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Electrolytes and Mineralwater
- ions that move to the cathode (cations) are positively charged
- ions that move to the anode (anions) are negatively charged
- sodium ion (Na+) - cation
- chloride ion (Cl-) - anion
- sodium (Na+)
- potassium (K+)
- chloride (Cl-)
- calcium (Ca2+)
- magnesium (Mg2+)
- bicarbonate (HCO3-)
- phosphate (PO42-)
- sulfate (SO42-)
Electrolytes Overview
Sodium (Na)
The health benefits of sodium include:
Water Balance: Sodium is one of those minerals, which helps to maintain water level in the human body. Sodium and water balance are very interdependent. It pumps water in the cell and regulates the amount of extra cellular fluid in the body.
Sunstroke: It is caused due to the failure of heat regulating system of the human body. This heat exhaustion is caused due to continuous exposure to very high temperature due to which the body loses its capacity to maintain the normal temperature. This condition is further aggravated due to the loss of salt and water from the body. Thus, Sodium plays a vital role in preventing sun stroke or heat prostration by replacing the loss of essential electrolytes. Besides water, drinking fluids containing salt and sugar is favorable against sunstroke. Salt can also be mixed with the drink of raw mangoes to provide more relief. It is very important for ultra endurance athletes.
Brain function: Brain is very sensitive to the change in sodium level of the body, which often leads to confusion and lethargy. Sodium aids in keeping the mind sharp. It is an important element for development of brain. Sodium facilitates the improvement of brain functions.
Muscle cramps: These are caused mostly during the hot summer months, due to electrolyte imbalance and dehydration. Thus, apart from proper hydration of the body, it is also important to supplement one’s body with sodium rich juices and fluids to restore the amount of electrolyte.
Anti aging: Sodium is an important hydrating product of anti-aging creams. It fights with the radicals which accelerate the aging process. It helps in restoring youthful and healthy skin.
Eliminates excess carbon dioxide: Sodium plays an important role in the removal of excess amount of carbon dioxide accumulated in the body.
Maintains glucose absorption: It helps in absorption of glucose by cells for the smooth transportations of nutrients in body cell membranes.
Maintains acid-base balance: By altering proportions of acid-base alkali phosphates it controls reaction of urine in kidneys.
Regulation of fluids: The health benefits of sodium balances the osmotic pressure in the human body due to regulation of fluid in body cells.
Balance of ions: Sodium shares an association with chlorides and bicarbonates in maintaining a sound balance between two types of ions, positively charged ions as well as negatively charged ions.
Potassium (K)
The health benefits of potassium include stroke, blood pressure, anxiety and stress, muscular strength, metabolism, heart and kidney disorders, water balance, electrolytic functions, nervous system and other general health benefits of potassium.
Potassium, the third most abundant mineral in human body, is the synonym for health insurer. It contains the qualities for maintaining a high level of human well-being and a cheerful lifestyle.
There is no way one should overlook the inclusion of potassium in routine diet plan. Apart from acting as an electrolyte, this mineral is required for keeping heart, brain, kidney, muscle tissues and other important organs of human body in good condition.
Potassium chloride is the main variety of this mineral amongst others. It works in association with sodium to perform a number of critical body tasks. Read more …
Benefits: Potassium may be looked upon as an essential health nutrient, due to a number of health benefits of potassium:
Stroke: Potassium plays an important role in keeping the working of brain in normal state. It is of great importance in preventing the occurrence of stroke in human brain. It is a fact that a person suffering from this dreadful disease may be found deficient in this essential body nutrient.
Low blood sugar: Decrease in potassium level causes a drop in blood sugar level. Decrease in blood sugar level causes sweating, headache, weakness, trembling and nervousness. Intake of potassium chloride and sodium provides immediate relief from such situation.
Muscle disorders: Potassium plays an important role in regular muscle contraction. Right concentration of potassium, is required for the regular contraction and relaxation of the muscle. Most of the potassium ions of the human body are present inside the muscle cells. It maintains muscle function and optimal nerve.
Cramps: Muscle cramps result due to low level of potassium in the blood, a condition called as hypokalemia. Intake of a banana everyday prevents muscle cramp. Bananas are rich in potassium content.
Brain function: Potassium channels play a key role in maintaining the electrical conductivity of brain and affect the brain function. It is also involved in higher brain function like memory and learning. In addition to it, serious ailments like epilepsy are related to the functioning of potassium channels.
Blood Pressure: Potassium is helpful in reversing the role of sodium in unbalancing the normal blood pressure. Thus, it acts as a vital component, which maintains the normality of blood pressure in human body. This further abolishes the possibilities of heart diseases and hypertension. Regulation of blood pressure is an important function of this mineral.
Anxiety and Stress: Potassium is of great importance for people suffering from undesirable mental states like anxiety and stress. It is considered as a perfect stress buster and thus it ensures efficient mental performance of human body.
Muscular Strength: This is in fact, one of the most appreciable benefits of potassium, as it ensures proper growth of muscle tissues and proper utilization of energy released during metabolism to add significant worth to muscular strength. The muscles, together with cardiac muscle, are prone to paralysis due to deficiency of potassium in diet.
Metabolism: It assists in metabolic process of various nutrients like fats, proteins and carbohydrates. Thus, potassium is of great value in extracting the energy out of nutrients consumed by man.
Heart and Kidney Disorders: The health benefits of potassium ensure good health for heart as well as kidneys. It plays an irreplaceable role in regulating the functions of potassium. Apart from this, this mineral assists kidneys to remove waste by the process of excretion. However, it is strictly advisable to consult your doctor to get recommendations about dosage.
Water Balance: Potassium has another significant role to play in maintaining the desirable water balance in human body. There are different types of cells, which require having proper water balance for proper functioning and potassium aids these cells in regulating this balance.
Electrolyte: Potassium plays the significant role as an electrolyte in human body. It helps in regulating the level of fluids in human body and thus performs a number of critical body functions.
Nervous System: Potassium helps in boosting the spirit of nerve reflexes to transmit message from one body part to another.
This in turn helps in muscle contraction to perform various activities every day
Calcium (Ca)
Calcium is undeniably the most available element in human body where a major chunk is seen as deposits in bones and teeth. It forms 2% of the total body weight of a human adult.
Calcium is easily sourced through milk and milk products.
Traces of calcium are also present in the circulatory system, which prevents life threatening hemorrhages.
Calcium is a vital element in any healthy human diet, as it plays an important role in the formation of healthy bones and teeth. A regular calcium supply is very important in growing children and teenagers as it can substantially reduce the risks of osteoporosis in old age. It is a painful bone condition that is common in one out of every three women and in one man in every 12 who are over the age of 50. Read more …
Benefits: Calcium form the principal constituent of bones and teeth and it is one of the most important minerals that are required for a healthy living. Calcium has many benefits, some of which are listed below.
Prevents over weight: Calcium helps to maintain an optimum body weight and if there is any deficit in calcium in your diet, the body releases parathyroid hormone, which in turn stimulates the bones to release calcium into your blood stream and helps to keep the balance. On the other side, parathyroid hormone also stimulates the production of fat and prevents its break down, which makes you obese. So ensuring the right amount of calcium is the simplest means to ensure the right body weight.
It protects heart: Calcium protects your heart. Sufficient amounts of calcium help muscles, including cardiac muscle to do the contraction and relaxation properly. Calcium also helps the nervous system to maintain pressure in your arteries. If there is a calcium drop, a hormone called calcitrol is released which contracts the smooth muscles of the arteries, thereby increasing the blood pressure.
Protects against colon cancer: Adequate calcium intake may reduce your overall risk of colon cancer and suppress the growth of polyps that can lead to cancer. Researchers don’t know exactly why this happens, but it may be linked to the excess calcium that’s left in your intestines after your body absorbs what it needs. On its way through the colon, this unabsorbed calcium is believed to bind with cancer promoters so they’re excreted together from the body. Studies have shown that both food sources of calcium and calcium supplements provide this protective effect. Calcium supplements should be taken in liquid form because liquid vitamins absorb 5 times better then do pill forms.
Prevents premenstrual blues: Adequate amount of calcium would lessen the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome as a low level of calcium might trigger the release of hormones, which are responsible premenstrual mood swings including irritability, and depression among others.
Protects backbone: It strengthens backbone and ensures the right shape to the body apart from alleviating the risks of back pain.
Prevents osteoporosis: Calcium helps to keep the bones in great shape and prevents many skeletal complaints like arthritis and osteoporosis which could hamper the free movement apart from being extremely painful.
Ensures a healthy alkaline pH level: Junk foods, excess sugars and preserved food items would increase the acidity of the body, which in turn could give rise to various disease conditions like cancer, kidney stones and hypertension. Calcium helps to maintain a healthy pH level, thereby improving your vitality and overall goodness.
Maintains healthy teeth: Calcium protects your teeth by keeping the jaw bone strong and sturdy all through your life, which in turn ensures tight fitting teeth where bacteria cannot thrive.
Helps in transportation of nutrients: Calcium helps in the easy movement of nutrients across cell membranes.
Magnesium (Mg)
Health benefits of magnesium include maintaining bodily nerves, muscles and bones. It also helps in protein synthesis and cellular metabolism. Magnesium is vital for sustaining the normal heart beat and is used by doctors to treat irregularity heart rhythm. Other health benefits of magnesium are osteoporosis, eclamptic seizures, sugar level, asthma, diabetes, constipation, back pain and psychiatric disorders. Read more …
Benefits: Magnesium is known to provide a number of health benefits.
Relief for asthmatic patients: Chronic asthma patients may be able to normalize their breathing with help of magnesium supplements that aids in relaxing bronchial muscles and normalize breathing. Even wheezing and breathlessness can be relieved through administration of intravenous magnesium.
Bone health: Magnesium is directly related to the bone density. Inadequacy of this mineral could be a cause of osteoporosis.
Pregnancy: Magnesium is one of the vital elements during pregnancy. Proper intake of magnesium supplements is extremely beneficial for reducing osteoporosis risk, increasing the pain tolerance level resulting in a smooth delivery process and in optimization of blood pressure too.
Treatment for back pain: Magnesium helps treating people with severe backaches by relaxing back muscles, kidney stress and muscular tension. Magnesium also helps in absorption of calcium, which may lead to healing of the bones.
Heart Attack: Deficiency of magnesium results in higher probability of heart disease. It could also become a cause of death or result in more risk of heart ailments. Magnesium protects the heart from irregular heartbeats and works as a cure to heart attack.
Cramps and fatigue: Symptoms of cramps in leg as well as fatigue are normally visible due to magnesium deficiency. Proper intake of magnesium supplements acts as a cure for improving the leg cramp problem.
Constipation: Magnesium provides quick relief from constipated condition. High dosage of water soluble magnesium supplements is known to bring sound relief for severe constipated state.
Diabetes: The health benefits of magnesium are contributed towards diabetic patients, as this mineral helps improve insulin reaction to blood sugar level. Magnesium supplements are vital for all diabetic patients as many suffer from magnesium deficiency.
Cure psychiatric disorders: Magnesium is known to cure worst forms of psychiatric dysfunctions such as panic attacks, stress, anxiety and undue agitations.
High blood pressure: Hypertension is one of the major reasons for an impending heart attack. People with high blood pressure usually have magnesium deficiency. Therefore, extra nutrients and mineral supplements with magnesium content are vital for them to evade additional medical complications.
Migraine: Migraine attacks badly affect many Americans, especially, the female gender Magnesium supplements and liquids considerably reduces the severity of such attacks and may also help in reducing the rate of recurrence.
Production of collagen: Magnesium is important for producing proteins that are slowly transformed into collagen.
Absorption of minerals: Magnesium helps to absorb vital minerals and vitamins like sodium, calcium, potassium and phosphorus.
Activation of enzymes: The health benefits of magnesium include boost in the energy production in the body and activation of enzymes to create cellular energy.
Maintaining adequate nutrients: Magnesium helps in regulation of calcium levels in the body such as vitamin D, copper, zinc etc.
Regulates sugar level: Magnesium aids in regulating blood sugar status, thus promoting normal blood pressure.
Controlling bladder: Many women who have blabber problems and frequent urge to urinate may find relief by taking magnesium supplements.
Preventing development of osteoporosis: Magnesium along with calcium and Vitamin D should be taken throughout the growing up years and adulthood eliminates the chances of developing osteoporosis in later years.
Prevention of eclamptic seizures: Magnesium sulfate is best treatment for preventing eclamptic seizures in expectant mothers who have hypertension.
Chloride (Cl)
Chlorine is one of the most important minerals in the blood, along with sodium, potassium, and calcium.
Chlorine (Chloride) helps keep the amount of fluid inside and outside of cells in balance. It also helps maintain proper blood volume, blood pressure, and pH of body fluids.
Most of the chloride in the body comes from table salt (sodium chloride) in the diet. Chloride is absorbed by the intestine during food digestion. Any excess chloride is passed out of the body through the urine. Read more …
Uses and Benefits of Chlorine
Chloride is the major extra cellular anion and contributes to many body functions including the maintenance of osmotic pressure, acid-base balance, muscular activity, and the movement of water between fluid compartments.
- An electrolyte, along with sodium and potassium.
- Affects blood, nerves, epithelium. Aids digestion and elimination, normalizes osmotic pressure in blood and tissues.
- Helps maintain normal heart function, acid-base balance and water balance.
- Increases capacity of blood to carry carbon dioxide to lungs for excretion.
- Helps to cleanse both the intestines and body of toxins.
- Produces the normal acid environment in stomach. (This aids in absorption of iron and vitamin B12.)
Bicarbonate (HCO3)
This electrolyte is an important component of the equation that keeps the acid-base status of the body in balance.
Water + Carbon Dioxide = Bicarbonate + Hydrogen
The lungs regulate the amount of carbon dioxide, and the kidneys regulate bicarbonate (HCO3). This electrolyte helps buffer the acids that build up in the body as normal byproducts of metabolism.
For example, when muscles are working, they produce lactic acid as a byproduct of energy formation. HCO3 is required to be available to bind the hydrogen released from the acid to form carbon dioxide and water.
When the body malfunctions, too much acid may also be produced (for example, diabetic ketoacidosis, renal tubular acidosis) and HCO3 is needed to try to compensate for the extra acid production.
Measuring the amount of bicarbonate in the blood stream can help the health care practitioner decide how severe the acid-base balance of the body has become.
Sulfate (SO4)
| Source: | |
| The above information is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by mineralwater.com.au) from materials provided by: | |
| > | Electrolytes Overview – www.emedicinehealth.com |
| > | Sodium – www.organicfacts.net |
| > | Potassium – www.organicfacts.net |
| > | Calcium – www.organicfacts.net |
| > | Magnesium – www.organicfacts.net |
| > | Chloride – http://www.best-home remedies.com |
Please Note;
If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
The information presented on this page is designed to give our viewers information about electrolytes, and how they work within the body, any information contained on this page should never substitute advice from your physician.
