Low Potassium?

(Steve) #21

In tracking my macro’s in my diet I’m getting between 1700 - 2300mg of Potassium a day - and I feel great. Also doing 5.5 litres of water a day. I’m almost always going over my 2300mg of Sodium a day threshold, so it’ll be keeping my Potassium from draining away via all of the water that I drink.

If you feel great without supplements, I don’t think you should use them. (except maybe multivitamins) - and if you know you’re deficient in some area of your diet (and have symptoms of being so without the supplement). You could always get bloodwork done at the doctor’s office - me I’d do diet-only for several days in advance so they can identify if there’s any gaps.

#22

I was experiencing a lot of muscle twitching in my feet, hands, and calves and some general tightness (not full on cramps) but Ive only been on keto for barely 2 weeks. Im just trying to understand what my body will need and how to supply it with electrolytes.

Maybe I just need to up my salt in general.

(Marty Kendall) #23

This list of low carb foods with higher potassium foods may be useful.

high-potassium-foods-low-carb.jpg583×941 148 KB

You can get twice the DRI from whole foods. But most people don’t get enough potassium. I also don’t see many people’s Nutrient Optimiser analysis that has the desirable 2:1 potassium : sodium ratio. I supplement with potassium citrate powder in my coffee.

#24

I was trying to find some info on reported deaths due to potassium consumption overdose.

(Marty Kendall) #25

If you are on heart medications you will want to go slow with the supplementation. This is why the tabs are limited to 99mg. The only practical way to get the DRI with supps is a powder like this one.

https://au.iherb.com/pr/now-foods-potassium-citrate-pure-powder-12-oz-340-g/69741

#26

Doug, a question. If potassium is rapidly absorbed into the tissues, then how useful will a blood test be for determining potassium levels? This is a sincere question. I don’t understand how a blood test can accurately determine tissue levels. Thanks!

(Doug) #27

That’s a good question, Virginia, and I think of that too, since the only potassium test I ever see mentioned is the serum one that measures the level in one’s blood.

I don’t know how fast potassium goes into cells and the spaces between them, only that almost all the potassium needs to end up there. Normal levels are 3.5 to 5 milliEquivalents (or 263 to 375 milligrams) per liter of blood. (Normal sodium levels are roughly 33 times higher.) So it’s a small amount of potassium in the blood, and it’s a tight range that needs to be maintained.

As far as I can tell, that tight range in the blood is what is the most immediately important for us - it’s needed to keep normal heart rhythm, nervous system electrical signals, smooth muscle and skeletal muscle function. The body has a relatively large store of potassium in tissue - I’m thinking this is to tide us over even in fairly long periods of low potassium intake.

If everything is working well, we’re set up to maintain those blood potassium levels - there is a part of our kidneys that excretes it (the hormone aldosterone goes there and cranks up special proteins that move potassium into our urine), and if we need to conserve potassium, there’s another part of our kidneys that reabsorbs it.

If one’s kidneys are compromised, it can thus really play hob, here. Lots of other things can affect potassium levels too - drugs like NSAID pain relievers, beta-blocker blood pressure stuff, ACE inhibitors, diuretics and birth control pills. Kidney disease and diabetes can result in too little aldosterone being produced, sending potassium levels too high.

I’ve read that potassium is easily absorbed in the small intestine, so to correct a deficiency should not be hard, all other things being equal. As far as the rate at which potassium goes into our tissues, I can’t find the answer to that.

(Doug) #28

From another thread, titled, “Potassium Deficiency?”

Thank you, Too Seest. :slightly_smiling_face:

(Karen) #29

Also check out sun dried tomatoes. Bit high in carbs though.

108 mg per TBSP

K

#30

Hey guys. I addressed and solved the potassium issue here:
https://www.ketogenicforums.com/t/potassium-disasters/29710

Also, I have replaced the potassium chloride (from no salt) with potassium bicarbonate
which is recognised as food safe here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_bicarbonate

Potassium bicarbonate is about 40% potassium by molecular mass so 11.75 grams will deliver the 4,700 milligrams recommended by Dr. Berg.

The other keto aid recipes floating around this site don’t even come close to the recommended daily amount.
Also, there is no danger in over-shooting potassium dosage. (If there was, then people would be dropping dead from eating one too many avacados)

(Steve) #31

I thought the danger was in causing kidney stones. Believe that’s why the supplements are in such low dosages.

(Nicole Sawchuk) #32

For the last year I have struggled with an electrolyte imbalance and the last month it has gotten worse. The feet cramps are awful. At first I started by increasing my salt intake. I was up to 11 grams per day of Redmond salt (about +2 tsp measured). Got some relief but it was still there. So than I increased my magnesium. I take 400 mg of Magnesium Biglycinate per day, plus 2 tsps. of Calm at night (I like the calming effect that has before bed). Still no help with cramping. Every night before bed, I spray myself down with magnesium oil. So than I went on this huge kick of eating at least an avocado a day to see if it was Potassium. No help. I’ve even started adding cream of tartar to my water.

The reason it has gotten worse is because I have increased my exercise intensity. That’s why I know its an electrolyte imbalance. I cannot workout first thing in the morning for the soul reason that I have to prepare by dosing up my salt prior to my workouts and rolling out of bed and working out would lead to cramps and potentially a migraine (only time I occasionally get migraines is after a workout).

I’ve been to the doctor and had blood drawn but everything looked normal there. What am I missing?! I am not on any medication. I feel doctors are useless at helping because they are not educated on this so its up to me to find the solution. Do I continue to increase everything?

(Steve) #33

Just my own 2 cents here. Blood tests can’t tell you what the micronutrient levels in your cells are…only what’s actually in your blood. Your cells could be depleted. Sodium helps you keep what you already have, but if you’re depleted, you may be just expelling what you’re ingesting and not giving your cells a chance to restock.

Me, I’d quit the exercise until you level out a few days of feeling really good. It kinda sounds like you may be ingesting even too much salt. (excess salt will cause you to retain more water).

(Jo) #34

I haven’t read the whole thread and if someone has mentioned this already, my apologies.

Be very careful with supplementing potassium if you are taking an ACE inhibitor such as Lisinopril or other brands of blood pressure medication. The medication prevents potassium to be excreted and therefore leads to a build up in our bodies and it is easy to over supplement. I got a rapid BP drop when I drank a liter of electrolyte water (which didn’t even have that much potassium) after a hike. In my case it wasn’t life threatening but it could have been worse. This is nothing to be trivial about.

I am tracking my diet and get only half the potassium that I should get. Around 2500 mg per day on average. Yet I have never experienced cramping, so I gather I have enough in my system. I am experimenting with getting off the BP medication and getting more potassium, maybe that would be the ticket to ditching the BP medication for good. This is, of course, with the approval of my DR.

(Steve) #35

Even though the recommendation is 4700mg of Potassium a day, we don’t actually need anywhere near that much, provided we’re getting enough sodium so our cells can hang onto their micronutrients. We certainly should try to get as much as we can (through diet), but a lot of people are perfectly fine with less than even 1500mg of day in their macro tracking.

(Jo) #36

I strongly disagree with you there. It can cause kidney stones and in people that take BP medication it can lead to dangerously low BP. Also one Hass Avocado contains only about 700 mg of potassium, you’d have to eat 6 per day to get to the maximum 4700 mg that is recommended. I think the supplements like lite salt are more dangerous because the dosage is much higher.

(Solomom A) #37

Have you tried a little more complete protein than what you normally do?

(Karen) #39

Sun-dried tomatoes have a lot of potassium oddly

(Laura) #41

Muscle twitching can also be a magnesium issue. If your intake of magnesium is too high it will cause diarrhea, but not necessarily dangerous. You might want to consider playing with your magnesium. Just a thought.

(Marty Kendall) #42

Potassium has really decreased in our food system over the past 75 years or so as we have used more and more chemical fertilisers.

potassium%20vs%20time

Potassium and sodium intake are definitely worth paying attention to.