Other Studies Examine The Link Between Electrolytes And Cramping:
- Low sodium levels: A 2005 study published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise examined 18 Ironman triathletes, and found lower sodium blood-levels in the 11 triathletes that experienced cramping than the non-cramping athletes. However, the study, which controlled for finishing times and body weight, did not find significant differences between athletes for other electrolyte, glucose or hemoglobin levels. Also, a 2005 study in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism examined football players and found that regardless of sodium and water intake, the sodium content in sweat for cramp-prone players was more than twice as high as players who did not cramp. This study also did not find significant differences in levels of other electrolytes.
- High heat and humidity: Researchers from the Medical College of Georgia reported the results of a study involving tennis players who were prone to cramping in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport in 2003. The researchers noted that extensive sweating throughout previous matches was a significant predictor of cramps in the players. Many scientists also agree that cramps are an early sign of heat stroke.
What Happens When Your Body Is Low On Electrolytes
If you have ever suffered from dehydration, you know just how bad being low on electrolytes can feel. There’s a reason for that. Electrolytes are responsible for regulating some critical bodily functions. So critical, in fact, that severe dehydration can cause death.
That sounds grim, I know. However, it’s vital to understand the importance of staying hydrated. It’s not just about drinking some water every day. When your body becomes low on electrolytes, it can impair your body’s functions, such as blood clotting, muscle contractions, acid balance, and fluid regulation. Your heart is a muscle, so that means electrolytes help regulate your heartbeat.
The last thing you want when you are on the field or the track is to have to worry about a looming electrolyte imbalance in your body. You need to know that your body and, most importantly, your heart is armed with what it needs to perform optimally. Drinking HYDRATE, a high quality oral rehydrating solution, is one way to ensure that your electrolyte balance remains in check.
This article will discuss what electrolytes are, what causes low electrolytes, the symptoms of low electrolytes, and how to replenish them.
How Do Electrolytes Help You When You Are Sick
No one enjoys being sick, but there are some days when it just hits us, and were down for the count. Those are the times when we do whatever we can to make the illness go away as fast as possible. We take our vitamins, we sip on our chicken soup, we press a cool damp cloth on our foreheads, yet we still feel terrible. This is because were missing one of the key ingredients to restore our bodies: electrolytes.
Finding electrolytes is as easy as eating the right foods, shopping at your local grocery store, or browsing online for the right beverages. Additionally, companies like dripdrop.com carry a multitude of drinks that are loaded with electrolytes and come in a variety of colors and flavors.
Yet, what are these things that are filling up our waters, and helping us to feel better when were sick? Many health coaches recommend them, and doctors and nurses are quick to recommend them, too. Its important to know what they are so that we can correctly use them for our own well-being.
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Vital Body Functions Maintained By Electrolytes
Electrolytes are involved in practically everything your body does. They are present in blood plasma and inside cells, where they help to stabilize cell membranes.
Electrolytes also maintain protein structure and fluid balance. Electrolytes play a role in chemical reactions in the body, and they help transport substances into and out of cells.
Some bodily processes that rely on electrolytes include:
- Conduction of heartbeat and contraction of heart muscle
- Dilation and contraction of blood vessels
- Conduction of nerve impulses
Electrolytes Energy And Exercise
A good electrolyte level ensures that you can easily bounce back from your workout and stay energized afterward. If electrolyte levels are low, you might feel fatigued post-workout. This fatigue feels a little different than being tired from lack of calories or a bad nights sleep. In many cases of post-workout fatigue, your electrolyte levels need to be reset which means you dont necessarily need extra carbs, calories or caffeine.
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Why Do We Need Electrolytes
Electrolytes are chemical compounds that can break down into ions when dissolved in water. The main examples of electrolytes are sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, magnesium, and phosphate.
Once electrolytes are in our bodies, they dissolve into positive and negative charges. These charges have two main functions: regulating the flow of water in and out of cells, and sparking nerve impulses.
Sodium and potassium work together to maintain the correct balance of fluids inside and outside of your cells, ensuring that your cells neither shrivel up like raisins nor explode like over-filled water balloons. Calcium and magnesium are important for building strong bones.
More importantly, these electrically charged minerals help to stimulate contractions in the heart and other muscles, and also help maintain proper pH, keeping your blood from becoming too acidic or too alkaline.
Eat Rather Than Drink Your Electrolytes
We often associate electrolytes with sports drinksjust dont confuse them with energy drinks, which can be unhealthy. But you can also eat your electrolytes. Eating for electrolyte balance is similar to eating for overall health and wellness and it is the best way to avoid an electrolyte imbalance, says Foroutan. Foods rich in electrolytespotatoes, avocados, spinach, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, peas, and beansare dense in important vitamins and minerals. Vitamins and minerals are co-factors in metabolic processes, the many kinds of reactions that happen in your body behind the scene such as muscle contraction, brain health, and muscle recovery, says Foroutan. Dont miss these 13 nutrients even nutritionists dont get enough of.
Robb Report, Luxury magazine, Reader’s Digest,
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Electrolytes: Definition Functions Imbalance And Sources
Electrolytes are involved in many essential processes in your body.
They play a role in conducting nervous impulses, contracting muscles, keeping you hydrated and regulating your bodys pH levels .
Therefore, you need to get an adequate amount of electrolytes from your diet to keep your body functioning as it should.
This article takes a detailed look at electrolytes, their functions, the risk of imbalance and possible sources.
In nutrition, the term refers to essential minerals found in your blood, sweat and urine.
When these minerals dissolve in a fluid, they form electrolytes positive or negative ions used in metabolic processes.
Electrolytes found in your body include:
These electrolytes are required for various bodily processes, including proper nerve and muscle function, maintaining acid-base balance and keeping you hydrated.
Summary
Electrolytes are minerals that carry an electric charge. Theyre found in your blood, urine and sweat and are vital to specific processes that keep your body functioning as it should.
Electrolytes are crucial to keeping your nervous system and muscles functioning and your internal environment balanced.
What Type Of Results Will I Get
Most lab results include your result number and a reference range. A reference range has an upper and a lower limit, and any result that falls between the two is considered a normal result. Most of these results are communicated as “how much of a substance can be found in a specific sample size.”
Mass is a unit of how much. Its not the same as weight. The units of mass that are used are millimoles, milliequivalents or milligrams.
- Millimoles are the most constant and can be used for all electrolyte atoms and molecules.
- Milliequivalents per liter are often used instead of millimoles. This is because milliequivalents take into account the strength of an ion’s charge, which is why ions with stronger charges have different amounts than the same test results in millimoles.
- Milligrams per deciliter may sometimes be used for larger atoms and molecules.
The prefix milli-” means 1/1,000th. The units of volume are usually displayed as a liter or fractions of a liter, like a deciliter or milliliter .
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Should I Supplement My Diet With Electrolytes
Most people do not require electrolyte supplementation. By eating a nutritious diet and staying hydrated with water you should get sufficient electrolytes.
During times of excessive fluid loss , oral rehydration solutions can be used.
People with medical conditions and those who take certain medications that alter electrolyte balance may be prescribed electrolyte supplements, but this should always be monitored by a healthcare provider.
Electrolyte Balance And Cramping In Runners
While running you lose electrolytes through your sweat, mainly sodium and potassium.
Potassium permits the movement of fluids and nutrients across your cells membranes, thus allowing them to carry on their metabolic activities such as contacting muscles.
Without sufficient potassium, your muscles cells cant generate the necessary nerve impulses that control muscle contraction.
Cramping is the bodys way of letting you know the electrolyte tank is empty and it cannot continue its like a car running out of gas.
Even youve never experienced cramping, electrolytes need to be replenished after sessions longer than a hour to facilitate optimal recovery.
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Hormones Involved In Fluid Regulation
Another major cause of electrolyte imbalance is issues with the hormone and endocrine system. Hormones, like electrolytes, help regulate your body fluids. Water in the body is contained inside the cells as well as in the extracellular space, or interstitium, in certain ratios. These ratios are maintained when each space has the right fluid-to-electrolyte concentrations.
Your body needs to take in water from food and drink as well as to excrete water containing waste material in order to function properly. The amount of water excreted by your kidneys is regulated by aldosterone and antidiuretic hormone . Problems with ADH are rare, though they can still happen and can lead to a condition called diabetes insipidus. But problems with aldosterone are fairly common, especially with AFS.
Aldosterone is secreted by the adrenal glands, and one of its main functions is to tell the kidneys to retain sodium rather than allow it to be flushed out in urine. Sodium allows the body to hold onto water. And the more water your body has, the more blood volume it has as well. Higher blood volume increases blood pressure, which is why hypertension patients are told to consume less salt.
What Causes An Electrolyte Imbalance
Water makes up more than half of your bodys weight. Blood and fluid in and around cells hold most of this water. Your kidneys and liver, as well as other organs and tissue, continually move electrolytes in and out of cells to adjust fluid levels within the compartments.
Certain health conditions can affect your bodys ability to move and balance electrolytes. When fluid compartments have too many or too few electrolytes, you have an electrolyte imbalance.
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What Questions Should I Ask My Doctor
You may want to ask your healthcare provider:
- What type of electrolyte imbalance do I have?
- What caused the electrolyte imbalance?
- What is the most appropriate treatment?
- What are the treatment side effects?
- How can I lower my chances of developing an electrolyte imbalance?
- Should I look out for complications?
A note from Cleveland Clinic
Electrolytes like potassium, sodium, magnesium and calcium help your body regulate fluids. Certain health conditions can affect electrolyte levels in blood, urine and tissues, causing an electrolyte imbalance. An electrolyte panel as part of a routine blood test may detect this imbalance. Or you may have symptoms that indicate a problem with electrolyte levels.
Last reviewed by a Cleveland Clinic medical professional on 08/13/2022.
References
Which Beverages Hydrate The Body And Which Dehydrate
Some beverages are better than others at preventing dehydration. Water is all you need if youre planning to be active in a low or moderate intensity activity, such as walking for only an hour or less. If you plan to exercise longer than that, or if you anticipate being out in the sun for more than a few hours, you may want to hydrate with some kind of sports drink. These replace not only fluid, but also electrolytes like sodium and potassium, which are lost through sweating. Too much or too little sodium and potassium in the body can cause trouble. Muscle cramping may be due to a deficiency of electrolytes.
Alcoholic and caffeinated beverages, such as coffee, teas and colas, are not recommended for optimal hydration. These fluids tend to pull water from the body and promote dehydration. Fruit juice and fruit drinks may have too many carbohydrates, too little sodium and they may upset your stomach.
Adequate hydration will keep your summer activities safer and much more enjoyable. Keep an extra pitcher of water in the refrigerator and add fresh lemons, limes, cucumber or mint for a dash of flavor.
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Symptoms Of Electrolyte Imbalance Plus How To Solve It
What are electrolytes? Electrolytes are certain nutrients present in your body that have many important functions from regulating your heartbeat to allowing your muscles to contract so you can move.
The major electrolytes found within the body include calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, phosphate and chloride. Because these crucial nutrients help stimulate nerves throughout the body and balance fluid levels, an electrolyte imbalance can cause a variety of serious negative symptoms, including some that are potentially deadly.
You obtain electrolytes through eating different foods and drinking certain fluids, while you lose them partially through exercise, sweating, going to the bathroom and urinating. This is why a poor diet, too little or too much exercise, and being sick are some possible causes for an electrolyte imbalance.
Some of the major roles that electrolytes have within the body include:
Fight Fatigue With Hydration
Now that you know why dehydration makes you feel more lethargic than your 17-year-old cat on a sweltering summer day, what can you do to make sure youre staying hydrated and energetic?
While theres really no one-size-fits-all hydration plan that will work for everybody, scientists at the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine have created some helpful guidelines for getting the right amount of fluids each day.
If youre a healthy adult living in a temperate climate you need to get about 15.5 cups of fluids per day if youre a man and about 11.5 cups of fluids per day if youre a woman.
Now, you dont necessarily need to drink this much water per day. This guideline includes the fluids that you get in your diet through what you eat and beverages other than water . And remember, you also need to adjust your fluid intake based on personal factors like living in a hot or humid climate, your activity level, your health status, and whether or not you are pregnant or nursing.
Of course, fluids are only one part of the hydration equation. Electrolytes are equally important. Water and electrolytes work together to keep the cells throughout your body properly hydrated. Electrolytes play a particularly important role in keeping your heart, muscle, and nerve cells functioning as they should.
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Low Sodium = Low Energy
I see a lot of low sodium in the low-carb community. Low-carbers tend to be short on sodium because:
The resulting symptoms are low-energy, fatigue, headaches, cramps, and insomnia. Its often called keto flu, but its actually low-sodium flu.
When you bump up the sodium, the energy comes back nicely. Let me share an anecdote to illustrate.
Years ago, before I created Drink LMNT, I noticed my energy was starting to wane during jiu-jitsu training. I thought maybe it was age-related. I assumed my low-carb nutrition was perfectly dialed in, so I didnt tinker much.
But when I mentioned my energy issues to my coaches, they gave me the following advice:
Get more electrolytes. Especially more sodium.
It took me about a year, but I listened. And when I did, I immediately realized I should have listened sooner. Just a couple more daily grams of sodium made a HUGE difference for me on the jiu-jitsu mat.
I believe electrolytes can be a game changer for a huge number of people. Thats why Ive become a cheerleader for these minerals lately.
Electrolytes And Running Performance
Even in more mundane situations, when not racing in extreme heat, maintaining your electrolyte balance has its advantages.
A 2001 study by Sanders, Noakes, and Dennis found that cyclists who consumed a sports drink with sodium in it during a 4.5 hour ride produced much less urine than those who consumed an equivalent volume of salt-free sports drink.
They concluded that this was because the cyclists did not need to excrete as much water to balance out the sodium concentration inside their bodies.
This bodes well for marathonersafter all, who wants to have to take a bathroom break during a race?
It seems strange that the saltiness of a fluid influences how much urine your body will produce, but when the fluid youre drinking is closer in electrolyte concentration to the fluid youre losing , your body can more or less replace the sweat one to one instead of having to add in electrolytes that are already in your body, resulting in lower overall sodium levels in your blood.
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How Do I Get Myself And My Loved Ones To Drink More Water
- Carry a water bottle with you. Keep it filled!
- Choose water instead of sugary drinks, including at meals.
- Add flavor. A wedge of lime or lemon might make it tastier, and more fun! You can also try some flavored drink mixes, but watch out for the sugar!
- Eat foods that are high in water content. Many soups, fruits and vegetables meet this description.
- If you dont like drinking a lot of water at once, try smaller doses spread out throughout the day.
