Electrolytes It plays a very important role in metabolism and is an essential substance for the human body. So what are electrolytes? What is the role of electrolytes in the body and how to safely replenish electrolytes for the body? Find out why right here.
What are electrolytes?
Electrolyte is the term for particles that carry a positive or negative charge. This term in nutrition refers to essential minerals found in blood, sweat, and urine. These minerals, when dissolved in a liquid, form electrolytes, which are positive or negative ions used in metabolism.
In the body, commonly found electrolytes include:
- Sodium
- Potassium
- Chloride
- Calcium
- Magnesium
- Phosphorus
- Bicarbonate
The various metabolic processes of the body, including proper nerve and muscle function, maintaining acid-base balance and keeping you hydrated always require these electrolytes.
In a nutshell, electrolytes are electrically charged minerals commonly found in blood, urine, and sweat. At the same time, for the body’s metabolic processes, to help your body function normally, electrolyte water also plays a very important role.
Let’s find out the detailed role of electrolytes in the body below.
Role of electrolytes in the body
Electrolytes are important for keeping your nervous and muscular systems functioning in a balanced internal environment.
Sodium (Na+) maintains body fluid balance
Sodium is one of the body’s electrolytes, a mineral that the body needs in relatively large amounts. Most of the sodium is normally in the blood and in the fluid around the body’s cells to keep the fluid in normal equilibrium. In addition, sodium also helps nerve functions and balances pH to protect the body.
Potassium (K+) prevents cramps
Cramps happen when muscles contract that you don’t want. Muscles contract when they receive messages from motor neurons. These neurons are active because sodium enters the cell. On the other hand, in the intracellular fluid, potassium occupies a large proportion. So this electrolyte when combined with sodium has a role in preventing cramps.
Calcium (Ca2+) regulates muscle contraction and heart rate
In the human body, calcium accounts for a very large amount. This electrolyte plays an important role in many bodily functions such as strengthening bones, metabolizing nutrients, and synthesizing and breaking down muscle and liver glycogen.
In particular, calcium is also important for the heart. The heart beats more than 2 billion times during an average person’s life to circulate blood, which is needed to power every part of the body. The heart consists of 3 billion heart muscle cells that contract with each other during each heartbeat and are jointly responsible for the heart’s pumping function. To ensure that each cell contracts at the right time, the heart uses an electrical signal that moves from cell to cell.
Research over the past decades has found that calcium particles are responsible for the link between electrical activation and muscle contraction. Charged calcium particles enter the heart muscle cells during each beat and contribute to the electrical signal. In addition, these calcium particles begin to shrink by binding to specialized machinery in the cell.
When the calcium binds, the apparatus begins to move and causes the cells to squeeze together. On the other hand, when calcium particles are removed from the heart cells, this triggers relaxation, allowing the heart to refill with blood before the next heartbeat begins. Therefore, without calcium, our heart will stop beating immediately.
Magnesium (Mg2+) relaxes muscles
Magnesium is a natural calcium blocker to help muscles relax. In your muscles, calcium binds to proteins like troponin C and myosin. This process changes the shape of these proteins, causing contraction in the muscle.
Magnesium competes with calcium for these same binding points to help relax your muscles. If there is not enough magnesium in the body to compete with calcium, the muscles will easily contract excessively, causing cramps or spasms. Therefore, magnesium is often recommended by doctors to treat muscle cramps.
Estimation of electrolyte requirements
Living environment, gender, duration and intensity of exercise are factors that determine electrolyte deficiency.
In addition, the daily requirement for electrolytes can also vary, such as:
- Both men and women should keep their sodium intake below 2,000 mg. If the body is out of balance, it is possible to add electrolytes to the body to rebalance the electrolytes.
- It is recommended to maintain a potassium intake of 4000mg per day and supplement with foods containing potassium instead of electrolyte water such as avocado, banana …
- On average, men should maintain magnesium intake between 330-350mg and women between 255-265mg per day.
- Both men and women should keep their calcium intake around 800mg per day because calcium is essential for the body. You can find calcium in meat, fish, eggs, milk…
So if the body loses electrolyte balance, what will be the terrible harm?
Effects of electrolyte imbalance on the body
We are always adding electrolytes to our bodies in different ways. However, there are still cases of electrolyte imbalance that seriously affect health. What is the cause?
Reason
In some cases, the level of electrolytes in your blood can become too high or low, causing an electrolyte imbalance. Electrolyte imbalances are often caused by dehydration, overheating, vomiting, or diarrhea. This is why you should be mindful of replenishing lost fluids when it’s hot outside or when you’re sick.
Eating disorders, trauma such as severe burns or certain kidney diseases can also cause electrolyte imbalance.
Signal
In case you have mild electrolyte disturbances, you probably won’t experience any symptoms. However, if the body is out of balance in more severe cases, it can cause symptoms such as:
- Tired
- Fast or irregular heartbeat
- Muscle numbness and cramps
- Headache
- Confusion and disorientation
- Dizzy
- Convulsion
If you have the above symptoms or suspect you have an electrolyte imbalance, be sure to see your doctor and discuss your symptoms with your doctor.
Harm to health
When your body signals fatigue, chances are your body has an electrolyte imbalance or electrolyte disorder. In rare cases it can even cause death.
- Na imbalance: the body has manifestations such as nausea, thirst or impaired nervous system function
- Potassium imbalance: there are symptoms such as arrhythmia, convulsions, even the heart can stop working suddenly, causing death.
- Ca imbalance: the body is often tired, weak, poor memory, kidney stones, bone pain, …
- Or some other states such as tremors, cramps, irregular heartbeat, hallucinations, poor vision, blood pressure disorders, depression, etc.
If encountering the above situation, how to replenish electrolytes for the body? Find out details below.
How to replenish electrolytes in the body?
To maintain electrolyte balance, the best way is to build a healthy diet. Here are some safe and effective ways to help provide electrolytes you can refer to.
Foods containing sodium
Add foods high in sodium such as cheese, chocolate, peanut butter, olive oil, pickles, etc.
Additional Chloride
You can increase your body’s electrolytes by getting chloride from foods like table salt, seaweed, olives, rye, lettuce, tomatoes, and celery.
Supplement with fruits containing potassium
Fruits rich in potassium include bananas, avocados, oranges, melons, asparagus, etc. or legumes such as soybeans, peas, etc.
Supplement with nuts containing magnesium
The daily required amount of magnesium can be easily supplemented by eating magnesium-rich nuts such as almonds, cashews and Brazil nuts, pumpkin seeds, pecans, sunflower seeds, peanuts, etc.
Dairy foods high in potassium
If you want to add potassium to your body, you can use milk every day, especially fresh milk and yogurt because these two types of milk contain a lot of potassium. Each box of regular yogurt contains 573 mg of potassium, meeting about 12% of the daily potassium requirement, and providing up to 50% of the body’s calcium needs.
Drink electrolyte water
Electrolyzed water is very good for the body, especially contains a lot of electrolytes. When electrolyte water enters the body, it will support metabolism, regulate the activities of the organs and the body can maintain movement for a long time. Besides alkaline ionized water also protects and prevents many dangerous diseases.
Epilogue
Usually, people meet their electrolyte needs through a balanced diet. However, if you have signs that you are having an electrolyte imbalance, then immediately go to the nearest medical facility and get advice from your doctor. Hopefully the above information will help you when learning about electrolytes and understanding how to safely supplement your body with electrolytes. Thanks for watching!
See also: What is alkaline water? – Ideal source of water for a healthy lifestyle
John Alen was born in 1971 and is a doctor in the healthcare and psychology fields with many years of experience. He is currently working at easyhealthylive.com, a leading health and psychology blog. Having studied at Y1 National Medical University named after IM Sechenov, John Alen is using his knowledge and experience to help improve the physical and mental health of people in the United States.
