More muscle strains and taking longer to heal -- ideas?

(Sardelle) #1

Hi all,

I’m about two months into my first keto diet. I test regularly with blood ketone strips and am usually 1.5 to 3.5, with the higher readings at night. I’m fairly muscular and get daily exercise (minimum of 3-4 mile walk with the dogs in the morning, but usually tennis or yoga or weights too, and sometimes jogging a couple miles), and eat a pile of veggies with the two meals I cook a day (with beef, bacon, fish, or chicken), and then I have a whack of nut butter and oil and two tablespoons of gelatin for an afternoon snack most days. I’m closer to 40g a carb a day than 20, but like I said, I keep an eye on things with the blood testing, and I’m well into ketosis. I don’t usually measure food portions to get exact numbers, but these are high fat meals (of course!), so I believe I’m in the 1600-1800 calorie range.

I’ve noticed that I’m more prone to bruising since going keto (I’ve already tried adding a Vitamin D supplement with K2 in it), and in the last couple of weeks, I’ve gotten a muscle strain in my arm and now also in my thigh for no obvious reason. I didn’t feel any twinges when I was exercising. Just woke up sore. The one in the arm seems to be taking forever to heal even though I’ve backed off on weights and things that might bother it.

Anyway, the TLDR version is that I seem to be more prone to tears/strains in keto and they’re taking longer to heal.

I’m mainly in this to hopefully heal insulin resistance (I had pre-diabetic numbers before starting low carb and still have crappy sleep whenever I have sugar or alcohol or something carby), and I like the way it’s affecting my mood, but I love my sports and don’t want to be broken either. Any suggestions to speed healing? I’m wondering if I should try more protein before more carbs, as I’m already on the higher end of carbs to be keto (I’m a 40 yo woman, but I’ve always been stocky/muscular and active). I don’t particularly want to drop out of keto since it took me a good four weeks to get fat adapted. My body fat percentage is between athletic and average on the charts, so I’m not carrying too much extra weight around. I’m also not doing anything different exercise-wise than before I started keto.

Thanks for reading and replying!

(Allie) #2

My recovery has improved massively since I increased my sodium intake, more energy too. I’ve been making and taking salt capsules (himalayan pink & celtic grey) as well as adding more to cooking.

(Cece Blackstock) #3

I wonder if maybe you might need more sodium? It’s essential for muscle recovery, and if you are in ketosis, then you are loosing more sodium than you may realize. Just a thought…

(Mary Ann) #4

This has happened to me too. I’ve been keto for over 3 months. And I take a few salt supplements (Magnesium, Potassium, and Calcium supplements). I put Himalayan salt on everything. I also put Celtic salt under my tongue and in my ACV everyday.

These symptoms are new since keto. I just keep upping my salt incrementally because understanding my salt ratio is tricky.

I’m watching this thread. :slight_smile:

(Sardelle) #5

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I didn’t mention it, but I do supplement with sodium, potassium, and magnesium, and I also take a good multivitamin. I’ll get light-headed on standing (low blood pressure) if I’m not getting enough salt, so that’s one of my tells. Since I live in AZ, it’s super easy to sweat and lose salt without noticing it. I keep a shaker by the sink and just eat some periodically throughout the day.

I think I’m going to try boosting my protein for a while and see if that helps. I’ve been quite careful with staying around 60g, since Nally/Moore always freak out when people are eating more than 1g of protein per kilogram of lean mass, but since I’m on the muscular side for a girl, maybe I need more. I might try bumping it up to 80 and seeing what happens.

#6

There’s some information about bruising in this episode of Keto Talk, at ~23 minute mark. http://ketotalk.com/2016/10/39-eating-carbs-again-hypothyroidism-bruising-women-weight-loss-blood-vs-breath-ketones/

(Sardelle) #7

Thanks, Carol. I re-listened to that, and he suggested copper and folate, IIRC. I take a high quality multi-vitamin from Dr. Rons that has all that stuff, and a D vitamin with K2 (something else I’ve heard suggested for bruising) so I’m still trying to figure this out. Noticed some fresh bruises today, grumble, grumble.

It’s just odd to me because I was doing paleo HC/LF before this, and the only things I’ve taken out of my diet are junk food kind of things (coconut flake cereal and sugar-free chocolate bars) that shouldn’t have had much nutrient value anyway. I was always eating a lot of meat and veggies and still am.

P.S. I played with adding more protein, and ketones dropped to .4 after a couple of days, so I’ve lightened that up again.

(Allie) #8

Salt. My recovery was massively improved after adding more salt.