Low Carbers, Salt & Dizziness, Muscle Weakness, Fatigue

[Vanessa120]

Hello friends,

I have read more than a couple posts of low-carbers experiencing dizziness. I have mentioned a few times the need to use salt, but thought I'd create a new thread as well. Personally, I drink about 3-4L of water a day and put a pinch of Celtic Sea Salt (rich in the minerals low-carbers need) in my water bottle each time I fill it up.

If you are low-carbing and feel, fatigue, headaches, muscle weakness, dizziness, mood swings, lethargy, decreased mental alertness, this is a sign you need salt.

From, The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living , (The latest LOW CARB book and it is FANTASTIC!) by Jeff Volek, PhD, RD & Stephen Phinney, MD, PhD

"The short answer is that the amount of carbohydrate in our diet changes our need for salt. High carbohydrate diets make the kidneys retain salt, whereas a low carbohydrate intake increases sodium excretion by the kidney.

Salt and water are more efficiently excreted, which is a good thing as long as you maintain an adequate minimum sodium intake. Ignore this lesson and you are likely to suffer the completely avoidable problems of headache, fatigue, weakness, and consipation."

Dr. Eades has also written about this recently in his blog:

"The good news is that it’s great to get rid of the excess fluid but it comes at a cost, which is the bad news. As the excess fluid goes, it takes with it sodium an extremely important electrolyte. When sodium levels fall below a critical threshold (which can happen within a short time), symptoms often occur, the most common being fatigue, headache, cramps and postural hypotension.

Postural hypotension happens when you stand up too quickly and feel faint. Or even pass out briefly. It’s a sign of dehydration. So if you’ve started your low-carb diet, made your multiple runs to the bathroom, and jump up off the couch to answer the phone and feel like your going to faint (or actually do pass out momentarily) and have to sit back down quickly, you’ve got postural hypotension. It’s really easy to fix – you simply need to take more sodium and drink more water. Salt your food more. Increasing sodium is just another one of the many counter-intuitive things about low-carb dieting. Just like eating more fat to lower your cholesterol. You’ve got to start thinking differently. The low-carb diet is one that absolutely requires more sodium. A lot more sodium.

...get some Celtic Sea Salt, Himalayan Salt or one of the other grayish, pinkish kind of grungy looking salts and replace your normal salt with these. And don’t use them sparingly. These salts have been harvested either from ancient sea beds or obtained by evaporation of sea water with high mineral content and contain about 70 percent of the sodium of regular salt (which has been refined, bleached and processed until it is pretty much pure sodium chloride, often with anti-caking agents added). The other 30 percent of the volume is other minerals and micronutrients (including iodine) found in mineral-rich seas. Consuming these salts is not just following a Paleolithic diet using modern food, but, depending upon the origin of the salt, it is consuming the same food your Paleolithic ancestors ate. I much prefer these salts taste-wise to regular salt, and I salt the heck out of all my food with it."

[tcalhoun72]

Vanessa... thanks for this info. I feel dizzy when I've been bending over or crouching down and then stand up. I use the Morton's Lite Salt all the time but I'm guessing this isn't good enough.

I will pick up some Celtic Sea Salt tomorrow and I will see if it works.

Thanks again!

[Jonahsafta]

I take potassium and freely add sea salt to my savory foods..I also work to drink a decent amt of water..I have low blood pressure, so dehydration makes it worse...in the summer its a challenge..but talk to your doctor..

[aim in Fla*working]

also it is important to note that this problem worsens when we try to drink out water quickly at one time. For example...I usually sip on 100 oz all day every day...never have leg cramps. However, i have a few times lately tried to 'get my water in' before and chugged it and have always had cramps. Every time I do this, I get leg cramps...so apparently is the FLUSH of water in your system as well. sip all day so that there is not huge influx of water at a time

[tiggy_oz]

Thanks for the recommendation on that new book! I've been thinking of adding it to my giant library of LC and health books.

No fancy sea salt here (can't get it), but love me a cup of chicken broth, and ground rock salt on my steak. Yumm. I drink a ton of water as well and get that postural hypotention if I'm not careful.

Good post

[Vanessa120]

Originally Posted by tcalhoun72

Vanessa... thanks for this info. I feel dizzy when I've been bending over or crouching down and then stand up. I use the Morton's Lite Salt all the time but I'm guessing this isn't good enough.

I will pick up some Celtic Sea Salt tomorrow and I will see if it works.

Thanks again!

You are welcome for the tidbit! I remember feeling really crummy.....fatigue and dizziness when standing up. I did not like it!

Originally Posted by Jonahsafta

I take potassium and freely add sea salt to my savory foods..I also work to drink a decent amt of water..I have low blood pressure, so dehydration makes it worse...in the summer its a challenge..but talk to your doctor..

My blood pressure is low as well and usually can tell when I don't drink enough water. We went to a Twins baseball game over the weekend and sat out in the 90+ degree heat for 4 hours, sweating bullets. Even though I drank 3 x 20 oz. bottles of water at the ballpark, I felt miserable the next morning.

Originally Posted by aim in Fla*working

also it is important to note that this problem worsens when we try to drink out water quickly at one time. For example...I usually sip on 100 oz all day every day...never have leg cramps. However, i have a few times lately tried to 'get my water in' before and chugged it and have always had cramps. Every time I do this, I get leg cramps...so apparently is the FLUSH of water in your system as well. sip all day so that there is not huge influx of water at a time

Thanks for that info. I haven't had problems with cramps, once in a great while my foot will, but that's after wearing high heels for an extended period of time.

Originally Posted by tiggy_oz

Thanks for the recommendation on that new book! I've been thinking of adding it to my giant library of LC and health books.

No fancy sea salt here (can't get it), but love me a cup of chicken broth, and ground rock salt on my steak. Yumm. I drink a ton of water as well and get that postural hypotention if I'm not careful.

Good post

Can never learn too much....that's my philosophy! Love all the books. If anything it solidifies our choice to low carb as a lifestyle. I make chicken broth regularly in the winter/fall months. It is so good.

[nolcjunk]

I've been doing the salt in water thing for years now- there's no way I could have stayed on Atkins without it, I was so tired and weak.

I even drink hot homemade broth in the summer to prevent cramps and dizziness and weakness.

[SherriS.]

Vanessa thanks for posting this! I know you replied to my concerns over the weekend. My dizziness is more pronounced with this heat wave. I have been using my celtic sea salt to make my almond flour goodies...now I will be sprinkling more throughout the day

[Vanessa120]

Originally Posted by SherriS.

Vanessa thanks for posting this! I know you replied to my concerns over the weekend. My dizziness is more pronounced with this heat wave. I have been using my celtic sea salt to make my almond flour goodies...now I will be sprinkling more throughout the day

Yes, the heat definitely affects us! I've noticed it myself as well!

[tcalhoun72]

I had to order the celtic sea salt because I couldn't find any locally but let me just say... it tastes so good!! Thanks!

[millergirl1976]

My friends and family think I am some kind of amazing chef, but my true secret is... I season to taste. I am not afraid of a little salt! I have been using kosher pinch salt, but I will add some of those funky mineral salts to my next Trader Joes shopping list for sure.

I also drink a ton of water. I have tried before to explain to my friends who are salt-scared that behing hydrated is the key to anti-bloating.

Thanks for the post!

[terez]

Well, DUH!!!! Now I know what was wrong with me today. I've been doing extra low carb and in the high heat and humidity.....

This explains a few things.

[katie in progress]

I work outside most of every day, and this heat wave, which is affecting so much of the country, is one of the worst in two decades. We all need to be extra careful about heat exhaustion and heat stroke, but especially so, I think, for those of us who have not yet had a summer on LC - my diet, including my liquid intake, is very different from previous summers, and it stands to reason that I might not experience extreme heat the same way I did before. My own experience is that it's easier now, but I've given up caffeine and tweaked a few other things as well, so I'm not sure exactly what's responsible.

For me, personally, salt intake is crucial, and I have noticed that I feel better (and still broke a stall, go figure) by upping carbs slightly while it's so hot.

Also, I've suspended my no-whining rule. This heat sucks the life out of me, and I'm going down cussing.

[Micksgonepb]

I did a search because of dizziness and this came up. I was dizzy for hours yesterday. I ate about a t of salt ( half mortons lite and 1/2 regular)and 2 bullion cubes in water thinking it was lack if salt and low blood pressure. It went away eventually and I was fine.

I woke up dizzy and am still a bit dizzy. I normally have very low blood pressure. I checked it a bit ago and it was 119/85. Wow it is usually about 90/50!

I'm going to try more water! Any other suggestions?

[spirilis]

Just wanted to bump this thread, as I bought the "Art and Science of Low-Carb Living" book after Dr. Eades' rather promotional blog post this week.

Read most of the way through it, and WOW. I learned quite a few things I never knew. Taking extra salt, now that I know that even if you don't notice symptoms from salt depletion, it can actively deplete your potassium and potentially kill lean muscle...

Also did anyone catch the word in one of the later chapters about yogurt? Didn't know that much of the "carbs" listed in the nutrition info for yogurt is usually not a problem, since the bacteria in the yogurt converts it to lactate...

[dawnyama]

spirillis---glad to hear you are liking this book. I have it on my wish list at Amazon. My birthday will be here in a few months and I am hoping......

I knew about the flap about carbs and yogurt. Dana Carpenter has written about this on her blog "Hold the Toast". She writes about it in her book titled "How I Gave up my Low fat diet and Lost 40 Pounds. and you can too". Love that book!!! I eat plain unsweetened full fat yogurt on a regular basis on a low carb diet. Love that for lunch with berries and pecans mixed in.

Oh, and I am loving my Celtic salt. My doctor told me to liberally salt my food because I have adrenal fatigue and low blood pressure. I am so glad she has told me to do that because I love Celtic salt.

[Auntie Em]

Vanessa, thanks for posting this. An excellent reminder.

[cat5fan]

Thanks for the post. I just looked up "Morton Lite salt" why would anybody use it? Am I missing something?

[Auntie Em]

Cat5fan, the "no-salt salt" which is primarily potassium chloride can be handy when one is making the initial adjustment to a LC food plan. Some folks make an electrolyte drink of the potassium chloride, with sodium chloride ("regular" salt" in a beverage. Some add baking soda, too.