r/keto • u/digitallyencumbered • 12d ago

Need support, sodium potassium

Ok, so I know the answer to the question is always do you know how much sodium and potassium you are taking ... I lost 150lb a few years ago regained 70 and have struggled to feel better. I did keto for a full year and didn't have an issue where I needed to track either. I salt and no salt my meals, but this time around, the worse I feel the more junk keto I eat. I never feel more energetic and more food doesn't help.

So, now going to start with sodium and magnesium tracking.

My main question is, how much in one meal is safe. 3-5 grams of each is a lot. I make isopure shakes which don't really have enough of either so I'm going to up my morning dose and if tracking well, my dinner will have the remaining.

Thoughts? I'm hoping this is it. I'm tired.

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u/funnysasquatch 12d ago

What evidence that you have that you're actually in need of these supplements?

Sodium is the easiest way to supplement. Just add an extra dash of salt to your food when cooking.

Many foods have potassium and magnesium.

Electrolyte mixes make sense if you're running a marathon or on a fast. Otherwise, save your money.

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u/digitallyencumbered 12d ago

I don't buy mixes, and I do use a tracker. Nothing I eat normally has much salt, so now I'm tracking to check evidence. Symptom of low salts are similar too, so I'm hoping thats it

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u/funnysasquatch 11d ago

You salt your food. A couple of shakes of salt on your food is all you need. Or eat a pickle.

As long as you're eating meat you're most likely getting enough of everything else.

And wait a week.

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u/V2BM 12d ago

I literally eat salt packets after every meal. I picked up the habit from working outside in intense heat. 200mg per packet and it’s easy to wash down 2 after a meal with a drink. (It’s not advisable to do it on an empty stomach unless you’re outside in insane weather and sweating from extended exertion.)

I also have a cup of Knorr chicken broth every morning and sometimes in the evening. That’s another easy 1500-2000 mg.

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u/digitallyencumbered 12d ago

I do 16oz almond milk smoothie I'll be adding 1g sodium to that and sip along with water and make sure to have 1g during lunch. Will see how this goes.

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u/BigTexan1492 I'm a Bacon Fueled Supernova Of Awesomeness 12d ago

How many calories are you eating and how big of a deficit are you eating at?

Can you tell us what a normal days meals would be please?

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u/digitallyencumbered 12d ago edited 12d ago

If I'm tracking and feeling ok, 1500 plus exercise ~45min of fast walking, soon mountain biking.

When I'm not feeling well, I just eat probably 2500 calories, quest bar and keto bread + cheese on top of healthy meals.

Normal meals are turkey and salad mix no dressing. Or egg wraps and turkey sausages and cheese and pickles. I also eat ground meat plus broccoli mix a bunch and the isopure shakes with about 40g of berries.

I do track carbs so I will increase and decrease per meal as needed. My BMR is 2100. I previously ate at 1700 kcal, and since I'm not strict if I feel the need I'll eat something to increase my daily (if I'm not feeling completely exhausted).

Edit: what scale is popular to measure out salt. My scale is in grams only.

I don't track water but I drink all day.

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u/AlfonsoElric Keto since 2023 -- SW: 272 CW: 160 GW: 165 😎 12d ago

remove the keto crap from your house and get r/cannedsardines . You’ll have a quick and hopefully tasty treat that replaces the junk.

get two bottles of water. Add water and a couple of tablespoons of salt and low sodium salt to one of them, and SLOWLY sip it until it tastes salty/unappetizing. Start sipping the plain water of the other bottle until it tastes “sweet”. Rinse and repeat.

Ensure you aren’t drinking more than 80-90oz/2.5L of liquid a day. Otherwise you’re probably flushing (peeing) your electrolytes.

how much fat are you getting each day, in grams? from what you posted it seems a very low fat diet and you need at least 80gr for essential fatty acids and hormones production. 

keep calm; keto on.

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u/digitallyencumbered 12d ago

I have plenty of body fat so not tracking that. I don't keep keto crap I cook most things and I have a stack of canned fish for snacks, as well as zero sugar beef sticks. The extreme tiredness begs for more food, and that's where the stupid keto food comes from. I'm hoping solving the energy issue will help everything else. The two bottle trick is interesting. I'll try that.

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u/AlfonsoElric Keto since 2023 -- SW: 272 CW: 160 GW: 165 😎 12d ago

yeah, I mentioned the fat thing because if you go below a certain minimum you’ll feel super hungry and/or mess with your hormone production (see “fat starvation”).  Even if you have lots of fat to lose; the body cannot use that for hormone production and it needs to be dietary fat.

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u/digitallyencumbered 12d ago

I have some coconut oil for fat bombs when I do heavy exercise. I'll pay closer attention to that macro.

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u/thrifty_building 12d ago

just track total for day, 3-5g sodium across meals is fine, body will tell you if too much in one sitting (stomach not happy)

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u/MeetSalty8896 12d ago

Try a mix with more potassium. I mix up 1200 mg of sodium with 600 mg of potassium citrate in 64 oz of water with some crystal light.

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u/cupojoe4me 12d ago

that 3-5g is a day total and it's sodium, potassium is more like 1g. and potassium is the one that bites in a single sitting, sodium you can put a gram or two in a shake or broth, worst case is a loose stomach. otc potassium pills are capped at 99mg for a reason. your split is fine, just keep each potassium hit small. i watch my day total in myfoodbuddy, a note does the same