With the growing popularity of the ketogenic diet, it’s no surprise that people often tend to forget about micronutrients and the healthy intake of them. Focusing too much on losing fat while keeping your diet may lead to vitamin deficiency and could seriously affect your health. People who follow a ketogenic diet plan should be careful and stay mindful.
What are Micronutrients?
If you aren’t mindful of your micronutrient intake at the beginning of your ketogenic journey, you will be susceptible to experiencing keto flu (a collection of symptoms such as nausea, fatigue, headaches, and constipation). It can be quite common, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be avoided. The intake of micronutrients can protect you from falling ill to keto flu while enhancing your body’s resistance, endurance, strength, and overall stability.
Micronutrients, in comparison with macronutrients, consist of vitamins and minerals that play a significant role in maintaining critical functions of the body. Below, we will state examples of essential ketogenic vitamins and minerals that will pave the way to a winning ketogenic weight loss journey.
Essential Keto Vitamins and Minerals
1 – Sodium
Sodium is an important mineral that people often underestimate, especially when starting with the ketogenic diet. Often we hear people say that sodium (salt) is terrible for health. Let us rephrase this—taking TOO much sodium is bad for the health. A balanced amount of sodium will aid in micronutrient absorption, retaining ideal levels of fluid in your body, and regulating blood pressure. It is advised that you consume 3000 – 5000 mg of sodium a day when you are on a ketogenic diet to avoid low-sodium symptoms like headaches and extreme fatigue.
2 – Potassium
Potassium deficiency can lead to irritability, weakness, constipation, lesser muscle form, and skin issues. Hypokalemia (when potassium levels are TOO low) can often cause irregular heartbeat. The recommended amount of potassium that you need per day is 4500 mg, specifically if you’re on a keto diet.
3 – Magnesium
Magnesium oversees hundreds of functions within our bodies. This electrolyte and mineral plays a vital role in energy production, protein synthesis, cell reproduction, and fatty acid formation. A deficiency in magnesium may cause fatigue, dizziness, and cramps. The ideal daily dose of magnesium is 500 mg a day if you are in a ketogenic diet.
4 – Calcium
Calcium aids in the strengthening of teeth and bones and is also centered around the healthy transmission of signals between nerves. It also plays a crucial role in controlling blood pressure. While your bones and teeth hold a significant quantity of calcium, it is advised that you increase your consumption, especially if you are on keto since calcium is excreted from the body early on. Consume 1000 – 2000 mg to avoid deficiency.
5 – B Vitamins
B vitamins are divided into seven different types. Because the ketogenic diet involves eating more substantial amounts of green veggies and meat, Vitamin B deficiency is not a common occurrence for people who are on a ketogenic diet. Still, it would help if you placed much emphasis on it since it facilitates many functions like carb-fat-protein breakdown, nerve cell function, fat and amino acid processing, memory, blood health, etc. Aside from making sure you keep leafy greens in your diet, you can also opt for high-quality vitamin B supplements, which are quite popular.
Concluding Thoughts
Ensuring that you take adequate amounts of crucial vitamins and minerals will not only optimize your health overall, but it will also effectively protect you from bothersome symptoms that the keto diet might cause at first. I suggest that you avoid foods that are low in micronutrient value, such as butter or vegetable oil. Going for organic food is also advised since they usually have more micronutrients and are more easily processed by your body. Always talk to your doctor about improving your micronutrient intake as you move forward and live the ketogenic lifestyle successfully.
