Quick and dirty potassium question

(Robin) #1

Citrate or gluconate? I currently take Potassium Gluconate 600 mg, twice a day. Still sometimes deal with leg cramps at night. So, I know I can play with dosage, and add some salt to water before bed. But… is there a recommended type of potassium? Is Citric better? I want to start ordering bulk of some of my regulars, and this one still has a question mark by it. I went thru some past threads and couldn’t find a definitive answer. PS…I already take magnesium.

(Brian) #2

I can’t speak for others but I’ll just tell you what I do personally. Lots of people like some salt in their coffee. I use LiteSalt. It’s half potassium chloride. I don’t know how much I use but it’s a regular addition to the morning coffee, a good healthy shake into the grounds of the percolator. I would guess maybe 1/2 tsp is normal but I don’t measure, just shake. Not huge, but it’s regular and very easy for me to do. The coffee is split pretty much evenly between me and my wife. It’s probably 350mg of potassium for each of us. But that’s every day, and in addition to anything else we’d eat that also has potassium. It wouldn’t be hard to up that a little. But it seems to be a working level for us.

Just sharing.

(Robin) #3

I have heard about salt in coffee and it has always sounded weird. However, I’ll try it tomorrow. I am a coffee gal, with heavy whipping cream and stevia drops. But I also love everything salted. So who knows? Thanks! (I’m still curious about the supplement choice tho.)

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #4

You don’t have to put the LoSalt in your coffee, you can simply use it on your food. Be sure to get enough sodium chloride, since that will help keep your magnesium and potassium in balance.

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

Big coffee fan here, too. You’re not making saltwater coffee! I make a liter of coffee each morning, including 2.5 grams of salt mix (Redmond’s Real Salt and French’s NoSalt). Before keto I used to drink coffee with half & half or coffee cream, and did not add salt. Since keto, I’ve developed what I call ‘keto coffee’ which unlike a ‘fat bomb’ contains a mix of both protein and fats to my macros and tastes very much like my old coffee & cream. I add the salt because it helps accentuate all the various flavours.

(Allie) #6

I’ve had salt in my coffee for so long now that it tastes strange without it, either Lo-Salt or sea salt depending on the time of day and where I am. Started with a tiny pinch only, but now maybe quarter teaspoon. I don’t give any other thought to potassium.

(Robin) #7

Sodium Chloride. Is that in regular salt or another supplement?

(Allie) #8

Sodium Chloride. Is that in regular salt or another supplement?

Sodium chloride IS salt, it’s the chemical name for it. Some are better than others, I tend to use Celtic grey salt.

(Robin) #9

Oh, ha ha! I just googled and got same answer and was gonna slip back in here and delete my dumb post before anyone else. Saw it. Oh well, I don’t know what I don’t know. Thanks!

(Allie) #10

We are all learning all the time, no such thing as a stupid question :blush:

(Robin) #11

Careful, I take that as a dare! LOL

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #12

There are no stupid questions, only stupid . . . oh, wait! :rofl:

(Robin) #13

There ya go.

#14

Unlike magnesium, I’ve never noticed any differences between the different Potassiums. Best bet to keep it up is using Lite Salt (50/50 mix) or NoSalt (all potassium), remember, the RDA is almost 5g, and that’s for people that are “normal” and not flushing them out. So for us it can take a little more to get the job done. On the leg cramps though that’s usually Magnesium more than it is potassium.

(Robin) #15

OK, thanks. I take a lot of potassium and magnesium, so I am gonna run with adding salt. Since I drink a lot of water (and always have diarrhea TMI), I probably really do need the salt. At least, that’s my current thinking. Trial and error is my new mantra.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #16

Overdosing sodium chloride can result in diarrhea.

#17

Then make sure your Magnesium isn’t the Citrate form! That does it by itself.

(Robin) #18

DING! DING! DING! I believe we have a winner. I take CALM magnesium supplement (powder form). Magnesium carbonate. First ingredient is citric acid. And I take double the recommended dose.

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(Robin) #19

Thanks, pretty sure that’s not it. But I’ll start mentoring that. If anything, I think I may be low.

(Allie) #20

Please be careful with this as too much can make you very seriously ill, as in life threateningly. There are posts about it on here where people have ended up in hospital.