Good Morning Carnivore Peeps - today i substituted 2 thick slices of Salt Pork for the typical thick sliced bacon i have with 3 eggs each morning - it occurred to me that my efforts to have enough salt in my diet naturally to help me get and keep my electrolytes in balance could be greatly enhanced by using salt pork instead of plain bacon or sausages -

With that shared, has anyone else used salt pork in their carnivore journey ?

How did that work for you ?

What have you done in your food intake to increase and keep electrolytes in the appropriate ranges?

THANKS Y'ALL

I'm a big fan of slated pork as well as fatback and such. I also salt the other foods I eat as well.

I missed on the electrolytes early on, simply knowing better, but not doing better. I tried some salt/electrolyte additives but couldn't find one that tasted good enough to consistently buy. I then started to make my own electrolyte mixes at home with some really cheap salts/potassium from the grocery store. From there adding them to water no longer tasted all that good so I used my electrolyte mix as a "table salt" of sorts.

If I know I'm going to be outside in the hot working I will add some extra salt, most of the time the day before, but at least that morning. On average all I am getting is what I am adding or from one of the salted pork selections.

90% is thru food, either salted or me salting it.

That drops a bit when I do my 4 or 5 day water fasts. I take salt under the tongue followed by water.

Scott

Thank You Scott for sharing your experience and thoughts.

What is the fasting deal - I mean i know what it means to FAST but you mentioned a 5 day fast - why so incredibly long - is that something specific to Carnivore or just something you do for other reasons

THANKS deercamp67

Mostly for other reasons. I have an autoimmune disease called Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder which is basically the same as MS, just with different treatments.

The fasts help reset the autoimmune system. it switches you into autophagy which helps clean the body of older cells, it gets you into ketosis where the glucose has been depleted and the body burns fats/ketones. From the human growth hormone production goes up by four or five times the normal amounts and then stem cells increase which can help heal.

I find huge amounts of energy the second/third day into the fast and that energy lasts til a day or two afterwards. I try to fast three days one month and then a 4-5 day fast the following month.

I am no expert but I think the best connection/benefit with carnivore is that I am already fat adapted. My glucose levels are relatively low so I get into ketosis a little quicker and the ketone levels start increasing early on. Again, not an expert by any means, but I think the carnivore community gets to the benefits of fasting quicker so the first 12-16 hours the body does not have to deplete glycogen as the glucose/sugar levels are not what they would be for someone who eats sugars/carbs as a regular part of their diet.

Since carnivore (May of '24) I stopped all medicines for pain and inflammation. No more prednisone and Neurontin. My bloodwork suggests this will be my last six hour infusion. Carnivore has did me wonders and fasting give the health change a boost/kick in the pants. LOL

Scott

To answer your question up front, no I have not tried using salt pork, but have only been doing carnivore for a few months. You do sound a lot like me though. One of the things I wanted to avoid doing was taking supplements for electrolytes. I want to get to the point where I am only using food to get all my nutrients and preferably 100% carnivore. Unfortunately, I am using non-flavor LMNT once before I go to bed (though I did start off with one in the morning, too). I was getting a pretty bad case of cotton mouth after waking up the next morning. Using the LMNT at night has greatly reduced the cotton mouth for me. I also would get heart palpitations at night, but the LMNT has helped with getting rid of that.

My calves/legs still burn a bit more than they should when walking up a few flights of stairs and I am not overweight or elderly, so I think my electrolyte balance is still off. When it comes to electrolyte balance what I have heard in my short time doing this is making your own electrolytes mixes. That does seem to be the most popular. You also might want to try some food that has a bit more magnesium in it, i.e. beef liver. Though the downside to the beef liver is that it is much higher in protein than fat. An alternate to Beef Liver is ground beef that also has liver and heart in it. Finally, though I haven't tried this myself, if you can make your own bone broth that might help a bit with balancing the electrolytes.

Agree with BillyGoat. I found mixing my own is botch cheaper and easier, plus I can use it as a 'table salt'.

It took a few months to work itself out but now I only salt my food, and that is not every time. If the salt does not taste good or appealing at that time I am guessing I have enough.

As mentioned, if I know tomorrow is going to be a hot day with a heavy workload outside, I do pre-hydrate with a 'salt' solution.

Great topic as it is useful information from the beginning stages of carnivore up to and after the 'adjustments'.

Scott