Supplements on ZC


(German Ketonian) #1

Hi everyone,

I am currently on a (what I call) ZC journey. To me, this means pretty much going without anything plant-based, only food that did have a mother at a certain point (:laughing:). I currently eat:

  • Butter
  • Oil
  • Mayonnaise
  • fatty meat and sausages without sugar and a at least 2:1 ratio of fat to protein
  • Super-high-fat cheese >60% fat (no other dairy products, due to lactose)
  • Egg yolks (even though they contain carbs)

My macros are 80% F,19% P,1% C (only traces)

Itā€™s a struggle to cut out nuts, veggies and dairy like mascarpone for me, but I wanted to stay on a strict regimen during my new induction phase to keto. Now my question:

As this diet pretty much rules out foods all the high-magesium-and-potassium foods, should I supplement for those micronutrients? Iā€™ve not been getting any cramps to far, but my calves have been twitching here or there, indicating that something might be ahead.

What about selenium? I used to eat tons of Brazil nuts (super-high in selenium).

What else should I be supplementing (if anything)?

Thanks!

Zimon


(Chris) #2

Thatā€™s ridiculous! Eggs, dairy, fish, turkey, all contain these. No need to supplement on this diet.


No Need To Supplement
(German Ketonian) #3

Oh great, I forgot about the fish! This is also part of my diet, of course. As I said, dairy is currently N/A except for high-fat cheese. Could you tell me how many eggs or how much fish one would have to eat to meet the daily requirements in Mag & Pot?


(Chris) #4

I donā€™t know if I could- because the RDAs for anything donā€™t really apply to low carb folks (or actual humans in general, they were written for sugar burners). I eat anywhere from half a dozen to two dozen pastured eggs a week. Or none. Honestly just eating straight up all beef and salting to taste seems to work fine for me overall, I donā€™t get any symptoms of low mag and k at all. Obviously, your mileage may vary, and it wouldnā€™t be stupid of you to have a bottle of each at home just in case. Vitamin D seems like the only major ā€œdeficiencyā€ that we can find among anyone- I donā€™t know how well or not supps for for that but I suggest tanning outside.


(Genevieve Biggs) #5

Beef has all you need. RDA values are based on people consuming carbs, which suck up nutrients and thus demand even more from us. Less is needed withot plants, and thus beef has all we need. Beef appears to have little nutrients compared to the ā€œnutrient powerhouseā€ veggies, but when you truly compare the bioavailability and chemical processing of meat vs. plants, itā€™s no contest.

Tl;dr: No need for supps on ZC.

ZC 16 months


(German Ketonian) #6

Great to hear that! Love it! :slight_smile: Thanks!


(Elizabeth ) #7

I would cut out the mayonnaise since itā€™s made with vegetable oils and find something that you can use thatā€™s completely animal-based. If you completely stick with animal products, you do not need to supplement with anything eat meat that you like and can afford, drink water.


(Genevieve Biggs) #8

Mayo is okay in transition. Yes, itā€™s not ideal and I personally avoid it. But itā€™s not awful for a beginner to use it unless they have specific individual issues with vegetable oils.


(Jan) #9

Mayo can be a great way to add fat - but only when itā€™s homemade, made with animal fats! Duckinaisseā€¦goosinaisse (my personal favorite)ā€¦chickenaisseā€¦havenā€™t tried tallow or bacon fat yet.


(Elizabeth ) #10

Thy these posts, click all over the site too http://www.zerocarbhealth.com/index.php/category/zc-wisdom/


(Jason Moyer) #11

It is so easy to make your own mayo with olive oil, egg and any seasoning you prefer.


(Elizabeth ) #12

Olive oil is fine on keto, not zero carb carnivore! (Animal only)


#13

@Zimon

I would say listen to your body

No point aiming for some kind of hardcore purism if your body ends up sending you messages saying it isnā€™t working for you.

I have a decades long need to supplement with potassium. Without it I got night time cramps and sore throats. My reading suggested that supplements wouldnā€™t be needed on ZC. I thought that was fab. I loved the idea. So when I went carnivore i stopped taking the supplements. The cramps slowly came back and 4 months later I reintroduced the potassium - and havenā€™t had a cramp since.

Maybe 98% of ZCers donā€™t need supplements. Thatā€™s great. Iā€™m delighted for them. But Iā€˜m not going to suffer deficiencies because other people have decided that because they donā€™t need supplements, then no one else should take them. That would be absurd.


(Elizabeth ) #14

Totally agree with you, and if you start off with that, wouldnā€™t that make more sense? ā€œ98% of long term zcā€™ers have no need of any supplements, this is my experienceā€? Thatā€™s the confusion for new people, when someone who feels the need to supplement jumps in and give the advice to everybody having leg cramps for example that they need potassium. Maybe they just need to eat some pork. Maybe they need to do some research and talk to the people who have been doing this and helping others for 5-10 years and even longer. :grinning:


#15

The problem comes when people give flat declarations.

No one should be making statements like that. They are both inaccurate and misleading - especially when given in ā€˜soundbitesā€™ to strangers without knowing their full medical history.

I have no problem whatsoever with someone saying ā€˜in my experienceā€¦ā€™ or ā€˜most people do fine withā€¦ā€™ but whenever I see someone making flat statements that are simply a regurgitation of dogma, then I WILL speak up. People vary. And I will use personal experience to illustrate my point, where appropriate.

No one should be brow beaten into thinking they are a failure, or ā€˜doing it wrongā€™ because their body/lifestyle needs a variation that is different from what a self appointed expert claims is The One Twue Way.

Carnivory is working out great for me, and I find it bizarre that people are making it into a Fundamentalist Dogma. I expect that on Facebook, but it is a pity when it happens here.


(Lisa) #16

I wonder about supplements as well.


(James) #17

Iā€™m finishing of a bottle of my multi(Pure encapsulations) currently. Once itā€™s gone, Iā€™m not going to use it and see how it goes.