Importance of electrolyte supplementation for fasting | Rhonda Patrick
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Electrolytes – essential minerals such as potassium, calcium, sodium, and magnesium – play crucial roles in cellular function. Fasting can deplete the body's stores of electrolytes, especially during prolonged fasts or during periods of exercise when electrolytes can be lost during sweat. Because electrolytes are non-calories, replenishment does not appear to alter circadian rhythms. In this clip, Dr. Rhonda Patrick discusses when electrolyte replenishment might be necessary.
[Mike]: What about electrolytes though? Like, because we get a lot of questions, you know, electrolytes, I guess, technically a supplement. You're supplementing your natural biochemistry with, you know, magnesium or salts. Any thoughts on that?
[Dr. Patrick]: You know, I do think that for time-restricted eating, you know, I personally like to try to take everything within my eating window, but I don't think it's really key when you're talking about things like sodium, potassium, and magnesium. Like, as far as I know, that's not really changing any of the circadian rhythm. But when you're talking about a prolonged fast, when people are fasting, for example, 48 hours, or more... And by the way, like, as you get into a more prolonged fast, that's something that you may want to do under a medical school supervision.
[Mike]: Yeah, absolutely. I should say now that while you're a PhD, you're not a practicing clinician. And so none of what we talk about today should be construed as medical advice, but research findings.
[Dr. Patrick]: Exactly. Information. So with, so basically, the electrolyte stuff, I think that, you know, there is evidence in the literature. You look at someone that's doing a prolonged fast, you do start to deplete things like sodium and potassium immediately. Those things sort of taper off as the fast goes on. But I do think that, you know, there is some evidence that it's good to take an electrolyte supplement particularly with a prolonged fast.
[Mike]: If you're doing water only. Even more important, right?
[Dr. Patrick]: Yeah. So there's a variety of like mineral and electrolyte supplements out there.
[Mike]: Cool.
The body’s 24-hour cycles of biological, hormonal, and behavioral patterns. Circadian rhythms modulate a wide array of physiological processes, including the body’s production of hormones that regulate sleep, hunger, metabolism, and others, ultimately influencing body weight, performance, and susceptibility to disease. As much as 80 percent of gene expression in mammals is under circadian control, including genes in the brain, liver, and muscle.[1] Consequently, circadian rhythmicity may have profound implications for human healthspan.
A type of intermittent fasting that exceeds 48 hours. During prolonged periods of fasting, liver glycogen stores are fully depleted. To fuel the brain, the body relies on gluconeogenesis – a metabolic process that produces glucose from ketones, glycerol, and amino acids – to generate approximately 80 grams per day of glucose [1]. Depending on body weight and composition, humans can survive 30 or more days without any food. Prolonged fasting is commonly used in the clinical setting.
[1] Longo, Valter D., and Mark P. Mattson. "Fasting: molecular mechanisms and clinical applications." Cell metabolism 19.2 (2014): 181-192.
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