I have concerns about potassium and magnesium. I started
induction about 3 weeks ago. Last week at the end of
induction I was noticing palpitations and heavy heart beats.
This made me nervous and I started having anxiety attacks and
went off the diet. I have been to the dr and had my blood
checked and everything came out normal. My question is since
my symptoms could have been caused by potassium deficiency
i want to make sure I have enough in my system. For example
my dietary intake for today is 2400 mg pot and i took a supp of
80 mg which is in the Centrum. I am nervous since I constantly
am going to the bathroom. How much potassium is lost ?
And what should my intake be to make sure I dont get low?
As for magnesium, I have separate supplement of 250 mg. I
took one early today and would like to take another at bedtime.
Is that ok too, my dietary intake today was approx 200mg.
plus 100mg in the centrum. I was very nervous about the
palpitations and difficulty going to sleep and gasping for air and
I want to do all possible to prevent that from happening to me
again. It could have been allergic reaction to foods as well as
my anxiety, especially over what happened last week. My blood
pressure runs low 110/60 and my cholesterol is normal. I started
the diet again today, less than 20 gram carb. I dont drink any
diet drinks or eat any aspartame. Any advice, would be
appreciated on how much supplement is safe. I am afraid that
if I dont calm my nerves on this matter I wont make it with the
diet. Thank you. I hope I didnt ramble to badly.
One more thing. My left arm is tingly and achy, same with my
left leg....what could cause that?

Lindy

Hi there Lindy!

I'm sure someone can help you out with the exact numbers, but I can give you some general advice.

When you're first starting out in induction, you're losing a lot of water. Along with that water, you're also losing a lot of salt, magnesium, potassium and other elements. The muscle tingling and soreness is a side effect of this. I had a lot of muscle fatigue and soreness too and I had to add an extra 500 mg of magnesium, 1000 mg of calcium and about 300 more mg of potassium to my regular multivitamin to alleviate these symptoms.

I'm not sure if that's recommended by any experts or anything, but that's what worked for me. Everyone's different though.

Water is very important during this time too. If you let your fluid volume get too low, you can get the fluttery hearbeat and dizziness and palpitations too. So you need to drink a LOT of water while you're losing so much. More than the recommended 64 ounces. I had to drink about 4 liters to keep from getting symptoms.

Maybe this will help you out a bit until someone can be more specific with the numbers. Keep the faith!

Deficiency Symptoms: Anxiousness, drowsiness, weakness, nausea, irrational behavior, irregular heartbeat. Spectators are used to watching marathon runners swig cups of fluid on the run to help them replace bodily fluids lost through sweating. Actually, far less potassium is lost through sweat than through prolonged vomiting, diarrhea or diuretics used to treat hypertension.

Sounds like you're not getting enough potassium, Lindy. The USRDA for potassium is 2,000 mg. However, many nutritionists now recommend upping the daily quota to 3,500 milligrams to reduce the risk of high blood pressure.

Potassium is one of the electrolyte minerals. It is important in maintaining the body's acid-base and fluid balance. Potassium works very closely with sodium and chloride, which are also electrolyte minerals. These three minerals are in all fluids of the body. Potassium is found in fluids within cells. The other two are found in fluids outside of cells.

Potassium is found inside the cells, where it works with sodium, on the outside of the cells, to keep fluids balanced correctly. Working with sodium, potassium assists in the smooth working of muscles, such as the heart. This role is critical to basic heart function and blood pressure. It also helps transmit nerve impulses or signals.

When starting a LC WOE you experience a flushing out of the excess water your body has been holding on to. Along with the water lost, are sodium and potassium. Consequently you need to supplement your dietary sources of both of these minerals. Tablets generally contain 99g of potassium, and you'd have to swallow a lot to get any benefit. What is suggested for LC is that you buy some "NoSalt" or "NuSalt" which is primarily potassium chloride and mix it 50/50 with your table salt. If you're feeling woozy and fatigued mix a 1/2 a teaspoon with some water and drink. As you become rehydrated you'll find you need the postassium less and less and dietary sources should be sufficient.

Magnesium is another mineral you need to supplement. Our diets tend to be very poor in magnesium which is not good; magnesium plays a role in over 325 biochemical reactions in our bodies. It is magnesium that controls the fate of potassium and calcium in the body. If magnesium is insufficient potassium and calcium will be lost in the urine and calcium will be deposited in the soft tissues (kidneys, arteries, joints, brain, etc.)

Magnesium will aid with the cramping. You can get a good calcium / magnesium supplement (the ratio is usually 2:1; and be sure it's chelated) that will help with the cramps along with other things. I take one cal/mag supplement with every meal and an hour before bed. One of the side effects of magnesium is improved quality of sleep. I had night cramps; within one day of starting the cal/mag they stopped.

I hope this helps,
Nat

Ooops!! That's too much for a single dose! 1/8 tsp NoSalt provides 325 mg potassium, or about 20 mEq (milli-Equivalents) which is the common dosage given to patients in-hospital. I recommend taking 1/8 tsp of the pure NoSalt mixed in water twice a day for a couple weeks, or during Induction ... then once a day. It might not be a good idea to use the 50:50 mix (with table salt) in this manner, as that would put a fair bit of sodium into your system too. Make sure the potassium is well diluted, as it can be irritating to the stomach.

Although the body requires 2000 to 2500 mg of potassium on a daily basis, not all of this needs to come from the diet or supplements. A certain portion is recirculated in the bloodstream from the fluid within the cells.

Cutting back on the sodium salt is another good way to keep circulating potassium levels in better balance. Too much sodium in the bloodstream forces the potassium to stay inside the cells.

Doreen

Thanks, Doreen. You always know just what's what. I'm going by what works for me... obviously not everyone needs the same amount.

Nat

Thanks so much for responding so quickly. I went out today and bought some lite salt. I dont usually add salt to any of my food
I will use that to make sure I am getting enough potassium.
I also bought some cal/mag supplements. I bought one that
has 500mg calcium and 250 mag in each tablet, chelated.
Would 2 a day be good? I will start a journal today showing
what i am eating. Thanks for your help.

-Lindy

Yes, 2 per day of the Cal-Mag is ideal. The RDA for Calcium for adults is 1000 to 1200 mg per day. It might be helpful to take the second tablet at bedtime. Many lowcarbers find that it helps their sleep (remember gramma's glass of milk at bedtime??)

take care,

Doreen

Just what i was looking for. The first few weeks i added some LoSalt to my morning eggs but this tailed off (haven't added salt for years) and this week have been a bit crampy, tired muscles etc. Have done the LoSalt in water thing (a bit Yuk) and feel much better.

Cheers

Jon

I havent drank any potassium with water yet, but I have felt
better on the diet this time. My dietary intake of potassium is
a good percentage higher this time than last time and the
cal/mag supps definately helped me. I used some of the
50/50 salt the other day on my whole turkey that I baked
so I got some extra potassium there. Before I fell off the
wagon today....see my journal...LOL...I have to say I felt much
better. And that is from finding out what allergies I had and then
eliminating those foods from my diet. So far So good. Glad
that this post helped you Jonrees. There is so much wonderful
information on this site. I wind up staying online way past
my bedtime too often....nite all

This is because of your increased activity, Jon (As I'm sure you figured out ). The cramps and fatigue will curtail as your body adapts. Are you taking magnesium? Potassium is generally good for fatigue, its the magnesium that helps with the cramping.

Nat

Anytime I start adding anything "new" to my diet, I try to research it a bit. Nosalt is a good product, but I went to www.nusalt.com, and guess what??? There is honey in this product. Well, they aren't going to fool me, that's for sure, cuz "Honey" is in bed after working night shift! Talk about "lab rats", jeesh. I suggest an email to this site might be in order, I have asked them to take honey out, and I might become a customer again. I was pretty surprised about this, but it influenced my decision about which of the potassium "no-salt" products to purchase. Just thought folks might want to check this out. Pam

Pam, I sent an email to NuSalt regarding your post. This is what I received back:



Nat

Thanks for this Natrushka !

I panicked when I read that there is honey in salt. It is bad enough, that they put sugar in bacon. I don't need sugar in my salt as well

Now, why do they put honey flavour into salt ???

The salt I buy is made in Iceland and contains 50% Seasalt, 25% Potassium and 25% magnesium. No other additives.

I can't find a "salt" without salt. They all seem to be at least 50% Natrium Chloride, therefore I don't really want to drink it.

I may look for a supplement instead, allthough I did already see an improvement in my moods, since using this LowSalt thingy. PMT was hardly noticeable this time round.

Greetings
Sabine