Vital Keto Question

I've wanted to try Keto but it keeps coming back to the same thing... I have hypertension and the amount of sodium needed for a Keto lifestyle is more than a little dangerous for me. Isn't there ANY way I could "walk the walk" and eat a Keto diet without having to balance it with so much sodium? What would happen physically if someone just ignores the electrolyte/sodium requirement?
 

Jimmy Swartz

Administrator
Staff member
@Desinty Joy. I know that there are many Ketogenic experts that recommend between 2000-4000mg of sodium per day. The daily amount for normal diets is around 2300mg per day. I would stay on the lowest end of that range at 2000mg. People also consume much more sodium in their food than they realize, so usually, there is no need to supplement. As far what would happen if you ignore electrolytes, I recently wrote this article that you might find helpful https://omaddiet.com/omad-diet-electrolytes/. If you interested in doing a omad keto diet, I also have this article that might help as well https://omaddiet.com/keto-intermittent-fasting/. With your mentioned hypertension, you should always seek professional medical advice from your doctor before changing your diet in any way.
 
@Desinty Joy. I know that there are many Ketogenic experts that recommend between 2000-4000mg of sodium per day. The daily amount for normal diets is around 2300mg per day. I would stay on the lowest end of that range at 2000mg. People also consume much more sodium in their food than they realize, so usually, there is no need to supplement. As far what would happen if you ignore electrolytes, I recently wrote this article that you might find helpful https://omaddiet.com/omad-diet-electrolytes/. If you interested in doing a omad keto diet, I also have this article that might help as well https://omaddiet.com/keto-intermittent-fasting/. With your mentioned hypertension, you should always seek professional medical advice from your doctor before changing your diet in any way.

Thank you, Jimmy... therein lies the problem. My doc allows me 1600-1800mg. :( Not sure there's a way around it for me, but I will *definitely* be reading those articles. This is just for keto... I will still be doing regular OMAD and it works for me, but I keep getting that keto bug in my bonnet.
 
What I do is always use the pink himalayan sea salt instead of any kind of regular salt, which has been chemically processed into the chemicals sodium and chloride, but lack any of the essential minerals that you get with a real sea salt. There is a lot of good information online about the benefits of using natural salt, and I have found that it has more of the salty flavor, and I use less of it than I used to of canned salt.
I have read that people have had their blood pressure normalize when they were on a ketogenic diet, so it is possible that yours might do that as well.
Maybe you can just try slowly easing your way into less processed carbs in your meals, and see how you are doing ?
 
What I do is always use the pink himalayan sea salt instead of any kind of regular salt, which has been chemically processed into the chemicals sodium and chloride, but lack any of the essential minerals that you get with a real sea salt. There is a lot of good information online about the benefits of using natural salt, and I have found that it has more of the salty flavor, and I use less of it than I used to of canned salt.
I have read that people have had their blood pressure normalize when they were on a ketogenic diet, so it is possible that yours might do that as well.
Maybe you can just try slowly easing your way into less processed carbs in your meals, and see how you are doing ?

I have heard a lot about the pink sea salt.... do you have an mg count on that? Sure would be great to get my numbers down and ditch the meds. Do you use a keto testing kit of any kind, happyflowerlady?
 
I have heard a lot about the pink sea salt.... do you have an mg count on that? Sure would be great to get my numbers down and ditch the meds. Do you use a keto testing kit of any kind, happyflowerlady?

Regular salt, which is chemically processed and bleached is about 97% sodium chloride, where sea salt has a lot of essential minerals and is basically just dried seawater with very little processing. Partially due to the minerals, it has a “saltier taste”, so I use less, plus it actually has less sodium chloride, so even if you used the exact same amount as you use right now, you would be getting less of the chemicals.
If you are buying fresh Whole Foods and cooking them yourself, you can have control of how much salt is added into your food, and gradually, you will get used to having less salt,

I have those little “keto sticks” that measure ketones you are excreting, but I very seldom use them anymore. Once you are used to burning fat as fuel, you can actually feel the difference in your body, and your breath smells different when it is excreting ketones.
Also, once you are keto-adapted, your body does not excrete as many ketones (wasted fuel) because it is now burning fat more efficiently. When just starting out, the sticks are a great way to learn when you are in ketosis or not.
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You learn something new everyday. I never knew that this is a recommended amount of salt when you are doing keto. I never follow this recommended amount and I'm doing okay. I actually am not the biggest fan of salt and I prefer to use herbs and spices to season my food. In my opinion sometimes you need to alter some of the recommendations for these diets and find what works for your body. Experiment a bit. See if you can can do keto with your doctors recommendation and still loose weight. I personally don't get the sodium recommended on keto and I still loose weight when I'm on it.
 
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