Electrolytes

What Are Electrolytes?

Electrolytes are minerals in your body that carry an electrical charge (positive or negative). They are essential for maintaining electrical neutrality in cells and creating action potentials in nerves and muscles (which is what creates muscle contraction).

The most common electrolytes include the minerals: sodium, chloride, calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorous, and bicarbonate.

Why Do You Need Electrolytes?

You need electrolytes because they help to maintain the amount of water in your body, the acidity or pH of your blood, your nerve and muscle function, and a host of other important processes.

When you sweat, especially during exercise, working or spending a lot of time outdoors, heavy workloads, you will sweat out these minerals. You can also suffer from electrolyte imbalance if you simply sweat too much in general, if you are dehydrated, or if you are on certain medications (such as medications for kidney disease, POTS, or high blood pressure.)

What Happens if Your Electrolytes Are Off?

If your electrolytes become imbalanced, you can have many different symptoms depending on which mineral is too high or low.

The most common side effects of electrolyte imbalance are:

Muscle twitching or cramping
Poor endurance, especially when exercising
Increased thirst
Salt cravings
Irritability / depression / crankiness
Brain fog / confusion / memory issues
Anxiety
Fatigue
Irregular heartbeat or rhythm
Headaches
Dizziness
Muscle weakness or numbness
Constipation
Dry skin
Weak nails

Therefore, it is imperative to replenish them regularly!

How Do I Get Electrolytes?

Typically, you get electrolytes by consuming healthy foods and certain drinks. Meats (especially organ meats), fruits, vegetables (especially leafy greens), dark chocolate, fatty fish (like salmon and yellowfin tuna), chicken, scallops, seaweed, bone broth, nuts, and seeds tend to be higher in minerals.

Particularly rich vegetables include: avocado, beet greens, mushrooms, spinach, okra, acorn squash, potatoes.

Some of the best nuts and seeds are: pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and almonds.

If you are not eating these types of healthy foods regularly, you will become electrolyte deficient over time. And once you get symptoms, it is easier and faster to restore balance by taking a supplement. (Changing your diet is critical, but it can take time. Additionally, if you are buying traditional (aka non-organic) foods, they simply do not contain the vitamins and minerals they should due to the USA’s poor farming practices.)

Electrolyte Supplements and Products

Many electrolyte brands that are well-known are not the best for you – they are just the best marketed. It is crucial to check the other ingredients; does it have a ton of sugar, preservatives, or food coloring dyes? If so, please avoid it as the adverse effects significantly outweigh any benefits.

I recommend a few different products, but as always: consult with your healthcare provider before starting any new supplements.

Possible® Whole Food Electrolyte

The Possible® Whole Food Electrolyte is our go-to, all-in-one electrolyte product

This electrolyte product is a powder you can simply add to water. It is crafted from organic atriplex, barley grass, kelp, sea salt, and coconut water to contain all of the electrolytes you need for support peak athletic performance.

We carry the Possible® Whole Food Electrolyte at the office, so place your order by calling us at 978-237-5106 or emailing us at [email protected] today!

E-Z Mg^TM

E-Z Mg is a plant-based, organic magnesium (Mg) supplement developed to support people with inadequate dietary magnesium intake. To be very clear – most folks in the USA are magnesium deficient. Some of the most common deficiency symptoms are: muscle cramps, brain fog, trouble sleeping, mild headaches, mood changes, low appetite, nausea and vomiting, fatigue and weakness, and abnormal heart rhythms.

This product is fully organic and is made from Swiss chard (beet leaf) and buckwheat grown on the Standard Process farm. And another bonus is that this combination is even more absorbable than magnesium threonate, the formally most absorbable form of magnesium on the market!

Organically Bound Minerals

Also known as OBM, this is our go-to mineral supplement for potassium and magnesium. It supports the parasympathetic nervous system (rest-and-digest), so if you are too GO-GO-GO, this product could be great for you! Bonus: it also contains some iodine for your thyroid!

Questions?

Call us at 978-237-5106 to schedule a consult today!