Potassium nitrate vs. sodium nitrate

[tyrub42]

Hi everyone! So I am currently living in Taiwan. After reading a bit about potassium nitrate as it's PWO benefits, I tried to find it for sale here. While it is easy to find it, I haven't been able to find food-grade anywhere (yet). After trying out the "chemical district" today, I decided to swing by a sausage shop and ask about it. The owner told me that he knows where to get it and even had some to give me (he'll bring it by the store tomorrow for me), but after translating the chinese, it is sodium nitrate, not potassium nitrate.

Will sodium nitrate have the same benefits as potassium nitrate as a PWO pump product?

Looking at a periodic table, sodium is much lighter than potassium, so I am thinking that if 150mg of potassium nitrate has 58mg of potassium (92mg nitrate), then 150mg of sodium nitrate should have about 30-35mg of sodium (115-120mg nitrate). Does that sound about right?

I will still try to find potassium nitrate in the food prep district (apparently we have on of those) either way, as I don't think I get enough potassium, but in the meantime, am in correct in my assumptions above? Thanks!

Best,
Tyler

P.S.- If I made any glaring errors in my reasoning, let me know...I am very new to the thought of using nitrates for PWO supplementation.

 

[xR1pp3Rx]

Potassium Nitrate is 61% Nitrate, and only 39% Potassium so you will have to take more of other kinds to achive the same effects as taking the potassium version.

 

[tyrub42]

Potassium Nitrate is 61% Nitrate, and only 39% Potassium so you will have to take more of other kinds to achive the same effects as taking the potassium version.

Wow thanks for the lightning-fast reply!

Do you know the percentages for sodium nitrate? I just assumed that it would be less than 39% sodium because sodium is lighter than potassium (Na's atomic mass is ~23 whereas K's is ~39). That isn't true?

Aside from changing the amount I have to take, is sodium nitrate an acceptable substitute for potassium nitrate?

Thanks again for replying so quickly!

Best,
Tyler

 

[xR1pp3Rx]

I don't know those numbers. it seems like powershock used to use sodium nitrates. really its about the nitrate dose u are ultimately after. but I don't know that you want to add sodium to your diet. that's part of the reason iForce uses the potassium version, potassium has good benefits on its own. plus because its packed with more nitrates its easier to get the doses u are after.
sodium nitrate might be awful to swallow.

 

[tyrub42]

Thanks again, dude!

Haha taste won't be too bad (I've been using GPLC recently...anything would taste better than that).

Yeah I definitely agree about K being better to add than Na for most people, and specifically myself as the only K-rich food I eat is a banana every day and occasionally some of the K-rich vegetables but not nearly enough. I will continue to search for KNO3 and switch to that if at all possible (if I can find it here, it will be incredibly inexpensive...I just haven't had any luck yet). The iForce version seems pretty much perfect even including the Vit C and you guys are literally giving it away for free with Hemavol, which is great.

Now the only question left is what are the percentages of sodium and nitrate. If anyone knows, please chime in!!! I am going on the assumption that potassium nitrate is one K atom bonded to a NO3 molecule, and sodium nitrate is one Na atom bonded to a NO3 molecule. K's mass is 39; Na's mass is 23. If all of that is true, then sodium nitrate would yield a higher percentage of nitrates compared to potassium nitrate. I am loosely estimating about 25% sodium and 75% nitrate. However, I am no Walter White so it is possible (...ok, likely) that I am massively wrong. If anyone has this information, please post. Thanks!!!

Best,
Tyler

 

[schizm]

Think I had just read that Purus labs Condense uses sodium nitrate...

 

[laneanders]

I'm not sure what the amount of sodium would be, but ripper already let you know about the amount in KNO3 Potassium Nitrate. If you can't find it nitrates are still beneficial. I don't know the amount you would need to adjust though.

 

[Montego1]

Thanks again, dude!

Haha taste won't be too bad (I've been using GPLC recently...anything would taste better than that).

Yeah I definitely agree about K being better to add than Na for most people, and specifically myself as the only K-rich food I eat is a banana every day and occasionally some of the K-rich vegetables but not nearly enough. I will continue to search for KNO3 and switch to that if at all possible (if I can find it here, it will be incredibly inexpensive...I just haven't had any luck yet). The iForce version seems pretty much perfect even including the Vit C and you guys are literally giving it away for free with Hemavol, which is great.

Now the only question left is what are the percentages of sodium and nitrate. If anyone knows, please chime in!!! I am going on the assumption that potassium nitrate is one K atom bonded to a NO3 molecule, and sodium nitrate is one Na atom bonded to a NO3 molecule. K's mass is 39; Na's mass is 23. If all of that is true, then sodium nitrate would yield a higher percentage of nitrates compared to potassium nitrate. I am loosely estimating about 25% sodium and 75% nitrate. However, I am no Walter White so it is possible (...ok, likely) that I am massively wrong. If anyone has this information, please post. Thanks!!!

Best,
Tyler

You might ask Purus Reps Grambo or DanB if they know the%. Purus Condense does have sodium nitrate but im not sure if they will tell you though....secrets and all

Nfi how to mention on here. ...

 

[tyrub42]

You might ask Purus Reps Grambo or DanB if they know the%. Purus Condense does have sodium nitrate but im not sure if they will tell you though....secrets and all

Nfi how to mention on here. ...

That is an awesome idea, thanks!!! Hopefully they will tell me. If not, I will just go by my calculation from earlier and start with a reasonable dose of 500mg. If I find the info (and the source doesn't tell me not to post it), I will post it here. Thanks again!

Best,
Tyler

 

[tyrub42]

OK I found a Purus Labs rep that was online now and sent a message. I will let you know what he tells me. If I don't hear back, I will try to ask MrCooper as I am pretty much convinced that he knows everything about every compound ever. I will update when I hear back.

 

[Montego1]

OK I found a Purus Labs rep that was online now and sent a message. I will let you know what he tells me. If I don't hear back, I will try to ask MrCooper as I am pretty much convinced that he knows everything about every compound ever. I will update when I hear back.

He is a very knowledgeable guy.

 

[tyrub42]

Oh nevermind, the info was right there in the Condense labeling. Sodium nitrate = 480mg. Sodium = 130 mg. So nitrates in 480mg = 350mg

I had inferred that sodium was about 25%. It seems that it is actually 27%. Not a bad inference

 

[tyrub42]

Well, I found potassium nitrate about 25 min. away so I will pick some up if this sodium nitrate works well.

I just took my first dose with my PWO stuff and 300mg vitamin C and am about to hit the gym.

XR1PP3RX in regards to the taste, you are right it isn't pleasant. It reminded me of swallowing sea water as a kid. I didn't expect it to taste so much like table salt for some reason, but I guess it makes sense that it would.

Has anyone tasted potassium nitrate? Is it any better? If this works, I will switch regardless since I don't think I get enough potassium as it is .

Thanks again to everyone for the replies. I will update again if there is any more relevant info to share.

 

[tyrub42]

OK I just tried a workout with my usual PWO plus 450-500mg of sodium nitrate. Honestly went pretty badly. I noticed a few small side effects right away (dizziness, etc...), which I think were just placebo effects because they started right away. During cardio, I became light-headed for a minute or two, but for the most part it was ok. Lifting went without incident, but my lifts were down a bit from my last workout. The whole time, every time I burped, I got a weird taste in my mouth. By the time I was driving home, I was feeling pretty nauseous. When I got in the door, I immediately ran to the bathroom and threw up...then threw up again. Was it definitely the sodium nitrate? Nope, there are other possibilities (food poisoning, hypoglycemia from ABE taken PWO, etc); however the only things that I did today that I didn't do last week during this time were that my PWO meal had a higher fat content than normal and a lower protein content, and I added sodium nitrate.

I didn't get any crazy pump from the addition of sodium nitrate. I do feel pumped up, but I always get pumped up from lifting, plus my PWO and ABE. I didn't see or feel a noticeable difference today, and my energy wasn't great during either cardio or lifting. My major lifts went down, so there was no performance increase and more likely a performance decrease.

I don't think I will be trying sodium nitrate again, however I am still considering potassium nitrate if the taste isn't as bad since it is so cheap.

Best,
Tyler

 

[tyrub42]

* a possible reason for my bad experience other than the taste is that I consumed 1 serving of Controlled Labs' greens supplement about 2 hours before consuming the sodium nitrate. That has a nitrate blend in it including beetroot powder, so it is possible that I just had way too much nitrate in my system from both of those. I don't know how much the greens supplement would have factored in but I figured I should mention it.

 

[mr.cooper69]

It was the sodium nitrate. You took too much and had a hypotensive crisis. Always start low. Na-NO3 is 73% nitrate by weight, so you basically took a full dose without assessing tolerance

 

[tyrub42]

It was the sodium nitrate. You took too much and had a hypotensive crisis. Always start low. Na-NO3 is 73% nitrate by weight, so you basically took a full dose without assessing tolerance

Not only did I do that, but I thought about starting lower, decided it was probably unnecessary, and [also being aware of the ratio of nitrate to sodium] still started high. So I was a huge idiot. My performance on my current log suffered, too.

Hey Coop, any idea how long it will take the nausea to wear off???

Best,
Tyler

 

[mr.cooper69]

Not only did I do that, but I thought about starting lower, decided it was probably unnecessary, and [also being aware of the ratio of nitrate to sodium] still started high. So I was a huge idiot. My performance on my current log suffered, too.

Hey Coop, any idea how long it will take the nausea to wear off???

Best,
Tyler

A while. Nitrate salts have an ~8 hour halflife

 

[tyrub42]

A while. Nitrate salts have an ~8 hour halflife

...damn. Oh well, thanks for the info. This is pretty embarrassing overall. I will see if eating helps.

 

[Grayson]

Is it assumed that we can use the same sodium nitrate that is used for curing meats? (assuming we take it with 500mg of Vit C)

Reason being is that a kg of NaNO3 is pretty cheap.

 

[muscleupcrohn]

Is it assumed that we can use the same sodium nitrate that is used for curing meats? (assuming we take it with 500mg of Vit C)

Reason being is that a kg of NaNO3 is pretty cheap.

If it’s food grade, I’d assume that you can use it. You just don’t want fertilizer-grade potassium nitrate for example.

 

[Grayson]

If it’s food grade, I’d assume that you can use it. You just don’t want fertilizer-grade potassium nitrate for example.

That's what I'm thinking. I won't link it, but a simple google search will yield a site where it's "kosher certified," so I assume it's safe to ingest.

I went ahead and bought 400g, so I'll report back.

Since I already use NAC pre-workout, I assume 300-500mg of Vit C would be either redundant or harmful towards hormesis.

 

[adaghma]

That's what I'm thinking. I won't link it, but a simple google search will yield a site where it's "kosher certified," so I assume it's safe to ingest.

I went ahead and bought 400g, so I'll report back.

Since I already use NAC pre-workout, I assume 300-500mg of Vit C would be either redundant or harmful towards hormesis.

Could you PM where you got it