Getting your Electrolytes

While eating cruciferous vegetables will replenish many minerals, consuming the daily requirements of Potassium and Magnesium might be a bit more challenging through diet alone for most of us. Other important electrolytes to consider are Sodium and Calcium but those can be more easily acquired through diet so you may not need much or any of those in the form of a supplement.

There are also a number of trace elements that should be consumed to balance things out along with Zinc and Selenium but we’ll focus on the key electrolytes that are most difficult to get in diet or pill form since those are the typical items that most folks on the Ketogenic Diet will want to focus on.

While most of your nutritional needs can and should be met by diet, tracking your food accurately is the only way you’ll know for sure what you are lacking and what should be supplemented. Once you have an idea of what you consume on average, you’ll have a point of reference to figure out how to address your specific dietary requirements.

How to Consume High Quality Electrolytes

Using a high quality electrolyte mixture is the best way to keep everything in balance. There are 2 powders that I’ve used and fully recommend. Both do a great job and are practically identical but you can also make your own electrolyte mixture with ingredients from the local grocery store or on online. We have used premixed and male our own mixture from bulk ingredients. It’s really up to you and what you like or what you’ve got time for. We’ll show you in this article how to get the highest quality electrolytes either from premixed packaged products or by making your own with readily available high quality ingredients.

Avoid Unhealthy Commercial Electrolyte Products

You’ll want to avoid the processed drinks like Gatorade or Powerade, even packaged products at your local stores that call themselves “Electrolytes” as they are full of things you’ll want to avoid, even in their sugar free versions.

Coconut water, while better than the processed products, has far too much sugar to be an option for those following a healthy Keto diet. I’ll put some links below to products that I have used and trust that you can purchase either to make your own or to get the ready to use powder that you can mix up quickly to keep your electrolytes in balance to avoid what many call the Keto Flu as well as the muscle cramps often associated with an electrolyte deficiency.

As you begin to get healthy with a low carb lifestyle, you’ll lose inflammation as these fluids leave the body but they also remove key minerals including electrolytes that need to be replenished. Even dehydration from exertion or exercise and heat requires electrolytes. Water and other fluids do not replace the electrolytes lost so unless you are consuming a considerable amount of food that contains these items, you will be lacking. Most of us cannot consume the needed amounts consistently from diet alone.

Making your own Electrolyte Mixture

I will say that the homemade mixture may take some trial and error to get the taste you are happy with but if you do it yourself you’ll save around 50% of the cost vs. premixed powders when you buy in bulk. Just to give you a ball park figure, the mixtures we use are approximately $ .75 per serving vs about $ .35 per serving if you do it yourself. Something that we do whether we use the premix or our own blend, is that we add 1/2 fresh squeezed organic lemon per serving, along with one tablespoon of Organic Apple Cider Vinegar.

Since we mix a quart or liter at a time, we use a whole lemon and 2 tablespoons of ACV along with the powders and water and we are targeting a pint of the mixture to provide 1000mg Potassium, 500mg Magnesium, and of 600mg Sodium.

We sweeten to taste with a Monkfruit/Erythritol blend or Stevia and often dilute with additional water. Stevia drops are the best option we’ve used and 5-10 drops is probably enough for most people to use for the entire quart mixture so start at 5 and adjust to taste. You can always add a drop or 2 to your glass if you need a bit more sweetener.

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More important than the taste however, is the fact that you are getting these important nutrients, avoiding the Keto flu, and muscle cramps that often affect those of us on our Keto journey. People have many remedies for cramps from salt to pickle juice, mustard, and more. Some work simply because they contain some of the elements contained in the electrolyte mixture but I’d recommend keeping it simple and always have some electrolytes handy.

Another thing to note is that you can get what you need to make your electrolytes at the local grocery store if they have the NoSalt, NuSalt, or even generic brands of salt substitutes made with Potassium Chloride rather than traditional Sodium Chloride based salt. Mix that with a high quality traditional sodium chloride based Himalayan or Sea Salt and you have your much needed sodium and potassium.

Then you’ll need to add a source of magnesium and trace minerals. Some people prefer to use a simple supplement or drops for those. My preference is to use Magnesium Citrate powder to add the much needed Magnesium. Magnesium Glycinate is another good option that’s also considered bioavailable. Some people tolerate one form of Magnesium better than the other.

Some Magnesium forms are more likely to make people sleepy or induce a bowel movement although not all people have the same reaction. I’ve never had a problem with taking up to 500 mg of Magnesium Citrate in a 24 hour period but starting with no greater than 200mg and gradually increasing to 300 or so over a few days when you are not going to have it interfere with your schedule would be prudent.

Cream of Tartar, another common pantry item, can be substituted for the NoSalt/NuSalt to get the potassium if you have it available. Usually the cream of tartar container that most would have is very small so planning ahead to keep your preferred electrolyte source available is something to consider.

Use a High Quality Premixed Electrolyte Product

Dr Berg’s Electrolyte Powder & K-1000 Electrolyte Powder are my favorite commercial products for those that want a great tasting and easy to use mixture. You’ll notice that the K-1000 matches Dr Berg’s formula on the nutrients but some people report a slightly different flavor. I’m not sure if the taste difference is noticeable but I like either one as far as taste goes. K-1000 powder is usually a little cheaper on Amazon than Dr Berg’s but he often runs specials and quantity discounts. Both are of high quality and have everything you need. They both use Stevia as the sweetener and are pretty sweet so adding the fresh lemon juice and ACV to the mixture to offset the sweetness is my preferred way to consume the electrolytes rather than drinking water with lemon and ACV separately as many folks on Keto often do. By adding it to the electrolytes, you’ve got everything you need in a single drink that actually tastes pretty good if you prefer something less sweet.

Conclusion

Whatever electrolyte supplementation you choose, be sure to track your nutrient consumption from diet so you know what you need to supplement, this is not something to leave to guesswork. You really don’t want to take more than the recommend amounts for the total of dietary and supplemental nutrient consumption. Spark People was one of my favorite apps for tracking but it’s been discontinued and there are many today that you can choose from.

Whichever you choose, make sure that you can track carbs, fat, protein, calories, and nutrients that are important, but specifically electrolytes. If you have any other supplements that you take, make sure that to track those nutrients also.

High Quality Electrolyte Products to Consider

Bulk Supplements – Purchase supplements in powder form and mix your own electroytes

K1000 – available on Amazon and provide a decent amount of electrolytes for the price

Dr Berg’s – available both on Amazon and directly from Dr Berg, they are very similar in amounts to the K1000.

LMNT – popular electrolyte powder available in many flavors but while they provide high sodium, they are very low in Potassium and Magnesium

Redmond Salt –

KetoChow –

Apple Cider Vinegar

Stevia Drops

MonkFruit Drops