Salt Problems

salt
#1

Hi keto forums, I’ve been deficient in salt for a while now because I thought anything but very little would be too much. That gave me severe anxiety, but other than that I was fine, especially physically. Then I realized the problem and upped my salt intake tremendously, maybe from 2g to 20g per day. My anxiety went away very quickly but at the same time I got symptoms of severe fatigue now, can’t exercise, can hardly go about my day anymore.

The weird thing is my body tells me it wants that much salt and I actually feel deficient if I do less than that for a bit. Now I’m very confused about what to do. Did the deficiency give me some damage that now causes this excessive salt need, like adrenal insufficiency? And what causes the fatigue? I thought salt did the opposite. I needed a complete overdose of salt yesterday to get symptoms of heart racing and stress, with previous high levels all it did was make me tired while my heart and stress levels were just fine.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #2

Salt needs to be in balance, for the body’s regulation of other minerals (potassium, calcium, magnesium) to also be in balance. The most recent data, from the PURE study and others, suggests that the healthiest range of sodium intake is 4-6 g/day, which translates to 10-15 g/day of table salt (sodium chloride), or 2-3 U.S. teaspoons a day. My understanding is that this includes the salt already present in food.

Hyponatraemia (low sodium in the blood) causes problems, but my understanding was that they are reversible, once a healthy intake is restored. My guide to whether I am eating too little or too much salt is primarily digestive: too little, and I am constipated; too much and I am decidedly not constipated (though not actually experiencing diarrhea). For me, migraine auras are also a sign of too little sodium.

There is a possible complicating factor, which depends on how long you’ve been eating a ketogenic diet: there is an initial period of adaptation, during which muscle cells are “re-learning” to metabolise fatty acids in place of glucose. The adaptation period lasts 6-8 weeks for most people, though it takes longer in some people. I experienced it more as a loss of strength than as a loss of energy, but everyone is different.

Another possible cause of the fatigue might be lack of protein. We advise eating 1.0-1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of lean body mass each day. Some experts advise even more than that. You might try increasing your protein and fat intake, especially if you are also feeling hungry. As long as you keep your carbohydrate intake under 20 g/day at the same time, you should be fine.

#3

Thanks for the quick answer. I’m sure that too much salt was the problem then. Just confused me because of the unusual symptoms. I’ll be going for a middle value then, should be fine considering that I was doing okay even with hardly any salt.

My blood results were also a bit confusing. Found out I had blood anemia, could that be caused by too much salt and resulting frequent urination? But at the same time they said I had a bit too little salt in my blood. How is that even possible? I did the test after the day I accidently really overdosed on salt. Kidney and liver were fine.

(Mc-Queeney) #4

Senaku, I’m struggling with the same fatigue problem. I’m 4 months into Keto and have tried everything; hydration, blood work up, salt, good macros, vitamin supplements and nothing works. Still fatigued. I’m also having a real problem eating more than 1,100 calories per day. Simply because I’m not that hungry. I can easily do 36 hr IF without hunger. Getting a little less than 55 grams of protein per day, which is the minimum that I need. Will try to up the protein based on comments here. Also experimenting with getting off my Metoprolol for one week to see if that could be causing the problem which I’ve read about. If I can’t solve it soon, I’ll have to find a new doctor, as my current family physician doesn’t have a clue. But I really don’t know how to pick a new doctor that would be an expert in this area. Unfortunately Dr Fung is booked.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #5

That is highly doubtful. It is more likely from not getting enough iron. Try adding a bit of liver to your diet. If not overcooked (don’t fry it more than 90 seconds on a side), it is very tasty. Most of us grew up hating it because our mothers overcooked it (sorry, Mom, you know I’m right!).

#6

Makes sense, problem is just that I eat almost entirely carnivore, lots of meat and also some liver. Also these fatigue symptoms started pretty strongly on the same day that I highly increased my salt intake to a more normal level so I’m thinking it must have something to do with that. For one because that’s the only change I did during that time and also because I suppose iron would take longer to drastically change in my body.

Edit: Just noticed I have mild but visible Edema. Guess that’s also pointing towards too much salt being the issue.

(Susan) #7

Welcome to the forum @Zenaku =).

It is normal when starting Keto to have some of these symptoms. It is the carb and sugar withdrawal and your body adjusting to this, it will go away =). It is better to remain consistent.

If you have NO Sugar, keep your carbs to 20 grams or less a day, have enough protein and healthy fats, lots of water, and are getting sufficient Electrolytes, you will get over the fatigue soon enough.

You could try making this too =). Best wishes with your Keto journey =).

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #8

As someone who lives with anemia (blood/marrow cancer) I can attest to the fatigue that comes along with it. Is it possible your fatigue isn’t related to salt at all, but to the being anemic? What did your doctor recommend?

#9

That’s very much possible. The blood test also said I was deficient in salt which made no sense as I had taken tons of salt over the past two weeks and was done the day after I overdosed on salt and got heartracing so bad I could hardly sleep, but still that’s what they said. And my doctor recommended the same thing. Drink more, eat more salt. And it’s true I feel better whenever I add salt. So it seems to be some mix of anemia and salt deficiency despite taking a ton of it.

What I think is the case is that it’s somehow caused by oxalate dumping. I also reduced the plant parts of my diet lately and I didn’t think so partially, because I tried adding them back in a few days ago without any improvements. At the same time though a few weeks ago when the fatigue started and I heard about oxalates I ate half a bar of dark chocolate and went from pretty fatigued to running up the stairs without even being out of breath pretty much immediately.

I read somewhere that oxalate dumping or oxalate symptoms in general can cause damage to bone marrow and hinder red blood cell production which would explain the anemia.

I started adding in some more plant foods with oxalates again and am trying to see what it does. Results are a bit vague but a mixture of high salt plus high oxalates seems to have positive effects. My body’s pretty messed up lately though so it’s hard to tell. Also want to start supplementing B Vitamins as I heard that helps with oxalate dumping, though I am going to try to end the dumping process as quickly as possible now. I’d prefer to live with the poison over a long time over having it kill me outright, and my body feels like it’s pretty close to the end to be honest.

#10

Thanks for the advice Momo. I have been on keto for half a year now though and had overcome that problem long ago. That isn’t it now I’m afraid. And I find myself drinking a ton of salt water lately as my body seems to be needing so much of it. Feels like 3 teaspoons of salt in water a day or more in addition to salt from foods. I’m not sure if I should also take other mineral supplements as well. If oxalate dumping is messing with my mineral absorption in general then perhaps, but considering how much salt I need maybe that would just put even more of a salt need on my body to balance it out.

(Susan) #11

I found this article from another thread on the forum about salt, maybe it will help:

https://hackernoon.com/the-science-of-salt-and-electrolytes-are-we-consuming-enough-7299e8f398f1

Maybe it would be a good idea to ask your doctor about this? Let us know how you do or if you get it sorted! Take care.