Shortness of breath during fasting

(Rossi Luo) #1

I have been in keto diet for around 10 months.
I am 162 cm and 66KG at the moment and my BMI is in the recommended range.
I found I experienced shortness of breath during fasting especially after 16 hours without food.
My fasting is:

  1. I only eat dinner
  2. I drink lots of water or green tea the whole day
  3. No food in breakfast at all
  4. I will have a cup of coffee with coconut milk (with only fat, no any other sugar or ingredients) at around 11:00 AM
  5. I usually feel shortness of breath after 2:00 PM, I need to have deep breath for this

Is there anyone with the same problem?

(Bob M) #2

That’s interesting. I eat 2MAD (two meals a day), so I don’t have the same situation. I would try the following:

1- Don’t drink the coconut milk.
2- Around 11 am, add something like salt, maybe magnesium, maybe potassium to your drink. You could try something like this (NOTE: I have not tried this, but some people like it):

I’m thinking maybe you’re experiencing an electrolyte issue. Electrolytes are tough on keto, and you’re drinking seemingly a lot, meaning you might be lowering your electrolytes further.

I’d start with #2 first (I don’t see how coconut milk would cause what you’re experiencing). I put #1 in there only because it could be possible that coconut milk does affect this…even if I don’t know how.

#3

You might try searching “air hunger” on this forum. I’ve heard of this before, but don’t remember much about it. Not sure if this will help or not. I have had this “air hunger” feeling, and think it points to some deficiency, but haven’t experienced it in a looooong time.

Hope you find answers.

#4

electrolyte
electrolyte.jpg679Ă—1067 65.1 KB

This is what I use. No flavorings, I add the drops to my coffee.

(Bob M) #5

That looks like a nice one too.

I noticed the LMNT people have a recipe on their site so you make your own. Which is good, because all of these things are a bit expensive.

People do seem to like the flavors, though, even putting the chocolate one in coffee. Not a bad idea, if you can have something sweet without it affecting you.

#6

I have used this too, but now use Keto Chow Daily Minerals regularly.

#7

That’s the thing. The only kind of sweet I can have without it affecting me is actual fruit, and that is hard to keep in limits. I totally avoid everything flavored. Or colored, for other reasons.

And yes, I have found recipes for making your own also. This is just more convenient.

(KCKO, KCFO) #8

This might be helpful: Can keto cause shortness of breath?

I have not had that issue and I have terrible breathing issues, they have improved since I went keto/LCHF. I do think like the others here that electrolytes might be causing that. I make sure mine are in good shape all the time.

Hope you get yourself sorted.

(Rossi Luo) #9

Thanks everyone for your sharing!
All the clues point to the electrolytes, so I think I should try it, thanks all!!
I didn’t supplement electrolytes, I only took 2 capsules of magnesium citrates at the dinner. I will try to take some electrolytes to see what will happen.

(Rossi Luo) #10

Just some update, by taking your suggestions, I don’t have the strong feelings of shortness of breath in the past few days, what I did is:

  1. I reduced the amount of water intake during my fasting to keep the electrolytes in my body
  2. Some days (not every day), I added cooking salt (around 2g) and magnesium citrate (1g) into my water at around 12:00
  3. I stopped wear one of my tight pants which was suspected to cause my breath problem

I’m not sure if it’s the above actions improved my breath problem, I will observe more, thanks every one.