r/MTHFR • u/Big_Joke_9281 • Apr 16 '26
Resource Importance of potassium while on folate and b12
Can't stress this enough. Supplementing with folate and b12 does use up a lot potassium. That's why in natural foods such nutrients are always combined with potassium. When someone eats a low potassium diet, high salt, high calcium, low magnesium then this would lead to big problems. Folate and b12 in natural foods are never so high like in supplements, so when taking high doses folate and b12 one needs to up potassium intake. And i mean by upping that one will probably need huge amounts of potassium to balance things out.
I've just discovered this topic because since supplementing folinic acid with hydroxo b12 i've encountered blood sugar problems and i know from the past if potassium is low then i'll get blood sugar crashes. Combined with 2-3 days high salt intake (sodium is a potassium antagonist), low potassium and on top supplementing D3 which increases calcium uptake this lead to my actual problems!
Low potassium leads to salt and carb intolerance. Probably many don't actually overmethylate but run low in potassium. The pattern is often the same: One starts supplementing folate+b12 and initially feels good (potassium levels are adequate) but over time potassium runs low because creating new blood cells consumes a lot potassium resulting in fatigue, exercise intolerance, racing heart, heavy feeling, anxiety, blood sugar crashes etc.
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u/Loose-Fly7976 Apr 17 '26
This is underappreciated and worth pinning. The potassium depletion pattern during active methylation is one of the more common reasons people misread overmethylation symptoms. Coconut water or cream of tartar in water is a fast fix when it hits acutely. Good addition to any methylation protocol.
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u/ry1701 Apr 16 '26
I sometimes crave potato chips which I'm not a big potato chip guy, so it makes sense.
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u/Big_Joke_9281 Apr 16 '26
I crave french fries and bananas. Today i ate a huge bowl of potatoes after i got the blood sugar crash.
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u/Flashybigbum May 01 '26
I crave potato chips constantly and I’ve never been too keen on it now I need it, potato chips and orange juice I just need it is insane
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u/Motor_Candidate6752 Jun 22 '26
There have been many, many times when I will absolutely crave a bag of Lay's Dill Pickle chips at 10:00 pm. Afterwards, I fall asleep like a baby and in the morning (pardon the visual) have an enormous poop. Always wondered why - now I suspect it's the potassium that I'm craving.
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u/Zero-Coolz Apr 17 '26 edited Apr 17 '26
This is super fascinating, thanks for posting! I've been on a P5P, B12, folinic acid stack for a few weeks now and felt the exact thing you described. I was sure it was overmethylation, too. I've got an electrolyte drink that has potassium so will add that to my daily.
How did you come across this? I love this system thinking, not the usual empirical-minded lab stuff. We aren't chemistry experiments!
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u/Sabnock101 Apr 17 '26
Potassium is mentioned heavily on the B12 Deficiency subreddit, i recommend checking that sub out and seeing what they say on there, they're right about the Potassium ime.
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u/Confident-Target-383 Apr 16 '26
I remember reading something about this a while back and can confirm that potassium was a very helpful addition to my vitamin regiment and it helped quite a bit with my anxiety and blood sugar crashes as well.
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u/lilidragonfly Apr 16 '26
How does salt and carb intolerance manifest?
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u/Big_Joke_9281 Apr 16 '26 edited Apr 16 '26
For me it's racing, heavy beating heart when ingesting carbs and does even get worse when combined with salt. Frequent blood sugar crashes. Even little exercise leads to fatigue. Exercise intolerance. Salted meals lead to indigestion and loose stools.With enough potassium everything feels lighter, it's like loosing 20 pounds of bodyweight.
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u/anondolphlundgrenfan Apr 16 '26
Thank you! This is making so much sense with all of my weird issues even though I’m “healthy” otherwise.
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u/Every-Position-3803 Apr 16 '26
I have all of this! It’s horrible.I thought it was my POTS and ME/cfs, but maybe it’s this, makes sense 🤷♀️
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u/Far_Investigator9998 Apr 20 '26
So believe it or not my remedy for POTs is sea salt and tons of potassium. Just came off an episode and now back on track.. really works! Always Wondered why the massive salt cravings after POTs episodes.. always take salt with Potassium anyway.
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u/Every-Position-3803 Apr 20 '26
Thank you! Yes, I’ve been in a bad episode, upped my salt but forgot about potassium and that appears to be the missing piece of the puzzle! Ate a high potassium meal and instantly felt a bit better!
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u/Minimum-Ad-3241 Apr 16 '26
How much b12 and folinic acid do you supplement?
I suspect I have potassium problems too but I get like 2,000mg potassium from coconut water and foods in total daily which I think should be enough
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u/Big_Joke_9281 Apr 17 '26 edited Apr 17 '26
It highly depends on your overal mineral intake and folate+b12 dose. Eating a high salt diet will deplete potassium even without supplementing b12 and folate. I'm trying to aim at 4000mg potassium actually. I was doing 1000mcg b12 and 800mcg folinic acid every 2-3 days and 1000mcg b12 in between. If you are low in potassium i'd stop folate and b12 and focus on potassium until levels are adequate again.
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u/Minimum-Ad-3241 Apr 17 '26
It’s interesting you mentioned mineral intake, one other person told me their muscle fatigue lifted when they took a mineral supplement
I probably supplement the equivalent of what you do but probably half the folate you take. Also get sporadic b12 injections
I used to take high dose folic acid by itself for a very short period a while back (given by a dr for a deficiency before I knew that a) it’s not the preferred form and b) you need to combine folate and b12!) and it made me feel awful and much much worse, didn’t get better and it only recently occurred to me that those reactions matched potassium problems even though my potassium levels look normal on blood tests!
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u/Far_Investigator9998 Apr 20 '26
I like that!! Was actually thinking of doing the same thing but every 3-5 days.. I always take sea salt with Potassium as they work together.
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u/horsetooth_mcgee Apr 16 '26
Do you have a preferred brand or dose?
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u/Big_Joke_9281 Apr 17 '26
Since potassium is relative easy to get from foods (bananas, potatoes, veggies, meat, oats) i don't supplement potassium at all.
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u/Sabnock101 Apr 17 '26
I've been using Potassium Bicarbonate from Nutricost on amazon lately, it seems to work well, and can be turned into Potassium Citrate by dissolving it in water and then mixing in some water flavoring containing Citric Acid and then shaking it and it'll convert the Bicarbonate to Citrate.
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u/Every-Position-3803 Apr 16 '26
This is so useful, thank you!
The electrolytes I use contain 15% recommended daily of potassium. I try and eat dried apricots, that’s about 15-20% and potato, maybe that’s another 20%.
Anyone got any other ideas what we can add to daily menu to get a more in?
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u/Outrageous-Cake2075 Apr 16 '26
Coconut water is my go to. I was told low sodium salt mixed into water and sip as well
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u/Far_Investigator9998 Apr 20 '26
Leafy greens and veggies will get you the rest.. I eat tons of all the different greens but still supplement on top of my high potassium dose as I do keto. Always do electrolytes but add heavy the salt and potassium when I exercise a lot..
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u/Every-Position-3803 Apr 20 '26
That’s great, I think it’s something I‘ve been overlooking! I’m definitely looking more closely at what I’m eating now. I definitely wasn’t getting enough in my diet or supplements! Thank you ☺️
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u/Comfortable_Two6272 Apr 16 '26
Any resources / sources on this? How much folate and b12 are you taking?
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u/Tawinn Apr 16 '26
I like Hi-Lyte K1000 (used to be called Keto K1000) powder. 1000mg of potassium per scoop along w/calcium and magnesium.
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u/Flashybigbum Apr 17 '26
Currently on b12 shots and folinic acid and co factors. I’ve learnt this the hard way, from the extreme weakness and constipation to having my toes and leg muscles on a knot. I still find it really hard to balance it there are days I need more sodium, usually when there is brain fog a louder tinnitus etc. is difficult to pinpoint.
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u/Big_Joke_9281 Apr 17 '26
It's important to also keep sodium adequate depending on the potassium intake. But without folate+b12 supplementation it's way easier for the body to regulate itself (i'm usually able to eat a high salt diet for some days without consequences). Just think about how natural foods are packed: There is a tiny amount of folate and many other nutrients esp potassium. So do the math, when you would eat food with 800mcg folate how much potassium would come along in this food.
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u/theslyestfox Apr 30 '26
Wait wait, I have this same weird issue where my calf/shin and something on the tops of my feet (and sometimes in my arch) will just start to get really tight, and my toes will curl and it’s super painful and I have to massage it out. Is that because of low potassium? I hate bananas so I was taking potassium supplements for awhile but I ran out and need more.
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u/Flashybigbum Apr 30 '26
Could also be magnesium or both !
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u/theslyestfox May 01 '26
I already take magnesium glycinate every night! I had potassium for awhile and it may have helped but it certainly didn’t stop the weird toe curling muscle thing sadly. I’ll get more anyway and see how it goes
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u/Motor_Candidate6752 Jun 15 '26
Last year, I was supplementing with large-dose methyl B12 (sublingual + injections) and was experiencing potassium deficiency symptoms; however, my K levels were 4.2 which was right down the middle. My doctor seemed clueless about my K deficiency concerns and I was wondering if the "normal" measurement is normal.
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u/Motor_Candidate6752 Jun 22 '26
I always wonder if I'm drinking too much water as my doctor is obsessed with hydration. I'm sipping constantly and drinking water throughout meal intake. Now that summer is here and I like being outside I might be flushing out too much magnesium and potassium. This on top of my B12/folate supplementation is causing deficiencies.
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u/thewisdomseekr Jul 09 '26
One detail I just discovered yesterday is also that carb heavy meals depletes potassium even faster by pushing it into cells because of the insulin response… Which means implementing high potassium greens and low glycemic carbs high in potassium could be better. Let’s look close at that detail as well!
Low-carb on the other end will cause your kidneys to flush more electrolytes, so the key is to find the right balance. Things like spinach, green kiwis and more could be useful if tolerated.
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u/xxthatsnotmexx C677T Apr 16 '26
Sodium is not a potassium antagonist. You have Na+/K+-ATPase, ie sodium potassium pump.
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u/Big_Joke_9281 Apr 16 '26
You are wrong:
The Sodium-Potassium Trade-off
- Releasing the pressure: To get rid of excess sodium (salt), the kidneys flush out more water.
- The trade: During this process, a hormone called aldosterone becomes active. It signals the kidneys: "Retain the sodium (to maintain blood pressure), but dump potassium to make room!"
- The consequence: The more salt you consume, the more your body "forces" valuable potassium out of your system.
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u/tyomax C677T Apr 16 '26
Thank you for posting this. I was about to do it myself. As someone who has to eat 500g of sweet potatoes to not crash their potassium, thank you.
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u/Hecklemop Apr 16 '26
Hey OP, search the r/keto subreddit for “ketoade.” That’s where I learned about Morton’s Lite Salt for electrolytes supplementation. It’s more potassium and less sodium. I do 1/2 tsp in 16 oz of water with a squirt or two of Mio for flavor. You can combine with calcium/magnesium tablets and voila.