Electrolytes - The Basics

I hope you’ve seen the mindless and ridiculously entertaining movie Idiocracy for no other reason than to make my point that electrolytes, while very important, are not what plants crave. Okay…the dystopian idea that Brawndo has what plants crave wasn’t complete BS – they do in fact require the ions present in electrolytes.

The focus of this article, however, is not to concern ourselves with the needs of plants, but instead the significant and pivotal role electrolytes play in human health and performance.

So what are electrolytes?

In general, an electrolyte is defined as “a nonmetallic electric conductor in which current is carried by the movement of ions.”Put more simply, electrolytes are minerals and other substances that carry either a positive or negative charge when dissolved in water. You will find these substances throughout your body and are most present in your blood, fluid between all cells, sweat, and urine.

Some of the most important electrolytes to our health are:

“Why does this matter to me, what am I going to feel?”

For all humans, electrolytes serve the imperative function of regulating fluid balance, maintaining proper pH (acid/alkaline balance), promoting nerve and muscle function, supporting heart and vascular health, improving bone strength, and maintaining brain health. For the subsets of people who wear the badge of Wilderness and Working Athletes, the role of electrolytes goes even further.

Luckily, our bodies closely regulate electrolyte levels in the blood to avoid symptoms of deficiency or overabundance. This balance, however, becomes very difficult to maintain when you’re mile after mile chasing elk in September, repairing power lines on a mid-August afternoon, bowhunting at 10,000 ft elevation, or working a 10 hour shift under the sun. When we lose fluid, we lose electrolytes as well. Dehydration, excessive sweating, diarrhea or vomiting, and a poor diet are all conditions that can lead to an electrolyte imbalance.

The cost of dehydration & electrolyte imbalance

Dehydration, or a specific electrolyte imbalance, does not always come with sweat rings on your hat or beads of salty moisture pouring down your face. Symptoms are obviously based on the severity of dehydration, but almost always, any level of dehydration or electrolyte imbalance will result in diminished physical and mental performance.

While a mild imbalance may not cause any symptoms, severe cases have the potential for serious side effects and in some cases death. Remember, at a core level electrolytes are the substances responsible for conducting nerve impulses, contracting muscles, maintaining bodily hydration and regulating your body’s pH levels.

Some common symptoms of an imbalance may include: