Do You Need To Take Electrolytes?

‘Should I take electrolytes?’ is a question I get asked more and more by clients and people wanting health advice.

To answer this, let’s start with what they are and what they do!

Electrolytes are minerals essential for;

-Controlling fluid balance

-Regulating blood pressure

-Muscle contraction (including the heart)

-Optimise nervous system function

And I’m sure you have heard of these common electrolytes - sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium.

When our levels drop too low, we can start to see negative impacts on the body including;

Muscle cramping

Muscle weakness

Headaches

Irregular heart beat

Why might our electrolyte levels drop?

Our levels typically drop when we lose more liquid than normal from the body such as if we become ill and suffer bouts of vomiting or diarrhoea.

And equally, if we are sweating more than usual, we can lose electrolytes contained in our sweat.

This could be because we are in a hotter or more humid climate than usual, spending a long time in the heat doing activities like hiking, or because we are doing intense or longer bouts of exercise.

We can of course help replace the water when we are ill or during sweaty bouts of exercise by drinking water.

However if we just replace the water this can cause problems as this makes the concentration of electrolytes in the body too low and can cause something called hyponatremia if it becomes too extreme, which is a potentially life threatening condition.

This is very rare however and typically affects long distance runners or very high intensity athletes if they don’t take electrolytes.

For most of us, if we have some water and a salty snack post workout, we will be absolutely fine!

And in fact the body is very good at keeping our electrolyte balance where it should be.

Why take electrolytes?

As I have said, the body is actually very good at keeping electrolyte balance and with a balanced diet there is no need to supplement them.

Electrolyte drinks and tabs are often promoted with the idea that they will aid performance, as we know that just a 2% level of dehydration can affect both mental and physical performance.

However there isn’t actually a lot of evidence to suggest that electrolytes will rehydrate you any better than plain water.

As I said before however you might want to consider supplementing you levels in situations where you are losing more sweat and therefore electrolytes than normal such as;

-When you are in a very warm sweaty climate!

-When you are doing something like a long hike or outdoor activity for a long time outdoors on a warm day

-When you are doing long endurance sessions taking over an hour or super intense sweaty HIIT style workouts!

-When ill with vomiting or diarrhoea or temperature causing excessive sweating

Having said all that, for most people, even if it’s a placebo effect, if you currently take them and feel better for it, then its not going to have a negative impact if you continue to do so.

I hope this has helped clear up your understanding of electrolytes and when you when and if you need to supplement them.

Have a great week!

Lizzie

The One Percent Club