[itissteve]

A couple of weeks ago I found myself in the keto subreddit of the reddit Web site. Lots of people doing keto, not all of them diabetic. Lots of info, lots of recipes, lots of success stories. It's been an education!

Anyway, one of the recurrent themes for posts there is keeping up one's electrolytes -- sodium, potassium, and magnesium. Posters there share there recipes for "ketoade" and apparently many of them drink it well past the point when they get into ketosis. I'm wondering how necessary it is to drink up one's electrolytes.

How many people here are not getting their Na, K, and Mg through what they eat and feel they should supplant that with an electrolyte drink? I know a few months ago @NSDad126 and I discussed electrolyte drinks, but I'm wondering what came of that practice for him and whether others here partake.

 

[NSDad126]

I keep salt and noSalt on hand and I'm adding it to my meals at less than 1/2 a tsp per day, so I am actually getting some electrolytes without drinking it

In january, i started making 'snake juice' the recipe can be searched for on youtube. I definitely drink it when I am on a water fast. But most of the time - maybe out of laziness - I don't drink electrolytes unless I feel a little low energy. To help me put it into words, I know that my energy levels even on a 13 day fast can be quite good, so when I'm feeling a bit off I will go to my electrolytes, and I will go to my glucose meter. Low blood sugar is very rare for me but it does happen. 2 weeks ago, i drank a green tea with stevia and my dropped to 4.5.


Well I'll try to sum it up one more time. I think electrolytes can matter, I am not shy to drink all water as 'snake juice' and yet most of the time I don't take it and I am fine. I hope this helps.

 

[NSDad126]

the snake juice recipe calls for epsum salts for magnessium. Almost every bag says not for injestion yet most bags are pharmaceutical grade. It made me nervous but I went ahead and tried it anyway and have been fine. But it something you will have to decide on yourself.
there are other options for magnessium. I have magnessium citrate as a capsule, even 50% of your RDA of mg citrate can act as a laxative but I've noticed that I seem to be ok with it now.

I think mg is easy to get in leafy green vegiess so you dont really need to suppliment it on a daily basis. imo of course.

 

[mbuster]

I do not regularly drink my electrolyte drink I make like I used to. I will start to use it more as the weather gets hotter. Here is the link to it.

Right now I think I am getting enough. For sodium I am using more pink sea salt, for potassium I am putting blackstrap molasses in my coffee, and for magnesium I rub some magnesium oil on my thighs after I shower.

 

[itissteve]

for magnesium I rub some magnesium oil on my thighs after I shower.

Any particular reason for thighs instead of arms or torso?

 

[mbuster]

No not really, I thought it might help with soreness of the legs after longer rides. I still have sore legs.

 

[CMartin]

A couple of weeks ago I found myself in the keto subreddit of the reddit Web site. Lots of people doing keto, not all of them diabetic. Lots of info, lots of recipes, lots of success stories. It's been an education!

Anyway, one of the recurrent themes for posts there is keeping up one's electrolytes -- sodium, potassium, and magnesium. Posters there share there recipes for "ketoade" and apparently many of them drink it well past the point when they get into ketosis. I'm wondering how necessary it is to drink up one's electrolytes.

How many people here are not getting their Na, K, and Mg through what they eat and feel they should supplant that with an electrolyte drink? I know a few months ago @NSDad126 and I discussed electrolyte drinks, but I'm wondering what came of that practice for him and whether others here partake.

I never suffered any keto flu. I eat variety of low-carb veggies including avocado and raw tomato (potassium), regularly drink unsweetened Dutch cocoa and often indulge in pumpkin seeds (magnesium), and canned meats which include added sodium.
Two to three times a week I'll swallow few supplements including zinc, and few vitamins too. I never measured any quantity of it.

Regarding Reddit, when I was starting my keto I used to be a lurker on few forums including this one and Reddit, reading about different experiences, searching for tips and hints, advices etc. The most vocal "helpers" kept repeating ketones don't matter, "eat protein as much as you want to keep you satiated, and high fat isn't mandatory.

My impression was they know keto only as a weight-lost diet, they've experienced calorie defficiency and lost weight, so they think that's keto. And even if someone would tell she/he follows ketogenic diet for entirely different reasons, not to lose any weight, the same mantra would be repeated all over again: ketones don't matter, high fat not really needed, etc. I left Reddit. Never signed up.

 

[itissteve]

My impression was [Reddit] know keto only as a weight-lost diet, they've experienced calorie defficiency and lost weight, so they think that's keto. And even if someone would tell she/he follows ketogenic diet for entirely different reasons, not to lose any weight, the same mantra would be repeated all over again: ketones don't matter, high fat not really needed, etc. I left Reddit. Never signed up.

I do see some T1s and T2s posting there (positive results, too) but, yes, posters to that subreddit seem overwhelmingly to be seeking simply to lose weight, which presents different challenges than managing diabetes (or PCOS or other conditions).

I think the universality of the keto experience expressed in reddit -- and how poorly it has matched my own experience -- is what made me ask here about electrolytes. I know it is suggested here that people new to LCHF/keto drink extra fluids and bolster their salt intake, but it rarely gets to the level of daily "required" amounts of specific grams of specific nutrients unless the individual is feeling ill or preparing for an unusual physical undertaking. And I don't see the same level of posting here about (perceived) deficiencies in those elements.

For a group espousing a way of eating that, to date, is well off the mainstream, I find reddit surprisingly orthodox in their approach to keto. For now, I'll stick around there (lurking, mostly) because it's nice to have a counterpoint; they do seem to take a science-based approach to eating low-carb (even if some of the advice does not apply to all present); and they do offer some pretty good recipes. :smile2:

Thanks for the response!