Electrolytes: Not Just For Athletes

Electrolytes: Not Just For Athletes

By Dr Francesca Jackson-Spence

Electrolytes are getting their airtime at the moment, and for good reason. Historically, the focus on sports nutrition and performance was largely reserved for competitive athletes, but once you understand what electrolytes are and why they are so important for our body, you’ll soon realise why it’s not just athletes who could benefit from adding them into their diet.

Electrolytes are minerals that are essential for your body to function. As their name suggests, electrolytes have an electrical charge which allows them to activate numerous bodily functions including the production of energy from our food, the contraction of muscles (including the muscles in our heart and blood vessels), transmitting messages around the body via our nerves, as well as regulating fluid balance in the body and keeping us hydrated.  

The main electrolytes are:

• Sodium
• Potassium
• Magnesium
• Calcium
• Phosphate
• Bicarbonate. 

When we sweat both water and electrolytes are lost from the skin. Rehydrating with fluids is essential, but drinking water alone won’t replenish the salts that are lost, and risks altering the careful balance of electrolytes in the body. Low levels of electrolytes can result in you feeling unwell after your workout, interfering with energy levels, causing headaches, reduced concentration, and play havoc with digestion, leading to symptoms of nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea. Electrolytes play a role in fluid balance, which at more extreme levels of depletion can lead to more serious issues such as confusion, seizures or even comas (although this would be unusual in the absence of an illness). 

We do get all the essential electrolytes from our diet, so as a general rule of thumb, electrolytes are only really needed if the workout is prolonged (>45 minutes) or intense, causing a lot of sweating. They’re not something you need to sip on all the time, and doing so isn’t recommended, but they are a useful tool to add in, as and when you need them. It may also be necessary to supplement electrolytes if you are working out in a hot or humid environment causing increased sweating. 

Ensuring adequate hydration will help you recover more efficiently from your workout, and get you ready to take on your next session. You certainly don’t need to be an athlete to reap the benefits! 

Exercise isn’t the only scenario where electrolytes come in handy. Electrolytes can also be lost through vomiting and diarrhoea during an episode of gastroenteritis, or other conditions causing these symptoms. Adding in electrolytes will help prevent dehydration during a period of illness and improve symptoms.

It’s important to drink alcohol in moderation, but sometimes despite best intentions, the spicy margs get the better of us and we need a ‘get out of jail free card’ when waking up with a dreaded hangover. Enter: electrolytes. The symptoms of a hangover: feeling groggy, brain fog, irritability and headache are largely attributed to dehydration. Alcohol is a diuretic which causes us to urinate more frequently than normal. If you wake up with a sore head, adding electrolytes to your water may also help improve these symptoms and shorten the duration of your hangover. 

In summary, electrolytes can be a handy addition to your diet to support your training, recovery or through an illness. The FreeSoul Hydrate are a delicious and refreshing citrus flavour, but remember, despite the taste, it is  important to take them consciously, when needed and avoid adding them in unnecessarily when you don’t actually need them!

Dr Frankie

@drfrankie