You look at your favourite sports drink and see that it’s got electrolytes!
Great, but what exactly are electrolytes? And why do we need them?
Electrolytes are ions that carry an electrical Charge and travels in and out of cells. The most common types of electrolytes in your Body are sodium, potassium, calcium, chloride, And magnesium.
One of the key features of electrolytes is Triggering an electrical event called action Potential.
These events are the signals that your brain Sends through neurons to parts of the body,
Like your bicep, to contract muscle. By having sodium and potassium ions traveling In and out of cells, the cells charge switches from negative to positive.
It carries this switching process throughout the entire axon of a neuron all the way down
To its fingers called axon terminals, which Will communicate with other neurons to do the same.
Once this switching signal reaches the muscle fibre, the electrolyte calcium ions flood into the muscle fibre and the muscle contracts. As you can see, if you have lower electrolyte Concentrations, this can lead to weaker and Inefficient muscle contraction. Low sodium, which can be caused from dehydration, can lead to loss of energy, muscle cramps, And even comas.
And electrolytes have other functions as well. Calcium helps with blood clotting and bone
Density. Chloride usually hangs out with sodium and
Helps transport water in and out of cells.
If you’re looking for something that does, Coconut water not only has all the electrolytes You need, but higher amounts as well.
Better get your tropical game going.