Other Electrolytes On Keto
The most important electrolytes are sodium, potassium, and magnesium but there are others which arent that relevant if youre already eating a nutrient-rich diet.
If youre getting good quality protein, plenty of vegetables, fermented foods, maybe some nuts and seeds, then youre going to get plenty of minerals even with a restrictive keto diet. Youd only have to pay attention to sodium, potassium, and magnesium because theyre the most common deficiencies even on a rich diet.
Things To Know About Intermittent Fasting And Working Out
Favored by those on the low carb diets like Atkins and keto, intermittent fasting is the method of eating only during certain times of day or certain days of the week and fasting for others. Whether its alternate day fasting, our preferred option of 16:8 , or something else entirely, fasting has been show to help some with weight loss, among other health benefits like stabilizing blood sugar levels.
Because exercise has its own health perks, its understandable that you would want to maintain a regular workout schedule while fasting. Here are six things you should know about safely and effectively working out while fasting.
Fasted workouts have their benefits. Working out on an empty stomach could help you lose weight because your body will rely on stored fuel, in the form of glycogen and fat rather than burning your most-recent meal.
While exercising in a fasted state, however, there is a chance your body could start breaking down muscle for fuel. Thats because high-intensity activities rely on carbohydrates for fuel. Which means running sprints or doing your regular CrossFit routine while fasting, or at the end of your fast, may decrease the benefits of your workout. You may also feel less energized to work out hard if youre new to IF.
Electrolytes And Fasting: All You Need To Know
Last Updated on March 14, 2021 by Fasting Planet
After a hard workout, you sip on a Gatorade or another brand of sports drink because youve heard these beverages can help you restore electrolytes. When youre on an intermittent fast and such drinks are off-limits, you may wonder how fasting might impact your count. Will you lose electrolytes on a fast, and how can you restore them?
Electrolytes will naturally deplete even on a normal diet, but especially during intermittent and longer-term fasting. If you exercise often while fasting, the rate of electrolyte depletion will increase as you sweat more. Bone broth is a fasting-approved beverage to consume that contains electrolytes, as is water and coconut water.
In this informative guide, well discuss electrolytes in more detail, as well as whether you need them when intermittent fasting. Well also talk about whether ingesting electrolytes will break a fast and what you can and cant drink while fasting to restore your electrolyte count.
Lets begin.
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Hot Weather Sports Activities Intense Workouts And Keto Diets Are Common Robbers Of Electrolytes Key Minerals That Your Body Needs To Perform At Its Best
Electrolytes are mineralsincluding sodium, chloride, potassium, magnesium, and calciumthat form an electrical charge when combined with fluids. In your body, electrolytes are essential for transmitting signals that help to maintain a balance of fluids, healthy muscle contraction, and normal function of the nervous system, which includes the brain.
A perfect diet rich in a variety of plant foods could theoretically supply sufficient amounts. But in the real world, electrolytes can fall short for several reasons.
How To Treat Electrolyte Deficiency During Fasting
- Identify: The first step is to identify if you are experiencing any symptoms of electrolyte deficiency. Refer to the table above for symptoms and recommended daily allowances of each of these minerals.
- Compensate: If you are experiencing symptoms, you should up your diet to include permissible food items that compensate for the electrolyte loss. This may not always be possible due to the limitations of each of these diets.
- Supplement: In that case, you must add electrolyte supplements to your diet. But adding just electrolytes is not enough. Hydration is equally important. This is why we suggest electrolyte drinks. Keep sipping these drinks throughout the day till you feel better and feel the symptoms going away.
- Hydrate: Once you are back to normal in terms of symptoms, you can alternate between drinking water and electrolyte drinks. Green tea without added milk and sugar is another option to keep you hydrated if you are bored of sipping on water and electrolyte drinks.
With these steps, you will be able to ensure a proper fasting electrolyte supply and avoid getting sick and experiencing symptoms such as the keto flu.
Takeaways:
Electrolyte loss is a common problem you will face when on restricting diet plans such as the fasting and keto diet. Especially when you are following these diet plans for the long term, compensating for this loss becomes crucial.
Dont worry about excess electrolyte levels, since your kidneys will eliminate them through urine.
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What About The Other Minerals
What about the other electrolytes and minerals like calcium and phosphorus? Shouldnt you have to worry about them as well? Its true you need them but theyre not as important if youre fasting for just a few days.
Your body is built to go through long periods without food or water and its perfectly capable of dealing with zero intake of calcium or phosphate, especially if youre fasting for just 1-3 days. Youd only want to consider taking a multivitamin or something like that if youre fasting for longer than 5-7 days or so.
In fact, abstaining from micronutrients and food for a short timeframe actually helps you to mobilize the micronutrients that are already in your body. Your bones and fat tissue can store most of the nutrients you need for survivial and if youre fasting youre actually using those stored minerals. It also makes you more sensitive to those micronutrients after you start eating and youll absorb them better because it creates a hormetic response.
Therefore, as long as youre getting in your sodium and potassium, you dont have to worry about the other minerals on a 2-5 day fast.
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When Should You Take Your Supplements
It may be most comfortable to take your supplements when you eat. When you consume your supplements with your meals, it helps ensure you wont accidentally break your fast and helps your supplements absorb. Plus, some supplements, such as zinc, can upset an empty stomach.
Supplements to Take with Food:
- Magnesium
- Water-soluble vitamins, such as vitamins B and C
Why Should I Trust Your Water Fasting Tips Who Are You
Hey. Im Chris. Im a regular hungry human.
Only a couple of years ago, I ate four meals a day, snacked non-stop, and would never in a million years have considered fasting.
Honestly, I dont remember what exactly got me started, but here I am, fasting regularly throughout the year. I just wish Id been converted sooner. I like to think these water fasting tips would have convinced me.
Im no doctor, but all the scientific information I share below is from one. Its from the very best and most easy-to-understand book on fasting Ive found, The Complete Guide to Fasting, by Jason Fung.
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Additional Sources Of Electrolytes
To help the mobilization of your bodys minerals and balance the electrolytes, there are some additional things you can consume while fasting.
- Baking Soda its 100% sodium bicarbonate and 1 tsp of baking soda has 1259 mg of sodium. Baking soda is great for balancing the bodys pH levels, fixing digestive issues and healing the kidneys. Its a natural antibacterial and antifungal agent that promotes alkalinity in the body.
- Apple Cider Vinegar its a fermented type of alcohol that has many health benefits like reduced inflammation, improved insulin sensitivity, and digestion. ACV is zero calories but it has trace amounts of potassium and other minerals so its great to consume while fasting.
You dont want to be consuming any more than 1 tsp of baking soda a day because of the high sodium content and getting too much apple cider vinegar can also cause an upset stomach as well as mess up your teeth. In most cases, you can drink 2-4 tsp of ACV and get most of the health benefits.
What I like to do is combine apple cider vinegar and baking soda with water to create this small concoction that boosts the effectiveness of the fast.
- ½ cup of water
- ½ tsp of baking soda
- 2 tsp of apple cider vinegar
- Pinch of lemon juice
Remember that combining vinegar with baking soda will cause a chemical reaction and the water can start to bubble up like a volcano so be careful with that.
Drink this 2 times per day and youll promote both the fat burning as well as the health benefits of fasting.
Will Electrolytes Break My Fast
Electrolytes are essentially mineral salts. Pure electrolytes contain no macronutrients or calories. They will not break your fast or affect your autophagy in any way.
Unfortunately, most electrolyte supplements are far from pure. Sometimes they are deliberately loaded with glucose for example, for recovery after long runs or intensive exercise. Some products are technically sugar-free but still packed full of sweeteners, artificial flavours and junk fillers like maltodextrin.
So make sure to always check the full list of ingredients in your electrolyte supplements.
Ideally, get a product that is 100% pure electrolytes calibrated specifically for fasting. Our Fasting Salts supplement meets all of these requirements. There are several other good-quality brands on the market that are suitable.
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Making The Borax Solution
This is a molecule of borax: Na2·8H2O It has a boron content of 11.3% by weight.
- Put 1 teaspoon of borax into a litre of water. This will contain 0.56g or 560mg of boron.
- Clearly label the bottle and keep it somewhere safe.
- 1 tablespoon of this dilute borax solution will have roughly 8mg of boron. 2-3 tablespoons of the diluted solution is a theraputic dose.
- You could add a tiny pinch of borax powder to each 1.5 litre bottle of snake juice. But the quantity would be a little random. A tiny pinch would roughly weigh 0.2g .
- Boron is a critical mineral. See more about borax here.
If You’re Sluggish Moody Or Overly Hungry This Might Be Your Problem
Fastingor purposefully abstaining from most or all foods for a period of timehas been practiced for thousands of years by people all around the world, and it is gaining more and more popularity in todays modern times. And while ancient fasters may have turned to the practice primarily for spiritual or religious reasons, a large body of research notes that intermittent fasting may also be one of the most effective ways to not only prevent weight gain, but also to help improve health markers including blood sugar, triglycerides and cholesterol.
A popular type of fasting is intermittent fasting, which involves limiting eating to a certain number of hours during the day, and is commonly practiced as a complement to the ketogenic diet, paleo diet, or other low carb diets. There are lots of different ways you can do an intermittent fast, but it typically involves not eating for 12 to 18 hours and only consuming water or other liquids during that time. The good news is that a large chunk of that fasting period typically occurs overnight, which makes it that much easier to reap the many health benefits of fasting.
Fasting can certainly improve overall health, but there are also some precautions to be aware of. And if youve ever tried fasting but felt sluggish, moody, or overly hungry, its highly likely that you were making one of the following common fasting mistakes:
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All These Fasting Tips Are Helpful But Im Still Not Sure I Can Do It How Can I Motivate Myself
Try reading my own journal from my first-ever 3-day fast. Id never even gone a day without food beforehand, so for me it was quite the experience. Your experience wont be exactly the same, but maybe reading how mine went will inspire you or at least make you curious enough to try.
Also take a look at my post on the surprising and motivating benefits of prolonged fasting.
Or, if youre tired of reading my writing and stupid jokes, this video that Kim forwarded me today is pretty motivating:
How Much Salt During Fasting
RDA for sodium is 1500-2300 mg, which is about 1 tsp or 6g of salt a day. However, this is definitely not enough while fasting or when eating a low carb ketogenic diet. Instead, you should aim for 4000-7000 mg-s of sodium, which is up to 3 tsp or 15-18g of salt.
What your individual sodium requirement depends on your activity levels. If youre sweating a lot because of exercising, taking a sauna, or living in warmer climates, then you definitely should aim for the higher end of that spectrum.
To promote the absorption rate of sodium, youd want to mix it with water.
I recommend are pink Himalayan rock salt because it has additional minerals like magnesium which you also need. Good quality sea salts can be also good. Avoid regular table salt because it has other filler agents like nitrates, dextrose and heavy metals that will cause health issues. Thats the reason why salt intake is thought to be bad for you its not the salt its the other ingredients that are being put into table salt. Sodium itself is vital for health and you can see animals craving for it in nature all the time.
I also sometimes like to take these large chunks of sea salt crystals and just chew on them. Its just so good and delicious, especially while fasting when you need the additional electrolytes. So, mix it with water and then chew some rock.
RULE OF THUMB: Get at minimum 2000 mg-s of sodium a day . If youre physically active or sweat a lot, then aim for 4000-7000 mg-s . Mixed with water.
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Youre Training Too Intensely While Fasting
Some people may be able to get away with higher amounts of exercise or intense workouts on fasting days . But the majority of fasters will feel better when they give their body more rest during fasting daysand probably more sleep, too.
Experts recommend skipping intense workoutssuch as HIIT or long aerobic training sessionson days when less fuel is being taken in. Instead, gentler, restorative workoutslike a walk outside or yogaare usually a better fit on fasting days in order to prevent symptoms like fatigue, dizziness, or weakness.
And no matter what day of the week it iswhether youre fasting or notremember that getting good sleep is always essential for repairing the body and maintaining healthy digestion, detoxification, and hormonal balance. Aim for at least 7-9 hours per night in order to prevent cravings, low energy and moodiness.
Dr. Josh Axe, DNM, DC, CNS, is a doctor of natural medicine, clinical nutritionist and author with a passion to help people get well using food as medicine. He recently authored Eat Dirt: Why Leaky Gut May Be the Root Cause of Your Health Problems and Five Surprising Steps to Cure It and he operates one of the worlds largest natural health websites at . Follow him on Twitter @DRJoshAxe.
Signs You Are Low On Electrolytes
If you are fasting and you begin to experience any of the following signs then you are low on electrolytes:
- Feeling dizzy, confused or having a headache.
- Being exhausted, tired, or you are fatigued.
- You have muscle spasms, you have cramps or muscle twitches.
- Enhanced hunger and thirst.
- If you get heart palpitations and irregular heartbeats.
- Increased blood pressure and elevated heart rate.
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How Should I Break My Fast
Try to resist the formidable urge to stuff your face with chocolate cake, hamburgers, and beer to celebrate the end of a long fast. Your stomach and its microbiome will be in a sensitive state and especially vulnerable to any junk you shove into it. The longer your fast, the more careful you should be.
Try to avoid:
- High carb meals. Processed carbs, in particular.
- Nuts and seeds.
- Dairy and eggs.
- Alcohol.
Your best bet is a fresh salad dressed with extra-virgin olive oil and maybe a bit of chicken or fish. Give that some time to settle in your stomach, see how you feel, and go from there.
Better yet, take advantage of this new beginning to get started on a healthier diet.
Cant I Just Eat Less Instead Of Nothing At All For The Same Benefit
When you cut calories, your body reacts by slowing your metabolism to cut the number of calories it burns. This makes you feel lethargic, foggy-minded, and always hungry. And for nothing, since youre not burning more calories than youre eating.
On the other hand, when you fast your body cant reduce its metabolism down to zero to match your food intake, so it goes into crisis mode. It accelerates. Adrenaline, testosterone, and growth hormone kick into gear so you can get out there and hunt for food effectively. Or you get more work done at your desk.
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