We've probably all heard of minerals called electrolytes. They're becoming increasingly popular in the world of sports, health, and now longevity. Sales of supplements and medications containing electrolytes have increased significantly in recent years. As this trend continues to grow, people have begun to buy electrolytes in various supplements without having the slightest idea of their quality, quantity, and actual effects. Not to mention the fact that whether and how much they really need plays a major role. If you'd like to delve into the mysterious world of electrolytes, we'll try to explain them to you in a slightly less scientific, but still understandable way.
The mysterious word electrolytes
If we pronounce the basic electrolytes for example magnesium, sodium, calcium and potassium.
I think you're a little clear. When you go to a doctor, neurologist, or other specialist in the human body, you probably often hear: "You should supplement at least: magnesium, sodium, calcium, and potassium."
Electrolytes are substances that naturally have a positive or negative electrical charge and dissolve in water. The adult body is made up of 60% water, meaning almost all fluids and cells in our bodies contain electrolytes. We urgently need them for our daily lives.
Electrolytes - vital elements for the proper functioning of body, mind and soul
First and foremost, electrolytes influence the ideal amount of water in our bodies. Anyone who has ever had a light bulb moment because they realized that they are retaining water in their body, and that this is unpleasant, knows that they need these elements. The second, equally important function of these wonderful electrolytes is nerve and muscle function, cognitive thinking, and the health of all our cells. One could say that without electrolytes, we cannot think, control our bodies and our abilities, concentrate, move, and therefore exercise, walk, run, etc. We lose electrolytes through sweating, which is why athletes, in particular, were the first to come up with the idea of replenishing electrolytes in drinks, supplements, etc.
The question arises, can I replenish my necessary electrolytes by drinking pure water?
The answer is unfortunately no. In pure water, unless it's mineralized, we find only the absolute minimum of it, so it's not replenishing.
When and how should electrolytes be replenished?
Electrolytes can be compared to sleep, for example. Everyone, without exception, needs them. However, it's important to note that if you're one of those who eat a strictly balanced and varied diet, healthy in terms of minerals, flavonoids, vitamins, fiber, carbohydrates, proteins, etc. And you also ensure that it's balanced in terms of pesticides, chemicals, antibiotics, and hormones—which includes 90% of the food available on the market—so you choose 50% of your food or supplements organic, then you've undoubtedly provided your body with sufficient electrolytes. Ideal electrolyte-rich foods include salt, spinach, fish, nuts, broccoli, meat, dairy products, bananas, olives, and countless others, many of which you probably eat every day. And at least 50% of them are chemical-free. These days, even here in the Czech Republic.
Then we have the second group of people, namely those who already have to pay attention to their electrolyte intake, perhaps even with supplements. So either they already know
So, they either already know they're deficient due to bodily dysfunction, illness, or elite sports and the pressure to perform. Electrolyte monitoring is recommended for long-distance runners and professional athletes, as well as people who have physically demanding jobs that place a high energy burden on the body.
For patients suffering from migraines, indigestion, colic, menstrual pain, PMS, endometriosis, or post-surgery pain, in preparation for surgery, chemotherapy, or chemical medications. In other words, as part of treatment with all corticosteroids, analgesics, sedatives, and antidepressants.
Alcohol and electrolytes - a separate topic
Are you fresh off a party? Did you overindulge in wine with friends last night?
Electrolytes are even an excellent hangover cure, as alcohol significantly reduces the amount of electrolytes in the body.
But what is the difference between electrolytes and minerals?
Let's try to explain it as simply as possible in layman's terms: While electrolytes are essentially messengers that transmit electrical signals between cells in the body (we want cells to work together and talk to each other—to pass on information), minerals focus on the individual cell itself and particularly affect the function of the heart, lungs, and muscles. A deficiency in these minerals is hazardous to health and can cause migraines, muscle pain, panic attacks, depression, anxiety, and potentially promote allergic reactions, even anaphylactic shock. In this respect, mineral or electrolyte deficiencies cause the same problems.
Specific electrolytes and how to replenish them naturally?
- Sodium - salt, fermented foods - fermentation has been used to preserve food for 7,000 years in ancient Rome and Greece and has been passed through the migrations of peoples around the planet, so foods processed in this way are natural and beneficial to the body), quality hard cheese from farms, meat and sausages from free-range and organic farming
- Potassium - potatoes, spinach, fish, including freshwater, broccoli, cauliflower,
- Pulses, which are very beneficial for the architecture of our body, instead of soy, which causes intolerances and allergic reactions in Europeans, bananas from abroad, avocados,
- Magnesium - nuts, linseed and sesame, mustard seeds, dark chocolate 70% cocoa ideal +, Quita, buckwheat
- Calcium - salt, organic dairy products without chemicals and hormones and ATB, almonds, sesame seeds
- Chloride - Salt, tomatoes from organic farming or from our own sources without spray gardens, olives, seaweed, sourdough bread
- Phosphates - Free-range or organic meat, wild-caught fish, organic eggs, nuts, European pulses
How do I find the right dietary supplement?
If you've been advised to incorporate more electrolytes into your daily diet, there are numerous products that do just that. When choosing the right supplement, we recommend that you read the ingredients carefully and consider whether the ingredients listed on the label meet your needs. Check with the manufacturer to find out where they source the specific ingredients, know their provenance, if there are any certifications, and look for reviews that weren't purchased online but from people who have been helped by the product or from ambassadors who genuinely needed the product and were helped by it. The three most common forms of electrolyte supplements are drinks, drink powders, and capsules. If you've been advised to incorporate more electrolytes into your daily diet, there are numerous products that do just that. When choosing the right supplement, we recommend that you read the ingredients carefully and consider whether the ingredients listed on the label meet your needs. Ask the manufacturer where they source the specific ingredients, whether you know the origin, whether there are certifications, and look for reviews that weren't purchased online but rather from people who have benefited from the product or from ambassadors who genuinely needed the product and found it helpful. The three most common forms of electrolyte supplements are drinks, powdered drinks, and capsules.
And as usual, the most important help is the one that is completely natural for us
Listen to your inner self. Follow your tastes, your senses, your needs. Because if your body says, "I'm craving a lot of salty things," it doesn't mean you should consume toxins like potato chips or modified fast food; it probably just needs minerals and electrolytes. Treat yourself to the most natural form: salts, SUPER foods from the farm, and preferably from your own countryside. By doing so, you'll not only be helping yourself, but also your fellow countrymen. And the organic producers, whom you can visit to see for yourself the honesty and love for these products, will thank you personally.
