Why electrolyte replacement

Get your questions answered right away, and find out which Study Program is right for you! Call or Chat now! Everything you want to know about our top-rated Study Programs are just a call or click away. Electrolytes are some of the most complex and misunderstood nutrients, which can make answering client questions about replacement options a challenge for many fitness professionals. For example, clients may ask why electrolytes are important, which specific electrolytes need to be replaced, as well as what options there are for replacing electrolytes before, during and after exercise.

The following article explores this topic with the goal of helping fitness professionals feel better equipped to answer client questions and address concerns related to electrolytes. Electrolytes are positively or negatively charged ions that conduct electrical activity.

In the human body electrolytes must be present in proper concentrations to maintain fluid balance, muscle contraction and neural activity. The kidneys work to maintain electrolyte balance by conserving or excreting electrolytes.

Water follows the movement of electrolytes, particularly sodium and chloride, meaning that water is drawn to locations where electrolytes are most concentrated. Therefore, electrolytes play a critical role in maintaining equilibrium of water throughout the body, particularly during exercise when electrolytes and water can be lost through sweating.

Do all electrolytes play an equally important role with regard to physical activity? Electrolytes lost in high concentrations through sweat include sodium and chloride, while electrolytes lost in low concentrations include potassium, magnesium and calcium.

Keep in mind that all electrolytes work together to maintain fluid balance in the body at rest and during physical activity, so be sure to educate your clients on all electrolytes, rather than focusing on only one or two. Table 1 lists common food sources, deficiency symptoms, and recommended intakes of electrolytes.

One commonly held myth is that muscle cramping in active individuals is due to the loss of potassium; however, the amount of potassium in sweat is likely too low for this to be the culprit. Muscle cramping due to electrolyte imbalance is more likely associated with the loss of high amounts of sodium through sweat.

Therefore, replacing sodium is important to maintain electrolyte balance for physically active individuals who experience high losses of sodium through sweating. How much electrolytes are lost through sweating? Should they be consumed before, during or after exercise? Electrolyte losses vary greatly among active individuals depending on total sweat losses and sweat electrolyte concentration.

Individual sweat rate and therefore sweat loss also varies between individuals and is determined by length and intensity of exercise, body composition, clothing and environment.

Some individuals are considered salty sweaters, meaning the sodium concentration of their sweat is higher than average. This amount is typically determined by genetic predisposition, diet, sweat rate and heat acclimatization. It is important to note that dehydration can increase the sweat concentration of sodium and potassium.

A general rule of thumb is to never begin a workout session thirsty or dehydrated. One way to assess hydration status prior to a workout is by looking at urine color. Ideally, urine color should be pale yellow. In addition, as individuals become more acclimatized to a hot environment, they adapt by improving their ability to reabsorb or hold on to sodium and chloride, resulting in decreased loss of electrolytes via sweat. Currently there is no recommendation for electrolyte intake before exercise.

A sports drink that includes both carbohydrates and electrolytes is recommended for exercise sessions lasting longer than 60—90 minutes. The sodium in a sports drink helps the body absorb and retain the fluid and utilize the carbohydrate. In these situations an endurance-specific sports drink with higher amounts of electrolytes is recommended. Consistent replenishment of electrolytes is just as important as the fuel you consume and the water you drink during exercise.

Far too many athletes have suffered needlessly with swollen hands and feet from water retention due to ingestion of salt tablets or electrolyte products that were too high in sodium during prolonged exercise in the heat. The body has very effective mechanisms to regulate and recirculate sodium from body stores. Excess sodium consumption interferes with or neutralizes these complex mechanisms. Sweat generates large sodium losses, which is monitored closely through hormonal receptors throughout the body.

However, rapid sodium replacement neutralizes the system, allowing water intake to dilute the sodium content. High-sodium electrolyte supplementation compromises the natural physiological control of serum electrolytes.

Once the body detects an increase in sodium from exogenous sources food, salt tablets, or products too high in sodium , the hormone aldosterone signals the kidneys to stop filtering and recirculating sodium. Instead, the kidneys will excrete sodium and another hormone, vasopressin, will redominate and cause fluid retention. While ingesting large amounts of sodium may temporarily resolve a sodium deficiency, doing so substantially increases the risk of a number of other problems, including increased fluid storage in the form of swelling edema in the extremities.

Consequences also include elevated blood pressure and an increased rate of sodium excretion. All of these inhibit performance.

The truth is that the human body needs only a minute amount of sodium to function normally. We require a mere mg of sodium each day, athletes maybe 2, mg.

This is easily supplied by natural, unprocessed foods. In other words, you already have a vast reservoir of sodium available in your body from your diet, ready to serve you during exercise. In addition, your body has a highly complex and efficient way of monitoring and recirculating sodium back into the blood, which it does to maintain homeostasis.

You do need to replenish sodium during exercise, but you must do so with amounts that cooperate with, and do not override, these complex body mechanisms. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided additional scientific evidence that the majority of Americans over the age of twenty should limit the amount of sodium salt they consume daily to 1, milligrams mg to prevent and reduce high blood pressure.

Not only are high-sodium diets bad for your health, but those who consume large amounts of sodium in their diet are guaranteed greater sodium loss rates and will require greater sodium intakes during exercise. Sodium, as you probably know, drives thirst, and thirst drives drinking until excess results is definitely not a performance-enhancing scenario. It's easy to formulate a product that matches one of the many perspiration analysis studies and then sell it on the basis that athletes simply need to replace what they lose.

Some products do just that. Unfortunately, there's a problem with this because individual sweat-loss differences vary greatly, and the human body does not and cannot efficiently replace what it expends during exercise at any intensity above a walking pace. Electrolytes lost are not replaced by electrolytes consumed in the moment. The body is able to replace, at best, only about one-third of what it loses during exercise. This is true for fluids, calories, and electrolytes.

If you try to replace all the fluids at once, you may end up with dilutional hyponatremia overly diluted blood sodium levels or water intoxication. If you attempt to replace all the fuel you expend, your stomach will back up in total rebellion, and refueling will grind to a halt. Likewise, if you try to replace in equal amounts all of the electrolytes you lose, a number of hormonal triggers may create all sorts of problems such as gastric distress, edema, muscle spasms, and cramping.

Bill Misner, Ph. When it comes to the amount of fluids you drink, calories you eat, and electrolytes you replenish, this is an absolutely vital principle to remember.

The closer you adhere to it, the greater your opportunity for success. What is bothersome about this recommendation is that one would think that a registered dietician ought to be well-versed on the health consequences of a high-sodium diet which the overwhelming majority of Americans consume. Expert Advice. Food and Nutrition. Popular Categories. Popular Topics. Women's Health. Patient Stories. Make an Appointment.

Schedule a Callback. Call us 24 hours a day. Support Cedars-Sinai. Make a Gift. As a starting point, try consuming mg of sodium per hour. Close search. Gels expand. Why are electrolytes important and why is it so important to replenish them?

How do I best replace them? Hyponatremia among runners in the Boston Marathon. The New England journal of medicine , Influence of hydration on physiological function and performance during trail running in the heat.

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