Hydration, Body Fluid & Electrolytes
Hydration really cannot be talked about enough! It’s so vital and something so many overlook or pass off as just being “extra”. But it really is THAT important!
We have a previous article on hydration that you can check out here.
So, what does body fluid do for our bodies?
It is a transporter.
For everything from oxygen and nutrients to hormones and enzymes to electrical impulses (or communication) between cells. They also take away waste materials.
You probably know blood transports oxygen, but did you know more than half your blood volume is plasma and plasma is 90% water?!
*Ever had someone tell you if you’re feeling tired to just drink a glass of water? If you haven’t, now you have! It is possible if you’re feeling sluggish, you’re just experiencing dehydration at the cellular level! Our bodies as a whole have certain hydration needs, you likely know this, but each and every cell in our body also has their own unique hydration needs and they do not function properly if those needs aren’t met. So everything slows down, including the communication between cells. More on this below and how not all liquids are sufficient at keeping our cells hydrated.*
It is a temperature regulator. When our body temperature increases, blood circulation to the skin increases. This enables the dissipation of heat through sweat, this helps to keep the body at a constant temperature. Read more about this here. It is what is constantly adjusting itself to maintain a constant regulation of our internal environment.
Things like temperature, pH balance, total fluid volume, etc have a very delicate balance that needs to be maintained in order for us to, well to be brutally honest, stay alive!
So, yeah, it’s pretty important!
Electrolytes are chemicals which, when dissolved in water,
produce charged ions...
The main electrolytes include (but are not limited to) sodium, chloride, potassium, calcium and magnesium. These five elements are minerals. When minerals dissolve in water they separate into positive and negative ions. These ions enable the flow of electrical signals throughout the body and are necessary for the body to function.
Commonly, sodium is vilified. Maybe we just don’t understand much about it! There are instances where a low-sodium diet is beneficial or even necessary, but if your physician hasn’t instructed or encouraged you to keep sodium low, you do not need to strictly limit or restrict sodium. ESPECIALLY if you’re an athlete, live in a hot and humid environment and sweat a lot!
When we sweat a lot, we lose body fluid. Loss of body fluid equivalent to just 2% of your body weight, you feel thirsty and your performance may begin to suffer. When you lose 3%, you are likely to be very thirsty, and experience symptoms such as feeling faint and a loss of appetite. When you lose 4% to 5% of your body weight, you’ll experience dehydration symptoms such as fatigue, headaches and dizziness. An extreme loss of fluid up to 10% or more of your body weight, there is a risk of death.
A lot of times people associate muscle cramps with a need for potassium and magnesium. But a lot of times, it’s due more to dehydration and a loss of sodium from excessive sweat loss. So that banana may not be doing as much for you as you had hoped! Try pairing it with fluids and sodium.
Our body’s pH balance lies in a tight range between 7.35-7.45. There is very little wiggle room here! If this balance gets thrown off even fractions of a point, it can lead to medical conditions known as acidosis and alkalosis. Both conditions require medical treatment. Electrolytes also enable our body to maintain its pH level regardless of external factors like environmental pollution and an overly acidic diet. However, this does come at a cost. Our body has a powerful and reliable “buffering system” that kicks on when our blood pH changes even a fraction of a point. Calcium (carbonate) and other minerals are pulled from cells all over our body and used to neutralize the acids or aid in alkalization.
Why is this important? American diets are extremely acidic, this makes it difficult for our bodies to remain slightly alkaline. Our “buffering system” is always on and continually further depleting our mineral (i.e. electrolytes) stores leading to deficiencies. Now add excessive sweating…
Electrolyte deficiencies and dehydration can be the cause of many common ailments that one may never associate with these to be the cause. It’s much more common than one may think!
So what can you do?
DO make hydration a top priority!
DON’T run out and buy a ton of electrolyte supplements in the form of pills/vitamins...
What you can do is find a hydration drink that you like and feels good to use when you are doing anything that involves sweating. Even if you’re just lounging on the beach on a hot day… prolonged sweat loss = fluid loss and remember when you sweat, you’re losing electrolytes as well as water. So both need to be replaced consistently!!
Be careful with the high sugar sports drinks, as these tend to be a little too high in sugar for most common athletes. Unless you will be engaging in high intensity exercise for more than an hour, these high amounts of sugar just aren’t necessary. They also tend to be lower in electrolytes than you really need as well.
*If you are worried about a deficiency, or you’re wondering whether or not adding electrolytes into your diet is something you should do, talk with your physician.
References
National Research Council (US) Subcommittee on the Tenth Edition of the Recommended Dietary Allowances. “Water and Electrolytes.” Recommended Dietary Allowances: 10th Edition., U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1 Jan. 1989, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK234935/.
“Types of Water: Tap, Distilled, Filtered, Purified, Spring and Mineral Water.” AQUA Carpatica Blog, 16 Mar. 2017, blog.aquacarpatica.com/english/2017/03/16/types-of-water-tap-distilled-filtered-purified-spring-and-mineral-water/.
*The resources and links listed are only suggested as sources for further exploration. They do not necessarily imply endorsement.
**Photos may be taken from Google.
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