Electrolyte Replacement Supplements - How To Stay Hydrated

Are you feeling dehydrated and looking for an effective electrolyte replacement method? While taking water or your favorite fruit drink helps the body stay hydrated, it’s not quick and effective when suffering from dehydration.

A proper way to replace lost salts requires that the hydration supplement taken has balanced essential minerals. Fruit and sports drinks contain lots of sugar, while plain water lacks these minerals, including sodium, potassium, chloride, and magnesium. Hence might not be an effective solution to the mineral salt imbalance problem.

However, taking water and sports supplements during workout sessions can help the body replenish lost fluids and stay hydrated. In the event an imbalance has occurred already, you’re better off seeking more effective solutions.

What Causes Electrolyte Imbalance?

The inside and outside of body cells contain fluids, and the level is usually consistent. On average, 40 percent of your weight comes from the fluids in cells, while 20 percent is from outside the cells. The mineral salts carry the crucial task of balancing these percentages and keep the body balanced.

The mineral salt levels can fluctuate from time to time, but when it happens to extreme levels, it causes an imbalance. The disparity can arise from several factors, including excess sweating, vomiting, diarrhea, medications use, excessive alcohol consumption, eating disorders, and kidney diseases.

How To Do Electrolyte Replacement

You can opt to use homemade hydration drinks as they’re healthier with significantly low sugar content than fruit juices or sports beverages. The easiest way to make a recovery drink is by using oral rehydration solutions (ORS). You can buy the rehydration salts in sachet from a health outlet and mix them with water in proper proportions.

Rehydration powders

These are readily available in pharmacies and health stores. They are ideal if suffering from diarrhea or any condition that induces dehydration, such as taking booze. Also, they make an excellent choice for active individuals who sweat alot during intense workouts.

They can sometimes be available in tablet form. The composition and quality vary depending on the brand. Generally, go for formulas without added sugars.

Use natural food ingredients

These are foods with high mineral content and can make excellent electrolyte replacement drinks when mixed with water. Grapefruit juice has the highest levels of calcium, lemon juice has potassium, calcium, and magnesium, while orange juice is rich in magnesium and calcium.

Other highly recommended drinks include pomegranate juice, coconut water, grated ginger, and lime juice.

Sugar and salt solution

A solution of sugar and salt is the easiest way to do electrolyte replacement. You can mix six teaspoonsful of sugar with a half teaspoonful of table salt and dissolve in one liter of clean water. Take precautions not to add excess sugar as it can worsen the situation if dehydration resulted from diarrhea or alcohol.

Intravenous Fluids

In severe dehydration from vomiting or diarrhea, intravenous (IV) fluids make excellent rehydration options to bring back a balance of minerals. These are sodium chloride solutions injected into a vein and are common in hospitals.

Hemodialysis

Hemodialysis is extracting wastes from the blood using a machine similar to that used in dialysis. A doctor will surgically create an entrance point to the blood vessels, allowing more blood to flow to the device during treatment.

This method is ideal when electrolyte imbalance results from kidney damage and alternative treatments are ineffective. It’s often resorted to if the imbalance becomes life-threatening.