Electrolytes are important if you are on either a ketogenic or carnivore diet. I was always aware of this and especially, if fasting, I took magnesium supplements and added salt to my water. You definitely tend toward dehydration which accounts for many peoples’ headaches, and keto flu.
However, I realized just lately that I am not getting enough potassium, fasting or not. Obviously, I can’t eat these bananas on either of those diets. Or avocados. And the only thing I seem to be eating, though not enough, is salmon and liver–salmon especially contains large amounts.
It appears an adult needs about 3500 – 4700 mg. potassium/day. No way I can be getting this which definitely can account for the feet cramps most carnivores complain of and I’m suspecting could account for the headaches I’ve been experiencing of late.
So I ordered a supplement powder that includes 1,000 mg. potassium and a pound of salmon contains 1000 mg, liver much less. That will still not get me to the amount I need, but most supplements of potassium are limited to 99 mg since they can have adverse effects. So I will not take it everyday and try to increase salmon intake. But it seems maybe one scoop of 1,000 mg/week could help boost my levels. And I prefer that to daily supplementation of 99 mg. More salmon for snacks and lunch along with some liver seem in order as well. Pork, beef, and chicken also contain moderate amounts of potassium, though not as much as salmon.
If one doesn’t eat dairy, the carnivore diet is also short of calcium. I eat dairy, though I’ve cut back right now to lose my holiday poundage. Vitamin C just doesn’t seem to be necessary like it is on a carbohydrate diet but I take a bit of that weekly as well.
These are my thoughts on the nutrient content of carnivore. Obviously, many societies like the Inuit have thrived on carnivore/high fat diets (they ate a lot of whale fat and other fat sources since their diet was short on it–and organ meat is high in nutrients).
A carnivore diet otherwise mostly is nutrient dense–much more so than the SAD diet (Standard American), especially if one eats fish and seafood like oysters high in selenium. And organ meats. (Don’t eat TOO much liver, however. Three ounces several times a week is plenty.)
Dreams: I don’t remember them, but remember they made me uneasy for some reason.
Today I am grocery shopping for odds and ends and things I need to accompany our special Duck Confit of Saturday upcoming. A recipe testing day. Wild rice, fixings for Waldorf Salad for those other SAD types. Green beans maybe. I’ll have a bit of cheese Saturday and some carnivore ice cream for dessert. Maybe a few bacon wrapped shrimp for appetizer.
Oh, I’ve been experimenting with making carnivore ice cream–granted it’s not as sweet as one is used to, but it’s a nice change from a dessert cordial of heavy cream. I am also experimenting with the least amount of monkfruit necessary to add sweetness or a touch of honey (not really a plant)–for those who are not purists. Monkfruit has no calories and does not precipitate an insulin reaction. Honey as I say comes from an animal but does contain fructose and glucose. It’s amazing, though, how little of either you need to sweeten up a dessert of heavy cream, eggs, and vanilla. It’s high in calories, however, if you use mostly heavy cream and little milk. But we carnivores don’t count calories much. At any rate, I recommend an ice cream maker and maybe an air fryer.
Happy Tuesday.
#carnivorediet #electrolyesoncarnivore #nutritiononcarnivore
L.E.K. 