DIY Keto Electrolyte Powder: Exact Recipe with Sodium, Potassium and Magnesium

If you follow a ketogenic diet or practice intermittent fasting, you have probably felt the "keto flu": headaches, fatigue, muscle cramps, brain fog. In most cases, the culprit is not the diet itself — it is electrolyte loss. When insulin drops, your kidneys excrete sodium much faster, dragging potassium and water along with it. The fix is simple, cheap and completely under your control: a homemade electrolyte powder made from three or four bulk ingredients and a 0.1 g scale.

This guide gives you a precise, gram-based recipe per litre of water, explains how to weigh it accurately, and compares the cost of mixing your own against commercial sticks like LMNT or similar products.

How much sodium, potassium and magnesium do you actually need on keto?

Recommendations from clinicians who work with ketogenic patients (such as the team at Virta Health) generally fall in these ranges for healthy adults on a well-formulated ketogenic diet:

  • Sodium: roughly 3,000–5,000 mg per day total (including food). Low-carb dieters can lose several grams of sodium during the first week of carb restriction.
  • Potassium: roughly 3,000–4,000 mg per day total. Most of this should still come from food (leafy greens, avocado, meat); supplementation typically covers only a fraction.
  • Magnesium: roughly 300–500 mg per day. Many adults are below the recommended intake even before starting keto.

Two important caveats. First, these are total daily targets, not supplement doses — your food already provides part of it. Second, potassium has a narrower safety margin than sodium: people with kidney disease, or those taking blood pressure medications, ACE inhibitors or potassium-sparing diuretics, should not supplement potassium without medical supervision.

The base recipe: grams per litre of water

Here is a balanced, lightly salty-citrus mix designed for one litre of cold water. It delivers meaningful sodium, a moderate potassium top-up and a sensible magnesium dose without pushing any single mineral to its limit.

Ingredient Amount per litre Approx. elemental mineral
Fine sea salt or Himalayan pink salt 2.5 g ~975 mg sodium
Potassium citrate 1.5 g ~540 mg potassium
Magnesium citrate powder 1.0 g ~120–160 mg magnesium (check your COA)
Citric acid 1.0 g — (tartness)
Sucralose or stevia reb M 0.02–0.05 g (optional) — (sweetness)

Why these numbers work: salt (sodium chloride) is about 39% elemental sodium by weight, so 2.5 g of sea salt or Himalayan pink salt yields close to one gram of sodium. Potassium citrate is roughly 36–38% elemental potassium, and magnesium citrate powders typically contain around 11–16% elemental magnesium depending on the grade — always confirm the elemental percentage on your supplier's certificate of analysis before finalizing your math.

Drink one to three litres of this over the day depending on your food intake, sweat rate and how you feel. On heavy training or sauna days, many people lean toward the higher end for sodium specifically — for example by adding sodium citrate, which provides sodium (about 23% by weight) with a milder, less salty taste than pure salt.

Weighing to 0.1 g: the tool that makes or breaks this recipe

Kitchen spoons are useless here. A teaspoon of fine salt and a teaspoon of coarse salt can differ by 40% in weight, and magnesium powders vary enormously in density. Buy a pocket scale with 0.1 g resolution (they cost less than a single tub of commercial electrolytes) and follow this routine:

  • Tare a small cup on the scale, then weigh each ingredient one at a time.
  • Work on a stable, level surface away from air drafts.
  • For the sweetener, which is dosed in hundredths of a gram, make a pre-dilution: mix 1 g of sucralose into 99 g of your salt, and use that blend. Every 1 g of the blend then delivers 10 mg of sucralose — much easier to weigh accurately.

Batch preparation: make a month at once

Weighing four powders every morning gets old. Instead, multiply the recipe by 30 and blend a jar:

  • 75 g fine sea salt
  • 45 g potassium citrate
  • 30 g magnesium citrate
  • 30 g citric acid
  • 0.6–1.5 g sweetener (or your pre-dilution equivalent)

Shake thoroughly in a sealed container, then weigh out 6 g of the blend per litre of water. Because the powders have different densities, always dose the finished blend by weight rather than by scoop, and re-shake the jar before each use to counter settling. Stored dry and sealed, the blend keeps for many months; citric acid and the salts are extremely shelf-stable.

Cost: bulk powders vs commercial electrolyte sticks

Commercial single-serve electrolyte sticks typically work out to somewhere between one and two dollars per serving at Canadian retail prices. The raw ingredients above — salt, potassium citrate, magnesium citrate, citric acid — are commodity powders that cost a few cents per serving when purchased by the kilogram. Without quoting exact prices (they move with the market), the order of magnitude is consistent: mixing your own generally costs five to twenty times less per litre than branded sticks, and one kilogram of each ingredient covers hundreds of servings.

You also gain control. Prefer a higher-sodium, lower-potassium profile for fasting days? Adjust one line of the recipe. Want a fruitier drink? Add a spoonful of coconut water powder, which naturally contributes potassium, or swap part of the citric acid for malic acid for a rounder tartness.

Common mistakes to avoid

1. Too much magnesium at once

Magnesium is the classic beginner error. Above roughly 350 mg per day of supplemental magnesium (the tolerable upper intake level set for supplements by the U.S. NIH), many people experience loose stools and cramping — magnesium citrate is literally used as a laxative at high doses. Split your intake across the day, stay near 100–150 mg per litre, and consider magnesium bisglycinate, which is often reported as gentler on digestion, for the portion you take in capsules or at night.

2. Eyeballing potassium

Potassium is the mineral where precision matters most. Never "add a bit extra" by feel, and never confuse potassium citrate with potassium chloride — the elemental percentages and taste differ significantly. If you take any medication affecting potassium balance, talk to your physician or pharmacist first.

3. Using scoops instead of a scale

Powder density varies between suppliers, humidity levels and even lots. Weight is the only reliable unit. A 0.1 g scale removes all guesswork.

4. Ignoring taste until the end

An electrolyte drink you do not enjoy is one you will not drink. Balance the salty edge with citric acid and a trace of sweetener; test one litre before committing to a large batch.

Ingredients used in this recipe

All are food-grade powders available by the kilogram, shipped anywhere in Canada.

Disclaimer: this article is provided for general information only and is not medical advice. Electrolyte needs vary by individual, and supplementation — especially potassium — can be inappropriate for people with kidney conditions or those on certain medications. Consult a qualified healthcare professional before changing your electrolyte intake.

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