This is a weird question I know but I’ll ask it anyway! I have been eating zero carb/carnivore for about a month now. I workout for about an hour a day, sometimes a little more, running, elliptical and weights, so I’m pretty active. I’ve been putting in a bit more volume lately in the gym but have been neglecting stretching or foam rolling with the business of the holidays. Last night we went to dinner to celebrate a family members birthday and I ate a nice big carnivore meal of two burgers with cheese and bacon, no bun obviously, but ended up eating a decent amount of dessert which I knew would affect me (I’ve been keto for most of the past three years so I’ve had my share of “transgressions “). When I went to bed last night I woke up after a few hours to the most painful and horrific leg cramps I’ve ever felt in my life. It was like a million knives stabbing my legs. I make sure to take salt tabs everyday that contain sodium, magnesium and potassium, and I salt my meat and drink the juices from the meat after it’s cooked as I know there are lots of minerals in in. I got some of my salt tabs and the cramps subsided eventually but I am wondering about whether these cramps were the result of over training and not stretching or recovering sufficiently, or could have something to do with my being zero carb and eating that dessert. I have trained at higher volumes than I am currently at various times while being keto but I’m wondering if there’s something about zero carb that might lead to more muscle cramps?
Severe leg cramps, zero carb, and holiday sweets
I can pretty much count on getting excruciating leg cramps when I eat past my carb tolerance. They suck, but it’s a good deterrent!
I had one very painful night with leg cramps which kept me up and went into the next day. I wound up drinking chicken broth (made myself from bones) and it hasn’t happened since. And keeping up my water.
It’s said no/low carbs will bring this on, and you want to up your electrolytes. There’s lots of info out there on exactly this, including:
I take electrolytes and plenty of salt every day. Like i mentioned I’ve been keto for most of the past few years and maintained a high level of training during much of that time. I never had cramps like I did last night. I’m wondering if there’s something about eating zero carb that intensifies muscle cramps if you have carbs. It may have been a fluke too and was just the result of pulling something when I worked out that day. I don’t know but I sure makes me not want to eat that stuff again lest it result in another bout of cramping at night.
This is a good one, a real head scratcher…
Since you are fat adapted AND taking electrolytes on a regular basis, we can play with the idea that it wasn’t due to sodium/salts.
MAYBE it was the extra water that the carbs require when being processed or stored?
The way I understand it, carbohydrates required 2/3’s as much H20 to “process and/or store”. That’s why we often lose weight early when going low carb, the body can release some of the stored water since it doesn’t need it for glycogen storage/burning. (You most likely know this already).
So, your body was in a state of homestasis, your sodium and water stores were “just right” for a fat burner/low carb intake but then, when you increased glycogen drastically in a short time frame, the body struggled to produce any water to process/store the glycogen?
That’s my hypothesis and I’m sticking to it 
I’d be curious to see where this takes you, if you do any more digging or if you find out anything in the future. I’ve not had the same experience, and I’ve done my fair share of cheating (beer and sometimes sugar).
@infromsea that is an interesting thought…I probably had 100 grams of carbs, tops. So nothing too crazy. And I did have an extra tough gym session so maybe it was a bad combo. Though I have had bigger carb benders over the years, including two periods where I went off keto to regain weight due to struggling with anorexia and I didn’t experience this. So I’m going easy at the gym for a few days, stretching, resting, and going right back to my fatty steaks and burgers!
I get at least 400 mg of magnesium between the salt tabs and the Calm supplement I take. Any more than that and I get GI “issues”. I rested, foam rolled, massaged and ate lots of steak yesterday and it’s greatly improved today. So I’ll make sure I keep up on the stretching!
Did you have any carbonated beverages? Carbonation can do it, because of the phosphates I believe. I don’t really understand the mechanism.
That’s interesting, yes I drink sparkling mineral water but I do that daily so nothing unusual there
My theory is that the response to the influence of carbs can include shuttling as much focused as possible into the muscles as glycogen, which as I understand it requires water, so you may be ending up dehydrated.
The fact that you spend as much time as you do working out fits that theory, since you’re probably keeping minimal glycogen on board most of the time.
EDIT: I see someone beat me to the description of this mechanism… Serves me right for responding before reading the whole thread.
Actually that is really helpful!! I think there’s something to it, the combo of hard training and the carbs. Never again!
It can also depend on what carbs you’re eating, even a minimal amount. Carbs high in phytate can reduce mineral bioavailability, causing issues. I had to give up psyllium husk and bran because of it.
That will happen t me if I am dehydrated. If I eat a bunch or carbs and don’t up my water intake, I am in trouble! If I am at a party, I often forget to drink enough.
I should, but sometimes my sodium/potassium balance is off. Sounds like you have that covered.
I never thought of the possibility that increased carbs could be the problem. I have found that consuming a cup of salty water will put a quick end to cramps as will dermal applied magnesium water.
I’m going to pay attention to this. Thanks.
Here’s a point. If you experience a condition that is alleviated by taking a supplement, you should look at increasing foods that contain the substance rather than taking a supplement. For example, if you need to take magnesium and B vitamins, you should consider increasing your protein macro. By the time detrimental conditions noticeably occur, you’re probably fairly deficient.