How Much Potassium From Supplements Is Too Much?


(Davy) #1

Most of us don’t get the RDA of 4700mg of potassium per day. On Keto or Carnivore it’s really tough to get that. (yes, pretty easy if you could eat bananas, potatoes)
Even a full tsp of potassium citrate is not quite half of the 4700mg.
I saw a Potassium BHB salt supplement with 2500mg. Is that too much from a supplement?
How much potassium from a supplement is too much?


(Full Metal KETO AF) #2

I just mix potassium chloride with my pink salt for some extra potassium. I bought a 1kg bag on Amazon a while back. Or you can buy it cheap in the grocery store as lite salt (blended with NaCl already, or NuSalt I believe it’s called which is straight potassium chloride, both probably with anti caking ingredients like silicon dioxide :confused:.

I haven’t been eating much vegetables and recently went Carnivore so I think it’s not a bad idea. I don’t think there’s a need for pills myself. If you’re getting adequate sodium intake it will keep potassium levels balanced. I have a little tendency towards mild cramps in my arms and thighs. So I am trying a bit extra. I think I am going to start using an epsom salt foot bath for extra magnesium because I don’t take that either. I have a feeling the high RDA for potassium and magnesium might have been influenced by the low sodium recommendation, because low sodium causes a loss of potassium and magnesium I believe. :cowboy_hat_face:


(KCKO, KCFO) #3

Brenda Zorn has some good advice in this post.


(Bob M) #4

I supplement very little. When I started 6 years ago, I did much more. Now that I eat mainly meat, I don’t need much. Vitamin D, maybe Vitamin k every once in a while, sometimes Mg. That’s it.


(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #5

French’s No Salt is plain potassium chloride. I use that along with Redmond Real Salt and plain old epsom salt to make my electrolyte mix.


(Davy) #6

I"m getting 3-4g of good quality sodium per day. So you’re saying potassium ‘in the body’ will stay balanced, no matter what’s in there at the moment?
All the reading I’ve done, says one needs a 1:1 up to a 1:2 ratio of sodium to potassium per day. So maybe according to your thinking, 3g of sodium will require only 3000mg of potassium? THAT would be more manageable.


(Davy) #7

Collaroygal says similarly the same thing…“if sodium is on point, potassium will be too”
But what if you’re potassium is low in the first place?

I’m aware of the problem of getting way too much potassium. A recent Dr and expert, in his book, says it’s really difficult to get too much potassium.


(Davy) #8

And so Bob, no cramps ever? No problems that you’ve noticed?
Maybe I’m overthinking this potassium too much too, like you did 6 years ago. I’m open to all thinking on this. This is a possibility, I think.


(Davy) #9

I"m using ‘No Salt’ now too Michael. I sprinkle it on all my meat and eggs, every meal…but figure that still doesn’t get up to 4700mg. Maybe it’s enough? Heh, I put on Real Salt also, along with the No Salt. . . about 1/4 tsp each, per meal.
Been doing this for a week; and no cramps. But still have this slight eyelid twitch; don’t know what’s going on there. Maybe too much of something? I don’t know.


(Davy) #10

So back to the original question, how much supplement of pot. is too much?
Perhaps getting 3000mg from supplement is NOT too much?


(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #11

@DavyKOTWF I think sodium is the key electrolyte that functions to keep all the others in balance. That said, however, potassium is not magically synthesized out of the aether. You have to eat it, which is very difficult because it’s not abundant in food - like 30 bananas or avocados to get your daily dose - or add it as salt, which I think is far more sensible.

I’ve been self-experimenting for about a year now on electrolyte supplementation to control/resolve night leg cramps. I first came up with an electrolyte mix of Real Salt, No Salt and epsom salt that relieved the frequency and intensity of cramps enormously. I then discovered by trial and error that additional sodium in the form of Himalayan pink salt dissolved in water (1 liter/day) was even more effective. On mornings following days when I don’t drink my sodium salt water, even if I consume my full 10 grams of Real Salt, No Salt and epsom salt, my chance of getting leg cramps is much higher.

My current electrolyte mix is: 55 grams of Real Salt, 35 grams of No Salt, 10 grams of epsom salt. This makes a 10-day supply at 10 grams per day, which I add to my morning coffee (2 grams) and each of my meals, which are mostly single bowl mixes of various ingredients. I also drink approx 1 liter per day of water with 10 grams of Himalayan pink salt dissolved in it. If I skimp on any of this, my chances of cramps increases greatly. If I take all this, my chance of cramps is zip.


(Davy) #12

Wow, that’s a lot. Course I’ve read the Japanese get around 12g sodium per day.
Judging by your avatar, you must bike a LOT? 50-100 miles per week? If so, that’d explain why you need so much electrolytes.
So from your mix, you’re getting at least 3500mg of potassium.


(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #13

Keep in mind that the actual sodium, potassium and magnesium in these various salts is actually only about 40+%. So I’m not really consuming even the daily RDA for potassium, more like only half or a bit more. Sodium and magnesium, yes, or pretty close. I only recently, within the past couple months, discovered that the additional sodium from my liter of water makes a significant improvement to the frequency and severity of my night cramps. On work days I always drink my salt water and I never have cramps the following mornings. On off days, however, I often do not drink my liter of salt water and the mornings following are the most likely to be the ones when I get cramps.

Yes, I bike a lot, but not that much! The summer of 2018 I got a full-time job at Walmart. The shifts are all over the map time-wise, plus I’m tired from working because it entails lots of physical exertion. So my cycling has declined significantly. I ride a recumbent I built. After several years, I added an electric motor which enabled me to ride longer, farther and faster! Did I mention I like going fast? :slightly_smiling_face:


(Ron) #14

Over time I have learned to use potassium supplementation ( No Salt) when my body gives me signals that it is needed. I will start getting mild cramping in my calves when sleeping and if I do not supplement the cramping gets worse. If I do supplement when I first notice the cramping is beginning, I can stop any advancements. I have learned this as a great tool to control what my body needs without (what I think) going over or being under proper levels. Obviously this is an n=1 situation but it might be worth a try. :face_with_raised_eyebrow:


(Bob M) #15

I do get very infrequent lower leg cramps. I think I got 1 or 2 bouts of them last year. I neglected to mention that I heavily salt food. I used to use no salt too, way back. I tend to get the cramps only during long fasts, so I have started taking a supplement when fasting.

The problem with leg cramps is that electrolytes may or may not be a cause. For instance, there’s a study where they caused leg cramps, which were cured almost instantly by drinking pickle juice. It could not be the electrolyte level, as this could not get into the blood that fast. I also had cramps at basically the same time I had blood tests done, and all my levels were at the high level of normal. (Mg level not taken though.)

If anything, I think it might be a balancing issue. One or more of your values are out of whack. The bad thing is there’s no test for this. And based on the pickle juice study, maybe that’s not correct either.


(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #16

Taking a couple of Tums helps any eye or mouth twitch I’ve ever had. I learned it from a nurse when I was going through stem cell harvesting, which caused low calcium.


(Davy) #17

Thanks, Marie. Funny, I started Tums (probably from your advice) from a thread about a week ago. Love how that gets me near or on my Cronometer number. I take K2 also to help it along. The twitching has started to lesson.
I think LACK of vitamins and minerals is why so many people, in my hometown and surrounding counties of south central Kentucky, get cancer…and heart disease from too much sugar and starchy carbs. Eveyone there eats big sugary desserts after meals.


(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #18

I live in northern Kentucky. Don’t forget the sweet tea and pop all day long. :grin: (and cigarettes, drugs, occupational hazards, lack of healthcare, poor nutrition and hard living in general.)


(Davy) #19

Thanks all for the inputs. I"ve decided to get my ratio to at least 1:1 with sodium:pot. So at least 3500mg of pot. with the same amount sod. If I have to take 1.5 tsp of No Salt, so be it. For me, the sodium is easy.

Michael, my wife has been working at Walmart for 3.5 years. The first year, they seemed to ‘test’ her, giving her weird hours, changing them all the time, anywhere from 7 a.m. to 11p.m. Once she got through the testing period, about a year, they gave her a regular schedule, albeit from 11am to 8pm. She’s a 50 year old small woman, and yes, they throw quite a bit of physical work at her too. So hang in there…I hear a good raise may be coming within 2 months. Nice idea on the electric motor. How ‘fast’ is fast for you? I rode a bit, 16 mph was fast for me. :slight_smile: That was on flat road.


(Davy) #20

Yep. I knew you lived or were from Ky. A high school classmate, age 65, used to drink 6 Ski’s every single day, plus of course chain smoke. His brother, age 62, is obese, smokes, drinks pop and eats sugars all day, but is on copious amounts of Dr. drugs. (which I guess are keeping them alive) I don’t see how either of them is still alive. Our class had about 55 boys in it, class of '73. About 20 of them are already gone, most from the big C. Another member tells me, soon we’ll be able to have our reunion in a phone booth. He’s very overweight. I tried to tell him about Keto and how it could add 10-15 years to his life. He went into the common reaction, ‘I don’t do fad diets. Too much meat will give you CV disease, blah blah, blah.’ I told him HIS way of eating was the fad diet, being around 120 years, whereas Keto has been around for a million years or so. In one ear out the other at the speed of light.