The Power of Salt?

Read any book on Keto, listen to any podcast, watch any YouTube video and the #1 tip you’ll come across is: get on top your electrolytes. It’s a crucial piece of advice, one which I’ve been quick to tout the minute I had any friend or loved one suffering when initially having significantly reduced their carbs.

I’ve practiced what I’ve preached. From electrolyte pills and powders, to liberal use of pink himilayan sea salt — I’ve acknowledged the significance and had it covered. Or so I thought. I took the time to measure how much sodium I appear to actually be getting daily, and in total — it seems I have long been floating around the 2g mark.

Many sources recommend a solid 5–8g of sodium daily. More if you are intermittent fasting, even more so if you are active. One reason for this is based on the fact that lower consumption of carbs, results in lower levels of insulin, thus lower retention of water — which results in the kidneys flushing out electrolytes.

In going carnivore (also known as zero carb), I would have further still reduced my insulin levels, flushed out yet more sodium, and this could have been a key factor in why the past month has had me suffering more moments than usual of feeling spaced-out, brain foggy, iritable and low in mood.

Come day 26 of the experiment, having re-visited ‘The Salt Fix’ by Dr James DiNicolantonio, I ramped up my sodium intake — from 2g daily to around 6g. I did this in what appears to be the only feasible manner — by dumping grams of salt into water and consuming over the course of an hour or two. With still water, you’re left with a drink resembling warm sweat. In a bottle of sparkling water, you’re left with what I found to be a perfectly refreshing drink.

Pellegrino — my drink of choice over the experiment. Just be sure to drink a little before dumping the salt in — unless you want a reaction that rivals the love story between coke-cola and mentos…

Almost immediately it seems the clouds began to part, energy climbed by the day and so electrolyte deficiency appears to be an anchor I’ve been carrying for a lot of my low-carb journey. This can be seen at the far-right of my energy chart, where the erractic fluctuations began to stabalise.

The potential significance of such a realisation had me reflecting on why it could be so easy to have got wrong thus far. The reasons are aplenty, and worthy of consideration for anyone adopting a low carb approach:

Salt is not sodium. For every gram of salt, you are only getting ~0.4g of sodium — with the rest being chloride. Sodium and salt are often spoken of interchangably, but the difference in this context is crucial and could be a factor as to why you are getting half of what you may think you’re taking in.

For every gram of salt, you are only getting ~0.4g of sodium — with the rest being chloride. Sodium and salt are often spoken of interchangably, but the difference in this context is crucial and could be a factor as to why you are getting half of what you may think you’re taking in. Supplements might not enough. A scoop of electrolyte powder from BulkPowders contains a mere 200mg of sodium, same for “Electrolyte Plus” tablets from MyProtein. Two products which had long been my staple. Mineral water contains neglible sodium for our purposes, potassium pills are limited to 99mg. It’s simply not feasible to get in the 5–8g range via supplementation along.

A scoop of electrolyte powder from BulkPowders contains a mere 200mg of sodium, same for “Electrolyte Plus” tablets from MyProtein. Two products which had long been my staple. Mineral water contains neglible sodium for our purposes, potassium pills are limited to 99mg. It’s simply not feasible to get in the 5–8g range via supplementation along. A carnivore mantra is: Eat Beef. Drink water . There’s fierce debate on this, but the consensus appears to be that you should get by just fine without needing to think about supplementation. Perhaps longer term adaption would reduce the need or extra effort with regards to electrolytes, but I wasn’t willing to wait around much longer to find out.

. There’s fierce debate on this, but the consensus appears to be that you should get by just fine without needing to think about supplementation. Perhaps longer term adaption would reduce the need or extra effort with regards to electrolytes, but I wasn’t willing to wait around much longer to find out. As with every other conventional wisdom we’ve got wrong , it’s tricky to stray from a path which is prescribed by the government, NHS, doctors and everyone around you. Salt here is no exception and it’s taken time to accept that the liberal use of salt and supplementation may still not have been enough.

, it’s tricky to stray from a path which is prescribed by the government, NHS, doctors and everyone around you. Salt here is no exception and it’s taken time to accept that the liberal use of salt and supplementation may still not have been enough. Through my low-carb journey, my blood pressure had steadily climbed, reaching the upper-ranges of what could be considered healthy. This appeared to peak soon after starting the Carnivore diet, and initially had me react by reducing my electrolytes further still. It felt a gamble to ramp up my sodium towards the end of the experiment — which to my surprise, brought my blood pressure down to my lowest reading in the past year.

This does pose an important question: why should a healthy diet full of whole, unprocessed foods require such supplementation of electrolytes? Common theories for this include the fact that due to farming practices, our soil is relatively depleted of the electrolytes which were once rich. Secondly, our ancestors would very likely have consumed copious amounts of blood from animals, which would have been loaded with minerals.

Despite my frustrations with energy, I’d consider myself having been adequately functional the past few years. But we’re not here just to survive, our goal should be to thrive — and it’s tapping into this increased performance and optimal health that may well require paying extra attention to our electrolytes.

Curious about my poop, sleep or blood? Of course you are, you lovable rogue you. Read on for various observations from my month of carnivore:

The unfounded fear of Protein — Contrary to the fear of excess protein generally found in the Keto community, I found that I was comfortably in ketosis throughout the experiment. It would seem that the increased protein was offset by the near total reduction of carb consumption that comes with going zero-carb. An awesome article by Amy Berger covers gluconeogenesis and provides a reassuring read, highlighting that the conversion from protein to glucose is not supply-driven, but demand-driven and doesn’t ‘just happen’.