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Potassium
I am having symptoms of low potassium that are worsening with the rice and beef diet. Is anyone else experiencing this? Any ideas how to get past it?
Hallo,
you can try to lower salt a bit, if its high.
Or like i posted in the thread 'recipes':
"Yesterday i pre cooked about 400g white rice with 100g raisins together in a pressure cooker. The taste was much better than only the rice. Together with a small cut of beef it was very delicious."
Do you eat beans? Grant uses beans in his diet and they are a good source of potassium.
I also think I need to watch my potassium intake or I start having some symptoms. I am not on a restrictive diet though and just avoid most sources of A and trial many foods to see my body's reaction.
Just eating any plant food (except for refined grains) should help bring your potassium up. I do not believe in RDAs anymore, I think your need for potassium is personal and linked to your personal diet and lifestyle.
You could try adding in some low but not zero vitamin A foods, like bananas, parsnips or white potatoes (make sure the flesh is actually white, they're often quite yellow).
You could try using some potassium chloride or potassium bicarbonate - but be careful with these. Start with small amounts, particularly if you're using the bicarbonate version.
Some of the B-vitamins, particularly B1, are important for potassium metabolism.
Vitamin A can prevent potassium from entering the cells, so, if you are mobilising stored vitamin A as a result of being on the low vitamin A diet, that could be causing temporary signs of potassium deficiency.
Low potassium symptoms can look similar to low magnesium symptoms: you could try rubbing some magnesium chloride liquid on the affected areas (if we're talking about muscle spasms). You could also try a 20minute hot bath with 200g Mag Chloride. An equal quantity of sodium bicarbonate can improve absorption sometimes.
Vitamin A affects the body's calcium balance. Excess calcium can cause muscle stiffness and low calcium can cause twitching, both of which can look similar to potassium deficiency; so, if you are mobilising some stored vitamin A (for whatever reason) those symptoms could be a temporary effect.
Some vitamin C might help.
Are you salting your food?
Thanks, Harry!
Yes, I do salt my food. Perhaps I am overdoing it?
I am experiencing tingling in the hands and feet, muscle cramping/stiffness/pain, fatigue/weakness, and digestive issues.
I mix KCl, MgCl, and NaCl in a 3:2:1 ratio with water, and keep a bottle in the fridge to sip on. If my potassium intake goes down, I get night sweats. I believe the night sweats are from a imbalance on sodium(too much). When I increase potassium with my electrolyte drink, I sleep much better.
Quote from Guest on January 18, 2019, 5:58 amThanks, Harry!
Yes, I do salt my food. Perhaps I am overdoing it?
I am experiencing tingling in the hands and feet, muscle cramping/stiffness/pain, fatigue/weakness, and digestive issues.
Give some of the approaches I/others here have mentioned a go, and see how you get on. Everyone has made useful suggestions, but see what makes the most sense to you. It does sound like potassium is a bit of an issue. I don't think it's a problem that you're salting your food - I think salt is an important nutrient, but it may be exacerbating a potassium issue in your specific context.
That being said, there is a definitely phenomenon occurring where people are getting symptoms of vitamin A toxicity while doing low vitamin A diets. I am inclined to think that you may be going through one of these phases: there are many knock on effects, as vitamin A can mess around with a large number of vitamins and minerals, including potassium, calcium, magnesium and B12, all of which are conceivably related to what you're experiencing.
There are a few other things which might help, but it would be better to discuss them over email (harry@elementalhtma.co.uk) - i'm very happy to talk more about it in that way, if things continue to be an issue.
Coconut water is a good source of potassium.
Quote from harrymacdonald on January 18, 2019, 4:39 amYou could try adding in some low but not zero vitamin A foods, like bananas, parsnips or white potatoes (make sure the flesh is actually white, they're often quite yellow).
You could try using some potassium chloride or potassium bicarbonate - but be careful with these. Start with small amounts, particularly if you're using the bicarbonate version.
Some of the B-vitamins, particularly B1, are important for potassium metabolism.
Vitamin A can prevent potassium from entering the cells, so, if you are mobilising stored vitamin A as a result of being on the low vitamin A diet, that could be causing temporary signs of potassium deficiency.
Low potassium symptoms can look similar to low magnesium symptoms: you could try rubbing some magnesium chloride liquid on the affected areas (if we're talking about muscle spasms). You could also try a 20minute hot bath with 200g Mag Chloride. An equal quantity of sodium bicarbonate can improve absorption sometimes.
Vitamin A affects the body's calcium balance. Excess calcium can cause muscle stiffness and low calcium can cause twitching, both of which can look similar to potassium deficiency; so, if you are mobilising some stored vitamin A (for whatever reason) those symptoms could be a temporary effect.
Some vitamin C might help.
Are you salting your food?
Parsnips is about as low as you can go with regards to VA except for certain grains, it has less than beef and probably less than black beans too. Color alone is not a perfect way to judge potatoes, there are some white variants that have more carotene than more yellowish variants.
Maybe try one of those mineral salts or whatever they are being marketed as, there are some table salts that are only like 50% sodium chloride and the rest is magnesium and potassium.
Quote from Guest on January 18, 2019, 7:37 pmQuote from harrymacdonald on January 18, 2019, 4:39 amYou could try adding in some low but not zero vitamin A foods, like bananas, parsnips or white potatoes (make sure the flesh is actually white, they're often quite yellow).
You could try using some potassium chloride or potassium bicarbonate - but be careful with these. Start with small amounts, particularly if you're using the bicarbonate version.
Some of the B-vitamins, particularly B1, are important for potassium metabolism.
Vitamin A can prevent potassium from entering the cells, so, if you are mobilising stored vitamin A as a result of being on the low vitamin A diet, that could be causing temporary signs of potassium deficiency.
Low potassium symptoms can look similar to low magnesium symptoms: you could try rubbing some magnesium chloride liquid on the affected areas (if we're talking about muscle spasms). You could also try a 20minute hot bath with 200g Mag Chloride. An equal quantity of sodium bicarbonate can improve absorption sometimes.
Vitamin A affects the body's calcium balance. Excess calcium can cause muscle stiffness and low calcium can cause twitching, both of which can look similar to potassium deficiency; so, if you are mobilising some stored vitamin A (for whatever reason) those symptoms could be a temporary effect.
Some vitamin C might help.
Are you salting your food?
Parsnips is about as low as you can go with regards to VA except for certain grains, it has less than beef and probably less than black beans too. Color alone is not a perfect way to judge potatoes, there are some white variants that have more carotene than more yellowish variants.
Most potatoes have low levels of carotene (there are multiple variants, as i'm sure you know). The variants that are more yellow have higher levels of lutein and zeaxanthin and other variants of these yellow pigments. Lutein and zeaxanthin are not believed to be "pro-vitamin A" carotenoids, but they are carotenoids nonetheless.
It is fairly clear to me, having read some of the research into carotenoid metabolism, that people don't actually know much about the process; so, I wouldn't count on them to be right about what can and can't become vitamin A. Carotenoids have their own problems, independent of their conversion to vitamin A, and Grant's experience with lutein supplementation proves that. Therefore, I must respectfully disagree: the whiteness of the flesh is the best indicator of total carotenoid content, although it may not be the best indicator of "pro-vitamin A" activity (according to our current, limited conception of that process).