Electrolytes Explained

Do you know what they are or what they do, especially with reference to the human body are? No? Don’t worry. We are going to explain what are they, how they work and why are they important in detail for you.

What are they?

These are the salts and minerals present in the human body. You would know about sodium, potassium, zinc, other such salts, and the general discussion about their regular intake. All these are the electrolyte. Their number is not limited to these mentioned salts; rather there are a number of them. Each of them performs a different function and is responsible for a specific task in your body.

Types:

There are two prominent types present depending upon the nature of the charge. These include

1. Cations
2. Anions

Cations are the ones with positive charges on them whereas the anions have a negative charge. The positive and negative charge can impact the movement of minerals in and out of the cells along with the control of various other functions of the human body.

Where are these presents?

These salts are present everywhere in the body where the fluid matter exists whether it is in the form of blood, or plasma. Moreover, the fluid outside the cell usually known as lymph has a few of these salts present in it as well. Additionally, urine also contains these electrolytes in order to excrete them from the body. Even your sweat can contain some of these salts depending upon your body conditions and the weather.

Functions:

Each electrolyte has different functioning for the body. A few most prominent ones are discussed below:

Sodium:

It is a cation and is present in the cells. It helps in the opening and closing of the cell membrane to certain items. Moreover, it is important for regulating the water in the body.

Furthermore, the electrical signals important for sending the stimulus to the brain and then transferring the instructions from the brain to the organs are also because of sodium. Hypernatremia is the condition when the sodium is excess than the amount required by your body. Hyponatremia is the condition when the sodium level is lower than the overall requirement of your body. Both of these conditions can be extremely dangerous.

Potassium:

The second important salt that is important for the body is potassium. It not only helps in the normal functioning of the cell. But it is also important in controlling the heartbeat. Your muscles also function because of the presence of potassium in your body.

Chloride:

It is one of the anions that reside outside the cell in the fluid. The maintenance of the normal fluid balance I the body is the result of it. So, you can very well imagine the impact that it can create on your body.

These were some of the prominent ones, which are required in small quantities but help in maintaining the effective functioning of the body. We hope that all this information is interesting and helpful for you.