On super hot days, it’s natural to sweat…sometimes a lot. However, this can mean that there are minerals lost during this process such as sodium, potassium, magnesium, chloride and calcium.
These minerals are extremely important to maintaining balance in the body. Sodium and chloride are in charge of regulating fluid balance in the body. Sodium is important because it regulates water and electrolyte balance. It also plays a part in blood pressure and blood volume which helps the delivery of nutrients to our muscles. Chloride also maintains electrolyte balance and helps with muscular functions. Potassium works with sodium and is crucial for nerve transmission and muscle contraction (think happy heart) along with maintaining a balanced body pH. Magnesium is needed for many processes including use, storage and formation of energy needed for exercise such as muscle contraction, electrolyte balance, and neuromuscular coordination. Calcium, as you may know, is important to our skeleton and is needed for calcium-dependent functions during exercise (smooth muscle contraction) and energy production within our cells.
It is important to fill your diet with foods rich in these minerals and then you can and add electrolytes to your water when needed to fill in any gaps. If you are sweating and drinking distilled water, you’re basically not doing your body any favours and essentially just ensuring you’re going to have frequent potty breaks, depleting your body of essential minerals. The best source of water is reverses osmosis but this is quite costly so a more doable alternative is filtered re-mineralized water. It is also important to find quality electrolytes to add to your re-mineralized water remembering to avoid those that are full of sugars, fillers and dyes. Drink up!
Remember to drink BEFORE you are thirsty!
A few of our favourites are Biosteel, as they have many great flavours, as well as LMNT, which may be an acquired taste to some but are full of needed minerals (my favourite is the chocolate!).
#electrolytes #hotdays #minerals #biosteel #lmnt #hydration #nutritionist #registerednutritionist #fitfam #sweat #drinkbeforeyouarethirsty
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