mleku on Nostr: i had never heard of this before but specifically potassium deficiency, which can ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypokalemia

i had never heard of this before but specifically potassium deficiency, which can also be associated with low levels of magnesium, is a strong factor in cramping

i knew that sodium was associated with the transit of the "clench" signal to muscles, and i always figured there was a contrary one, sodium and calcium are associated with clench and potassium and magnesium are needed for "relax"

> A special case of potassium loss occurs with diabetic ketoacidosis. Hypokalemia is observed with low total body potassium and a low intracellular concentration of potassium. In addition to urinary losses from polyuria and volume contraction, also an obligate loss of potassium from kidney tubules occurs as a cationic partner to the negatively charged ketone, β-hydroxybutyrate.
> A low level of magnesium in the blood can also cause hypokalemia. Magnesium is required for adequate processing of potassium. This may become evident when hypokalemia persists despite potassium supplementation. Other electrolyte abnormalities may also be present.

it is uncommon, but boron deficiency can cause magnesium deficiency, and i already had explored this avenue, and mainly it caused me to get more hungry and put on weight, but the cramp problem continued, so i considered that the magnesium was not a big factor in the slowly increasing cramp problem, and had just been taking salt... now i am aware of this, i am going to try out adding a potassium salt to my diet

and the diabetes and kidney problems and dehydration all amount to a likely result of potassium deficiency, and now i understand where the tachycardia i have experienced on and off for some years now was coming from

interestingly the local supermarket does not stock any low sodium potassium salts, but they do have potassium bitartrate, aka "cream of tartar" which i have mixed at a ratio of 130:42 with the sea salt

after a little consideration, i may add a 10g of sodium borate to the mix as well, a similar ratio to what i was getting with 5g/L sodium borate

trying it for the first time on some food, some beef mince patties, the acidity of the potassium bitartrate is quite pleasant actually

sodium borate has a "fishy" taste to it, which also probably will go really well as part of the condiment mix

sodium bitartrate is a residue found on the side of wine fermentation vessels, and is quite a rich source of potassium

this cramping problem is debilitating, i am hoping this is the biggest part of its etiology, that would be nice