Your body is electric, and electrolytes are minerals that are required for optimal health. When electrolytes are absorbed by your body, they produce a solution that conducts electricity, allowing your cells to create energy and maintain cellular integrity. They are essential for the overall function of your entire body system, including regulating heartbeat, respiration, digestion, bladder control, fluid metabolism, energy production, and neural functions.
Electrolytes are vital for maintaining the optimal health and function of our cells, and if you’re experiencing pain, aches, or sluggishness, it might be due to an imbalance or a deficit of electrolytes.
The Electrolyte Problem
There are six essential electrolytes: calcium, chloride, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and sodium. These mineral acids, bases, and salts generate and shuttle electricity within the body, allowing cells to communicate, muscles to contract, fluids to move throughout the body, and help maintain a more alkaline pH level.
Without electrolytes, your body cannot control or maintain its core temperature, body fluids cannot remain at optimal levels, and various critical bodily functions will be impaired.
How We Get and Lose Electrolytes
Since your body loses electrolytes when you sweat, they must be replaced. A diet high in organic, raw foods is the best way to get electrolytes, but this type of diet may not be suitable for everyone. Moreover, bad farming practices, chemical herbicides, and other factors have depleted the soil and our food of optimal levels of many essential minerals and nutrients.
Sports drinks were created as an easy way to replace electrolytes. However, many of these products contain caffeine (which causes us to sweat and lose even more electrolytes), unhealthy dyes, and high levels of sugar (which cause an insulin response) or artificial sweeteners (that contribute to metabolic syndrome).
Alternatives to Sports Drinks
A better alternative is electrolyte drops, which can be added to water, coffee, or tea to help maintain optimal electrolyte levels in your body. Two brands that you might consider are E-lyte Balanced Electrolyte Concentrate and ConcenTrace® Trace Mineral Drops.
E-lyte Balanced Electrolyte Concentrate is marketed as a dietary supplement that cleans and replenishes the blood by balancing the essential electrolytes. Adding a few E-lyte drops to your water can help improve the way you function since electrolytes can be lost via stress, poor diet, exercise, illness, and medications.
ConcenTrace® Trace Mineral Drops, on the other hand, claim that their minerals are ‘plant-derived’ and ‘organic,’ making them more effective than synthetic mineral supplements. Moreover, these drops are Non-GMO certified, CGMP certified, Kosher and Halal certified, solar evaporated, gluten-free, vegan, and contain over 72 naturally occurring trace minerals.
Note that the two products mentioned above are not being endorsed explicitly; they are just examples of the importance of maintaining electrolytes in your body. Conduct your research and see what is available at local health shops in your area or online.
The Importance of Electrolyte Replenishment
Most likely, you don’t consume enough calcium, chloride, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and sodium in your regular diet to replace what you lose through stress and sweat. Replenishing your electrolytes through diet and supplementation is essential for you to function optimally.
Commit to consistently replenishing your electrolytes for a month and feel the difference in your health and energy levels. Next week, we’ll explore the importance of maintaining an alkaline body and the role electrolytes play in that as well. With your body functioning optimally with proper pH and electrolyte levels, you are well on your way to optimal health.
