Keto made easy

Broth and Bouillon for Keto Flu: A Simple Routine

Quick answer: A cup of hot, salted broth is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to get sodium back when you start keto. KetoDick's beginner routine is one cup twice a day; his own routine in 2018 was three cups a day from bouillon cubes. Homemade bone broth is great if you have the time, but a cube or carton works. Use the salted kind, check the label for added sugar, and talk to your doctor first if you take blood-pressure medication or have kidney or heart problems.

In this article

Why broth works

When you cut carbs you also cut the salty starches and processed foods that supplied most of your sodium. Meat and vegetables carry little of it. And he says ketosis leaves you less able to hold on to salt, while more water through the system flushes more out (video -dHjt_Bpruk).

Salting your food helps, but he found it hard to get enough that way. In one demo he measured out salt piles on a dish to show how much you'd need, and concluded that salting food alone is "going to be a challenge" (from the video) unless you put some electrolytes into what you drink (video -dHjt_Bpruk). A warm cup of broth is an easy way to drink salt. Salt water works too, but he finds it "a little gross" (from the video).

Bone broth or bouillon?

Both work. The thing you want is the salt.

Skip anything labelled unsalted or low sodium. For this job, the sodium is the point.

The routine, step by step

  1. Buy salted broth or bouillon, any brand. He says the type doesn't really matter (video -dHjt_Bpruk).
  2. Read the label once. Some cubes have malt extract or sweeteners. He says the small amounts in most cubes aren't significant, and he stayed positive for ketones and kept losing weight using bouillon three times a day for months (videos -dHjt_Bpruk, UygKGoP_BtA). If one brand has more carbs, pick another.
  3. Start with one cup in the morning. He says electrolytes act fast: drink one in the morning and you should feel better before lunch (video -dHjt_Bpruk).
  4. Add a second cup later in the day. That's his beginner routine: one cup, twice a day (video UygKGoP_BtA).
  5. Go to three if you're still flat or crampy. His own 2018 routine was three cups a day, "like three cups of coffee" (from the video) (video -dHjt_Bpruk).
  6. Optional, with your doctor's OK: add potassium. He stirred a quarter teaspoon of a potassium-chloride salt substitute into each cup (video -dHjt_Bpruk). See light salt explained before you do.
  7. Check two signals. Urine should be pale yellow, not clear (video RGfWR5jQNDQ). And if your hands or feet start swelling, he says that's too much salt; cut back (video lbRPlGZ3Rvw).

The arithmetic on three cups

His figures from the video (video -dHjt_Bpruk):

Per cup Sodium Potassium
One bouillon cube about 1,100 mg —
¼ tsp potassium-chloride substitute — about 640 mg
Three cups a day about 3,300 mg a little over 1,800 mg (his figure)

Back of the envelope on cost: 25 cubes for about three dollars is roughly 12 cents a cup, so three cups a day is under 40 cents. His point was that this is "the cheapest supplement you can take" (from the video). Your cube's sodium may differ; check the label and multiply.

Who should check with a doctor first

He's specific about this. If you're on blood-pressure medication or your doctor has warned you about sodium, his higher sodium numbers don't apply to you (video -dHjt_Bpruk). Talk to your doctor before adding several cups of salted broth a day.

Adding potassium is a separate conversation. He says potassium and magnesium supplements can have kidney implications that eventually affect the heart, so involve your doctor, especially with kidney or heart history (video lbRPlGZ3Rvw). He also says people with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes should raise it, even if nobody has mentioned their kidneys.

What the research says

The literature doesn't test broth for keto flu. It does say a lot about sodium, and it doesn't all agree.

So his 5,000 mg target sits inside the PURE range and well above the official limits. Both are stated here plainly so you can take it to your doctor. More in the PURE study explained.

KetoDick's take

He weighed the fancier options and landed on the cheap one. Sports drinks and flavour drops carry too little to cover you unless you drink almost nothing else (video -dHjt_Bpruk). Pills are a doctor conversation. A cube in a mug is cheap, warm and easy to remember. In the beginners' video he frames it as simplicity: drink broth twice a day and stop overthinking the ingredients list (video UygKGoP_BtA).

Key takeaways