How To Choose the Best Electrolyte Powder for You? - Ask a Nutritionist

Transcript:

Teresa: Welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition's midweek segment called “Ask a Nutritionist”. I'm Teresa Wagner. I am a Registered and Licensed Dietitian, and on today's show, brought to you by Nutritional Weight & Wellness, we will be answering a question we receive from our Dishing Up Nutrition listeners. Today's question is about electrolytes, how to choose an electrolyte formula, and who can benefit from using them.

What are electrolytes & their functions?

So before we get started on the question, let's just talk about what electrolytes are. Electrolytes are vital minerals that help regulate fluid balance, nerve function, and muscle activities throughout the body. These microscopic powerhouses help to send electrical signals between your cells, hence their name, electrolytes.

There are seven key electrolytes: sodium, chloride, potassium, magnesium, calcium, phosphate, and bicarbonate. Each one plays a specific role in keeping you functioning at your best. Sodium plays a key role in maintaining hydration and ensuring proper nerve signaling and muscle contractions while chloride works alongside sodium to support fluid balance and acid-based regulation.

Potassium is an essential nutrient for heart function and communication between nerves and muscles. Magnesium contributes to muscle relaxation, energy production, and enzyme activity. While calcium strengthens our bones, assists in blood clotting and also enables muscle contraction.

So magnesium for relaxation, calcium for contraction. Phosphate is crucial for generating energy and supporting bone health and bicarbonate, it helps to maintain pH balance, ensuring effective oxygen transport and acid regulation. Together these electrolytes keep the body functioning optimally supporting hydration, energy, and overall wellbeing.

Where do we get electrolytes from?

Now as far as where we get these nutrients from or these minerals from, most of us get enough phosphate and calcium from our food and our bodies naturally produce bicarbonate. Chloride: it often comes hand in hand with sodium and salt, so we don't have to worry too much there. But that leaves us three important players: sodium, potassium and magnesium, electrolytes that we actively lose through sweat, urine, and well, daily life.

Your body, it burns through magnesium very quickly as it supports over 300 enzymatic processes in the body, and sodium and potassium are lost every time you sweat. That's why it's crucial to replenish these minerals through food and when needed, electrolyte drinks to keep the body running smoothly.

So how do they do this? How do they keep the body running smoothly? A couple of things that they do that I want to highlight is they maintain fluid balance. And they regulate the sodium potassium pump.

So first, let's talk about fluid balance. Fluid balance basically means keeping the water that is within your body in the right places within your organs, your cells, and other tissues. This keeps your blood flowing, your brain functioning, and your sweat glands sweating.

You need electrolytes, especially sodium, to maintain that fluid balance. Sodium is the main regulator of fluids outside of the cells, which brings me to the next important role is the sodium potassium pump. And I'm going to keep this brief because I don't think anybody really wants to have a biology lesson, but it's kind of an important point to cover in order to give a broad view of what these important electrolytes do.

The sodium potassium pump is largely responsible for allowing our cells to be able to communicate with one another. Without the pump, we can't do anything. We can't even breathe. This pump sits on the cell membrane of all of our cells, and it has several jobs, but one of the biggest relates to cellular communication.

Here's a simple visual analogy. Imagine a revolving door at a busy hotel entrance. People go in and out of that revolving door, right? So if we picture a busy hotel, people coming in and out, and that door is revolving round and round well, instead of thinking about people, let's think about our electrolytes, sodium and potassium ions.

Ions are the thing that carry the electrical charge. They need to move in and out of the cell to keep everything flowing smoothly. When the signal is sent, sodium ions rush in and around that revolving door as potassium ions exit just like the guests of the hotel entering and leaving through the spinning door.

After the signal is sent, the pump resets, the door, spins back the other way, pushing sodium back outside, and bringing potassium back in, preparing the cell for its next job. This constant exchange keeps your cells communicating. It helps with muscle movements, with nerve signals, and with overall body functioning.

And you know, we probably have all had moments where we can tell that our body's fluid balance feels a little off. Maybe after indulging in a salty Easter ham only to find your fingers too swollen to slide your rings on and off. That extra sodium causes your body to retain water, pushing fluid out of the cells and into the surrounding spaces causing that swelling. The sodium potassium pump is essential for life itself and maintaining the right balance is key.

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Who might benefit from electrolyte supplementation?

While excess sodium gets lots of criticism, not having enough can also cause issues. So who might benefit then from electrolyte supplementation? Well, people who follow whole food, real food and diets, those who prioritize nutrient rich foods as we at Nutritional Weight & Wellness are proponents of: grass fed, pasture raised animal proteins, potassium packed vegetables, and healthy fats like avocados and olive oil.

These people often consume less sodium naturally. Other people that might benefit are those who follow low carbohydrate or ketogenic eating plans. Reducing carbohydrates significantly can lead to increased electrolyte loss through the kidneys.

Those struggling with low energy levels. If you've tried everything to boost your energy levels, electrolytes might be the missing piece. Heavy sweaters, individuals who live or work in hot climates or those who have labor intensive jobs may need extra electrolytes to replenish lost fluids.

Those who are recovering from illnesses, electrolytes can be especially helpful for those experiencing fluid loss due to diarrhea or vomiting. And of course, athletes, whether training or competing, replenishing electrolytes is vital for endurance and recovery.

Overviewing different electrolyte formulas for different needs

With so many electrolyte formulas available, it's important to find one that fits your needs. Some are high in sodium, while others are lower. Some provide a full range of electrolytes while others just focus on the basics like sodium, potassium, and magnesium. If you are being mindful of your sodium intake, starting with a lower sodium formula can be a good choice.

At Nutritional Weight & Wellness, we offer a product called Synperlex, which contains just 100 milligrams of sodium, but higher amounts of potassium as well as phosphorus, magnesium, and chloride. Another great option we have is Hydrate formulated with a balance profile of key minerals, electrolytes, vitamins, taurine, and camosine.

For those, looking for slightly more sodium, Nuun dissolvable tablets; Nuun is spelled NUUN. Can be a convenient choice. If you need a higher sodium intake, a formula like LMNT is worth considering. LMNT is spelled LMNT. Nuun can be found in your regular stores, Whole Foods being one of those stores that you can find Nuun at and LMNT is found online only.

For endurance athletes training or competing for more than 60 minutes, especially during extended runs, rides or swims lasting 90 minutes to two hours or more, a formula with added carbohydrates, sugar, might be beneficial for energy replenishment, but ingredients matter.

Ingredients to avoid in electrolytes & what to look for

Beyond the nutrition facts label, take a closer look at the ingredient list. Some additives to be aware of include added sugars, especially high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose, sugar alcohols, erythritol, sorbitol mannitol, which may cause digestive discomfort. This might be something that's important to note for our endurance athletes, where digestive distress is something to always be considered.

Artificial dyes, food colorings, high levels of B vitamins, amino acids, or stimulants, which might not be necessary for hydration. To ensure product quality, look for third party certifications such as GMP certified or NSF certified for sport, which indicate rigorous testing standards.

Being mindful of all these factors, you can find a formula that optimally supports hydration, energy levels, and overall wellbeing. Whether you're fueling for performance, recovering from an illness, or simply just maintaining daily health, the right balance of electrolytes can make all the difference.

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