Carnivore Electrolytes: Why 'Just Eat Meat' Isn't Enough

The most common piece of carnivore advice online is: "If you eat enough meat, you get everything you need." That's true for protein and mostly true for fat. It is not true for electrolytes — and the math is easy to check.

What a pound of beef actually contains

1 lb (450g) ribeye, cooked:

• Sodium: ~350 mg (before you salt it)
• Potassium: ~1,500 mg
• Magnesium: ~110 mg

Even at 2 lbs of meat per day — which is a lot — you're pulling roughly 700 mg sodium, 3,000 mg potassium, and 220 mg magnesium before supplementation. On carnivore, with insulin at rock bottom, your kidneys want you at 4,000–6,000 mg sodium and 300–400 mg magnesium daily. You're short.

Why potassium looks fine but often isn't

On paper, meat delivers plenty of potassium. In practice, if sodium is low, potassium doesn't stay put — the two travel together. Fix sodium first and your potassium math actually holds. Under-salt and you'll be leg-cramping at 3am no matter how much ribeye you ate.

The carnivore electrolyte stack

1. Salt aggressively. ~1 teaspoon of salt across the day (2,300 mg) added to what's already in the meat. Two if you're sweating.
2. Magnesium glycinate: 300–400 mg before bed. There is no way to hit magnesium targets on meat alone. Accept it and supplement.
3. Potassium chloride if you cramp. Not everyone needs it on carnivore, but if you're getting leg cramps or heart palpitations, add 500–1,000 mg.

The bigger point

"Just eat meat" is a philosophy, not a mineral protocol. Carnivore works beautifully for a lot of people — but the ones who thrive long-term almost universally add electrolytes. The ones who quit after 3 months are usually the ones who didn't.