Many people reach for electrolyte beverages to quench their thirst during workouts. These mineral-rich drinks contain salt (sodium), magnesium, potassium, calcium, phosphate and bicarbonate.

But the best way to get electrolytes is through your diet taking collagen and electrolytes together. Symptoms of low electrolytes include acidosis, confusion and muscle twitching. Dehydration and kidney disorders, as well as certain medications like diuretics, may also cause them to fall.

Sodium

It is also important for controlling the amount of fluid inside and around your cells. It also supports the work of your nerves and muscles.

Like all electrolytes, sodium carries an electrical charge. Its positive charge equalizes the negative charges in a solution. This allows it to conduct electricity. It’s a key component of salt, which is used to make water conductive. The positive charges in sodium atoms are called cations. While the negative charges are known by the name anions.

Potassium

Potassium is an important electrolyte that helps to regulate everything from hydration and nerve transmission to muscle function, including the heart. It works together with sodium to create nerve impulses that help move nutrients into the cells and waste out of them. This is important for healthy muscle contractions, nervous system function, and many other vital body functions.

Your kidneys control potassium levels in your blood. When your kidneys work properly, the potassium level in your blood is stable (equilibrated). Potassium reduces the blood pressure-raising effects of sodium (found in table salt), by helping to move water into cells. It also helps to regulate pH levels in the body, keeping them slightly alkaline (closer to 7.4) for optimal health.

It also plays a role in maintaining a normal electrochemical gradient across cell membranes that keeps sodium ions out of cells and calcium ions in cells. Normal nerve transmission, muscle contraction and kidney function are all dependent on the normal electrochemical gradient.

While most people get the potassium they need from a well-balanced diet, some health conditions and medications can cause low potassium levels in the blood, known as hypokalemia. Dehydration, excessive sweating or diarrhea, or some medications such as diuretics can cause this. It can be caused by chronic renal disease, some cancers, and adrenalinsufficiency. For this reason, it’s important to talk with your doctor if you have a low potassium intake.

Calcium

Calcium is a vital electrolyte. It plays a number of important roles in the body. These include regulating nerve and muscular function, hydrating, balancing acidity and blood pressure, and building bone. Like other electrolytes, it moves through the fluid inside, outside, and between cells. It regulates the voltage across cell membranes to generate nerve impulses and cause muscles to contract. It also helps maintain the electrolyte gradients that allow sodium, potassium, and magnesium ions to pass through the semi-permeable heart muscle membrane to help generate an action potential.

This pool is involved in skeletal mineralization, cell excitability, blood vessel contraction and expansion, nerve transmission and blood clotting. This pool is important for skeletal minerals, cell excitability and contraction of blood vessels, nerve transmission and blood clotting. Vitamin D is essential for calcium absorption. The body gets most of its calcium through the diet.

Magnesium

Magnesium, a rock-star in the world of electrolytes, supports over 300 enzyme reactions, which fuel energy production, immune function, and bone formation. It is also a critical part of the sodium/potassium pump and is required for muscle contraction. Its bronchodilatory properties help prevent asthma attacks. In clinical studies, magnesium has been shown in clinical trials to reduce ischemic-reperfusion injury and death in patients with an acute myocardial.

Electrolytes, such as calcium, sodium, phosphate, and potassium, in addition to helping muscles and nerves work properly, regulate blood pressure and sugar. They also regulate your body’s water balance through osmosis. Your cells absorb and release water.

You should get electrolytes from your diet, particularly if you regularly exercise. Some of the best foods to get electrolytes are leafy greens like spinach, kale and beet leaves, black beans and summer vegetables. You can also find these in multivitamins, dairy products like milk, yogurt and cheese, and some kefir. In general, try to get your nutrients from whole foods rather than supplements unless advised by a doctor.

Phosphorus

Phosphorus helps keep your bones and teeth healthy and is needed to grow and repair tissues and cells, as well as create DNA and RNA. It also helps the body use carbohydrates and fatty acids for energy.

Most people get enough phosphorus through food. Dairy products (such as milk, cream and cheese), poultry and fish, beans, walnuts, seeds, whole grains and many fortified cereals are all rich in phosphorus. Some phosphate-based supplements are available.

Normal kidneys remove extra phosphorus from the blood, but chronic kidney disease causes your kidneys to lose this ability. If you have too much phosphorus in your body, it can cause calcium to be pulled from your bones, causing dangerous calcium deposits inside your blood vessels, your eyes, and your heart. This can increase the risk of a stroke or heart attack.

Zinc

Zinc is essential to the immune system. It also plays a role in wound healing and cell signaling. It’s available in many foods and as a dietary supplement. It is important that people with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D), who are at higher risk of zinc depletion in their diet, ensure they get enough of this mineral.

A specialized, inorganic-organic electrolyte is one of key components in a high performance zinc-air battery. The inorganic layer is made from salts such as sodium carbonate and potassium carbonate, while the organic layer consists of polymers such as polyethylene glycol and dimethyl sulfoxide.

The acidity of the electrolyte determines the reversible current density of the Zn metal electrode, which is crucial for a long calendar life of the battery. Acid electrolytes, such as sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, and nitric acids, can promote Zn growth at lower current density than alkaline electrolytes, but they are less durable due to the porous oxide film that results.

Researchers have used functional additives to improve zinc salt solvation structures. For example, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium cations were shown to suppress pulverization and dendrite formation by reallocating Zn2+ ions away from the interface. These additives are low LUMO donors, which allows them compete with water in the solvation layer and avoid competition with ionic pathways.