Are Chaffles Keto? Plus Electrolytes, Sole Water and Starting Macros (2019 Live)
A 31-minute Live from 2019-08-28, recorded on my deck. It was never on YouTube. It opens with chaffles, the shredded-cheese-and-egg "waffles" all over the group that summer, then takes a long detour into electrolytes. It ends with chaffle macros and the starting numbers I was giving people (live JDOC7543).
In this recording
- [0:00] What a chaffle is: cheese and egg in a waffle maker. I'd never eaten one during my weight-loss phase. Then a detour into electrolytes, which I called the most confusing and misused word in keto.
- [0:59] Signs that electrolytes are the problem: feeling flat, cramps, headaches. I said I wasn't qualified and to ask me for sources. I gave about 4,700 mg as the potassium RDA, and pointed out that the best-known potassium foods, like yams, don't fit low carb.
- [1:45] Sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium. For calcium and magnesium, a calcium-magnesium supplement is easiest. I said calcium citrate may be gentler than carbonate for long-term use.
- [3:20] Pink Himalayan salt: its trace minerals are too small to matter. The dose matters more than the type of salt. If you add salt on purpose, I suggested kosher or sea salt rather than iodized.
- [4:52] I gave 3,500 mg of sodium as the target unless you have a salt-sensitive condition, and said to talk to your doctor. A simple baseline: about 1,000 mg each of sodium and of potassium chloride (a salt substitute) in a one-litre bottle, adjusted to taste.
- [5:37] My bouillon routine: a cube with 1,100 mg of sodium plus potassium chloride. Almost everyone figures out sodium. Very few get potassium in.
- [7:18] Sole water: dissolve salt into very hot water until no more will dissolve, then add drops to normal drinks. It's handy if you go by feel, but it muddies the numbers if you track.
- [9:30] I suggested keeping sodium and potassium about one to one. I said studies tracking mortality looked better on the higher side of sodium for people without a salt-sensitive condition.
- [11:11] Do you need chaffles to do keto? No. They're fine, and they aren't required.
- [12:01] The catch with chaffles: egg and cheese both run close to one-to-one fat to protein by grams. By calories that leans toward fat.
- [12:45] For a woman about 5'3" in her weight-loss phase: roughly 80 g protein, 77 g fat and 20 g carbs, about 1,100 calories. Foods that are one-to-one barely reach the protein line, so balance them with leaner protein like sirloin.
- [15:14] Chicken broth is good, but collagen is an incomplete protein, so it doesn't count fully toward your protein goal. Bouillon cubes are mostly salt and flavouring, and that's why I use them.
- [17:42] Bulletproof coffee and chaffles are both optional (see the 2017 coffee recording). A diet of olive oil alone would technically be keto and would be terrible.
- [19:14] The group's "stall breaker" meal plan is about 700 to 800 calories, with a lot of broccoli and supplements to cover nutrition at a low calorie level.
- [26:03] A short tour of my deck plants, then the wrap-up.
- [29:35] Starting macros again: 80 g protein, 77 g fat, 20 g net carbs for a woman between 5' and 5'6". Add 20 g of protein for men, 20 for tall people and 20 for athletes. Fat can stay low.
Drill-down: my 2019 electrolyte numbers vs the reference bodies
This is the part to unpack, because I said "RDA" for two numbers that don't match the current references.
Potassium. I said about 4,700 mg. The National Academies' 2019 reference sets an Adequate Intake of 2,600 mg a day for women and 3,400 mg for men, and sets no chronic-disease reduction level for potassium (NASEM 2019). The WHO says adults should get at least 3,510 mg a day from food (WHO potassium guideline). My 4,700 is higher than either. The part that holds up is the direction: most low-carb eaters get too little potassium, not too much.
Sodium. I said 3,500 mg. NASEM's 2019 numbers are an Adequate Intake of 1,500 mg and advice to cut back if you're above 2,300 mg (NASEM 2019). My "higher looked better" line comes from the PURE cohort. In 101,945 people across 17 countries, sodium of 3 to 6 g a day was associated with fewer deaths and cardiovascular events than intakes above or below that range (O'Donnell 2014). That study estimated sodium from one morning urine sample, and it's an association. Trials of cutting salt, on the other hand, found lower blood pressure, with bigger drops in people with hypertension (He 2013). Both are true. I gave you the first and skipped the second.
Potassium chloride salt substitutes. These have the strongest backing of anything I said here. A trial of 20,995 people found a potassium-enriched salt substitute lowered stroke, major cardiovascular events and death (Neal 2021). The WHO now suggests potassium-containing substitutes instead of regular salt, except for people at risk of high blood potassium (WHO sodium fact sheet).
That exception matters. If you have kidney disease, or take medication for blood pressure or your heart, ask your doctor before adding potassium chloride or a lot of salt. I said "talk to your doctor" in the Live. This is the specific reason why. More in keto with blood-pressure medication.
I didn't check my claims about calcium citrate vs carbonate, iodized salt, or trace elements in pink salt against any evidence page here. Treat those as my opinions from 2019.
Then vs now
My electrolyte advice kept getting more specific. In 2017 I named the four minerals and pointed to light salt and leafy greens (video lbRPlGZ3Rvw). By May 2018 I was measuring out piles of salt on camera and had moved from light salt to a pure potassium-chloride substitute (video -dHjt_Bpruk). In this Live I'm mixing bottles and making sole water.
The carb number moved too. In 2018 I told beginners under 50 g of total carbs (video UygKGoP_BtA). Here it's 20 g net, with the same protein-first logic and the same +20 adjustments.
One more caution. A 700 to 800 calorie plan is very low. If you have a history of an eating disorder, are pregnant, or take medication for diabetes, don't try it without your care team. See keto and eating-disorder history.
Key points
- Chaffles and bulletproof coffee are optional. Keto means cutting carbs, not owning a waffle maker (live JDOC7543).
- Egg-and-cheese foods are about one-to-one fat to protein. Add lean protein to reach your protein target.
- Potassium is the electrolyte people miss. Current references are lower than the 4,700 mg I quoted, but most people still fall short.
- Potassium-chloride substitutes have good trial evidence. Ask a doctor first if you have kidney disease or take blood-pressure or heart medication.
Related
- Guide: Chapter 7: Electrolytes · Sodium on keto · Potassium and magnesium · How much protein
- Blog: Light salt and potassium chloride · Is pink Himalayan salt better? · The PURE salt study · Broth for keto flu · Is dairy keto?
- Videos: Making sense of electrolytes (2017) · The bouillon routine (2018) · Keto basics for beginners (2018) · Bulletproof coffee, original recording