Please tell me electrolyte loss ends after adaptation

newbies
#1

I’m 11days in, all going as expected. Offsetting keto flu (feel extremely drained) with big sodium (4g+), lots of water, fat and <20 carbs. Think I’m doing it right. But must one continue with this sodium level after adaptation? I can’t swim in boullion (and pee gallons) forever. I’m committed to keto, but I hope the sodium intake can go back down after this phase. Thanks for your replies.

#2

After adaptation, I don’t pee as much (just depends on how much water you drink) as the system has already flushed out the excess water.

As for sodium, 4g isn’t that high. That’s actually around the range everyone should be getting, even those not on Keto, as it turns out. On keto, you’ll still want to keep up that amount, or more. That said, I’m lead to believe requirements can go down a bit, I just wouldn’t shoot for less than 4g (that said, in early phases I shoot for 5g+, it’s just hard to get that much).

I’ve personally never used boullion, I just use a good amount of salt on my food, and once in a while if I feel like I’m low I’ll directly take an electrolyte supplement or some a bit of straight salt. Many cheeses, meats and other foods actually contain some electrolytes that aren’t typically accounted for as well, so sometimes you are getting a bit of help where you don’t expect it.

There’s been some interesting indications that at least home made broth that you hear recommended a lot, while it has electrolytes, actually doesn’t end up having as much as we expect unless you eat/drink the ‘remnants’, but that seems to be a complicated story and not sure how much that applies to bouillon.

(Chris) #3

Cutting out coffee would reduce your requirements. I find it best to just salt my food generously. I also fast during the week so my salt intake is going to be high for the foreseeable future anyway. I like salt so I don’t mind.

#4

Ok, more sodium then. So you’re getting your sodium through salting your food. What type of salt do you use? Thanks.

#5

Coffee–good tip. I’ll need to cut that out. I’ll ask you the same question I asked djindy: what kind of salt do you use? I’m currently using pink himalayan, but man I have to grind that thing quite a bit to get just about an eighth of a teaspoon. I loved my kosher salt before starting keto but I understand that doesn’t have much sodium. Please let me know the salt you use. Thanks so much.

#6

At home, I have some Kosher salt, Pink Salt, and some other particular smoked salts.
The Kosher salt is coarse and in a big box, so I typically use it during cooking/prep. The pink salt, as it’s in a grinder, I use at the table afterwards. The smoked salts are at the table as well that I use whenever I want a slightly different flavor. At work, I have a can o Lo Salt and I’ll use the morton salt that’s on the work kitchen table from time to time.

Pink salt isn’t as high of sodium as Kosher salt, typically, which isn’t as high in sodium as other salts, so just keep that in mind. I also use some No Salt.

Just in case you haven’t caught onto the idea yet, the reason for the Lo Salt and No Salt is not to reduce sodium, but instead to increase potassium. Those salts actually are just as much salt, they just contain potassium salt rather than sodium salt. Since potassium also needs a boost and can be hard to get enough of, I also add those on (the lo salt has a bit of sodium as well, the no salt has no sodium but a lot of potassium).

For the supplements that I sometimes take when I feel I need them, I’ve been lately using ReHyd8, which someone on this forum recommended. The capsules have several different electrolytes and some vitamins (sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, Vitamin D and I think something else), in good availability forms (magnesium citrate, for instance, rather than magnesium oxide which isn’t well absorbed into the whole system), but in low amounts. The low amounts can be fine, as it’s used to top off when you are low, and you can take several at a time (for workouts they actually instruct taking 3-4 at a time). If you can do without them, spectacular, but having something around for me, particularly for magnesium, is helpful.

(Chris) #7

They do sell it in shakers too, 3 large holes or the side you can for a spoon in. I use pink.

#8

Great advice, thanks so much. Will absolutely check out the Rehyd8–think I could use some right now. Many thanks.