at 70-80 climbing stairs, now I’m at 90-100 or more.

I’m just starting to supplement with sodium, and have been taking extra potassium. But no effect yet.

Any help appreciated.


#17

A common consideration is electrolytes.

The ketogenic diet can have an adverse side effect of higher heart rate. In some cases the concern it becomes a heart condition.

The loss of electrolytes in the early weeks of a ketogenic diet follow from body water loss as liver glycogen is depleted and urinary ketones are actively excreted. The salts flow out in the increased urine volume, especially in well hydrated exercisers drinking mainly water.

A well formulated ketogenic diet that focuses on micronutrients and electrolytes can eventually correct these electrolyte losses.

Initially adding much more mineral salt than you think to food or drinks (bone broth, as bone broth is full of minerals) may help.

It is best to have blood test to check your bio markers and look at electrolytes, but make sure to have red blood cell mineral levels checked, not just blood serum levels, as subtle depletions and deficiencies that result in electrical misconduction disturbances in the heart cells can happen at apparently low”normal” blood serum levels.

By having some blood levels known, then supplementation to resolve symptoms is more guided and accurate without the potential other side effect of getting supplementation wrong and developing a kidney stone.

Best to decrease dairy foods while reducing heart rate due to its effects on magnesium absorption.

Many people come to keto in a mineral depleted nutritional state and this is unmasked in the first few weeks with heart rate change and muscle cramping issues.


#18

Hey @FrankoBear

Thanks so much for you response.

It’s good to know that increased heart rate is a common side effect. If I were to continue the diet without adjusting my electrolytes, do you think the high heart rate would continue to get worse?
I feel like it has been getting slightly worse week-over-week on my current diet.

You’re actually the 2nd person in 2 days to mention “red blood cell mineral levels”, which I had never heard about previously. Very coincidental. I might try to do this, but I understand it’s a little harder to find somewhere that will perform this test.

Right before I started Keto, I had an electrolyte panel done and all my markers were apparently within the “normal” range. Though as you say, this might not be telling the whole story.

What are the risks for kidney stones? Too much sodium and not enough hydration? I wasn’t aware of this when I started keto. Actually I didn’t realize that electrolyte supplementation would even be necessary.

To be clear, you believe that decreasing dairy foods could help with the high heart rate? I will need to look up dairy’s effect on magnesium absorption, as I’m not familiar.

Thanks very much


#19

Hi,

I had some of these symptoms few weeks back and although I intend to make a post about it separately, I’ll say what worked for me here.

Heart palpitations is usually linked to low potassium and headaches to low sodium. Sodium helps to regulate all the other electrolytes and keeps everything in balance but if you are depleted of the other electrolytes, sodium doesn’t have anything to keep in balance. Having electrolytes in balance also keeps your kidney working correctly. A high heart rate can indicate your blood pressure is low and your heart is working harder to pump blood through your body. Sometimes, this can be due to dehydration but electrolyte imbalance could be at play, judging by your symptoms.

The first thing to understand that on keto, it’s about taking a rounded approach to electrolytes. This means considering sodium, potassium, magnesium and water, all at the same time. I add water because it became clear to me recently that the volume of water in your body also has an impact on electrolyte balance.

The second thing to understand is that you may need more/less electrolytes than other people, so rather than just arbitrarily following what someone else says (I did that with severe consequences), you need to figure out what works for you. The best way to do this is to increase your electrolytes + water intake in a stepped manner. I started with a quarter of a teaspoon of Himalayan salt and a quarter of an avocado (for potassium) a day and 500ml of water. I still felt all the headache and palpitations, so the next day, I tried 1/4 tsp of Himalayan salt twice a day (one in morning and one by noon) and half an avocado and 1 ltr of water. I felt better but still had some symptoms. My body eventually felt best when I had 1/4 tsp of salt three times a day + 1 whole avocado (that’s about 900mg potassium) before noon + 1.3 litres of water throughout the day. This is the best I have ever felt on keto. My resting heart rate is back to 60-70 and my blood pressure is average and constant. I no longer feel dizzy when I stand up and I don’t have heart palpitations.

You will notice I didn’t get potassium or magnesium from supplements. I used to, but I don’t think it’s best for me. With the eggs, meat, raw cocoa (as hot beverage) and vegs I eat everyday, I get enough magnesium and the avocado only helped in getting my potassium even higher. If you are going to get supplements, please get it from a pharmacy or widely known health store as there is no telling the actual composition of all these ones you get online. I do use a generic multivitamin which happens to contain 100mg magnesium but that not really why I use it (more to get other micronutrients)

Finally, it can take some time to get it right but if you take a stepped approach to it, I think you will find your balance. If you start/increase workouts or do intermittent fasting in future, you may need more electrolytes and water. Again, I recommend a stepped approach to increasing them until you find a balance that work

(PS: When I took the stepped approach, I always waited until at least 10am the next day to see if what you did yesterday worked. If it feels like it did, repeat. If it feels like it didn’t, step it up a bit and reassess the next day)

I know how much it sucks but you’ll find your balance. All the best.


(Bunny) #20

Another reason for increasing skeletal muscle volume (weight training) with the ketogenic diet (if your trying to burn real body fat and only burning dietary fats and it’s not working?); sodium, potassium and magnesium (the ones that get depleted the fastest[1][2] when in ketosis) and dietary calcium is for heart, skeletal muscle contraction and nerve conduction. The entire human body is composed[1] of electrolytes, that’s what makes you a physical electrochemical being and all of it is alive including bones and teeth (phosphorus).

The heart palpitations or murmurs are because the heart muscle is doing all the work and the other skeletal muscles are being forced to be dormant or attempting to be sedentary while doing this?

The longer you maintain more of a mixed ketogenic vs. a glucose metabolism the need for supplementation goes down with time! The longer you maintain a glucose metabolism the more you will deplete the big three electrolytes when trying to get back into ketosis.

References:

[1] Open Text Book: Electrolytes in living systems include sodium, potassium, chloride, bicarbonate, calcium, phosphate, magnesium, copper, zinc, iron, manganes …More

[2] 1. Calcium is well known to be important for bone health-but did you also know it is essential for muscle contraction? So much so that muscle contraction is triggered by calcium in the body. Not ingesting enough calcium will reduce the force of muscular contraction, and will ultimately lead to fatigue. There is also research which suggests calcium intake is correlated to fat loss. *More calcium in the diet activates the body’s fat burning mechanisms- which reduce fat absorption and storage. …More