After a sports event or regular physical activities, when you feel exhausted, drinking plain water might not be a good way to provide adequate hydration levels to your body. Electrolyte sports drinks or water is an excellent option in these situations. Let’s learn more about electrolyte water.
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What Is Electrolyte Water?
Electrolytes-enhanced water is a kind of sports drink full of minerals that are not available in adequate amounts in bottled water or tap water. These minerals include sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium.
Electrolyte waters are designed to hydrate your body faster than bottled water or plain water. Although tap water contains some electrolytes, it’s not enough to replenish them right after physical activity.
Athletes, exercisers, sportspersons, and others who need to replenish lost fluids or electrolytes after an athletic performance and prolonged exercise can have these electrolyte beverages.
But I would not suggest electrolyte intake as a substitution for regular drinking water because electrolyte beverages are supplements. For normal hydration, you should drink regular water.
What Are The Types of Electrolyte Waters?
I have tested bottled electrolyte-enhanced water for quite some time and came up with three main types. Let’s see what they are:
Strong Electrolytes Water
Strong electrolytes cannot ionize in the water. They break down into cations and anions inside water, and both remain in the same amount.
Salt, strong acids, potassium chloride, strong base, etc., are good examples of strong electrolytes. So, when they are present in drinking water, you can call it strong electrolytes water.
Weak Electrolytes Water
Weak electrolytes are somewhat ionized in water. They turn into ions between 1 to 10% when inside water. The number of cations and anions in weak electrolytes won’t be the same.
Those acids and bases that are not very strong are weak electrolytes. For example, carbonic acid.
Non-Electrolytes Water
Non-electrolytes cannot ionize in water. So, you won’t get any cations and anions from them. Sugar is a non-electrolyte inside water.
Are Electrolyte Drinks Beneficial?
Electrolyte water is highly beneficial, and anyone can drink it. But it is more beneficial for people who perform the prolonged exercise, have weak immune systems, and live in hot environments.
These sports drinks contain added electrolytes and facilitate important bodily functions after physical activity. An electrolyte drink can quickly regenerate lost electrolytes in your body.
Now, let’s see who will be benefited from electrolyte drinks:
People Doing Prolonged Exercise
When you exercise, your body experiences fluid loss because of sweating. In that case, you can face severe dehydration if you do not drink water. Electrolytes sports drinks or alkaline water can be a good choice for treating severe dehydration.
They will provide instant energy to your body by replacing lost electrolytes during exercises. So, it is a vital element for preventing dehydration.
People With Weak Immune Systems
You need good immune support, and you must stay hydrated. Electrolyte-enhanced water will keep the electrolyte levels high in your body and improve your immunity.
It can also save you from life-threatening heatstroke in hot weather. Preventing heat-related illnesses will become easier as electrolytes will maintain your body temperature.
People Living in Hot Weather
Hot weather can cause heat-related illnesses, which can worsen dehydration. Electrolyte water will provide additional fluids to prevent dehydration and help your body stay cool.
Electrolyte waters will work as a body cooling system and allow your body to maintain essential functions.
What Are the Benefits of Electrolyte Water?
After testing many electrolyte drinks, I have found many a lot of benefits that are essential to prevent dehydration. They provide enough electrolytes for your body and help your body manages heat.
Here are some major benefits you will get from an electrolyte drink:
Provides Electrolytes to the Body
Electrolytes are essential for your body because they are full of potassium, calcium, magnesium, and other electrical energy.
This electrolyte-enhanced water will replenish electrolytes in your body and keep it hydrated. It is imperative to stay hydrated and have electrolytes if you do sports or exercise regularly.
Increase Hydration Levels
Your body must stay hydrated all the time, especially if you live in hot environments. Electrolyte drinks will help you replenish water lost from your body because of physical activities.
Electrolytes help your body stay cool and maintain your blood pressure by keeping it hydrated throughout the day.
Enhance Your Mobility
Sports and exercise are all about mobility. So, your body needs enough hydration and electrolytes to do well in there. Sports drinks are ionized alkaline water that will boost your energy level and enhance your performance.
Fast Recovery From Illness
Another good thing about electrolytes is that they help your body recover fast from physical activities or an illness. Because of the minerals and electrolytes in sports drinks, you can recover fast from a disease.
Again, after exercises, you may have muscle soreness and weakness. But electrolytes will help you recover from it at a fast pace. That’s why athletes take sports drinks.
Maintain Overall Health
As I said earlier, electrolytes are vital to maintaining good health. You can maintain body weight and temperature if you have the right electrolytes.
Plus, they also help recover decreased strength and reduce the possibility of diseases like urinary tract infections and kidney stones.
When Should You Drink Electrolyte Water?
Electrolyte-enhanced water is not like regular drinking water; it’s a supplement people take during or after a sporting event or physical activity.
When you exercise, your body loses electrolytes as a form of sweat. That’s why you feel tired after a time. In that situation, you will need potassium, calcium, and magnesium; an electrolyte drink is a perfect way to get it fast.
Again, after a sporting event, you need to recover fast from dehydration and regain energy. Electrolyte drinks will normalize your blood pressure, and you will get your energy back pretty fast.
Who May Not Benefit from Electrolyte Supplements?
Electrolyte drink is not suitable for everyone, and you should not consume it instead of plain water because it might cause electrolyte imbalance in your body.
If you do not have any electrolyte deficit in your body, there is no need to take an electrolyte drink as it will not give you any benefit. Drink regular water to remain hydrated at normal times.
Again, if you already have a balanced diet with a regular intake of fruits, vitamin c, b vitamins, vegetables, etc., you do not need any extra electrolyte supplements.
People taking particular medications should not take any electrolyte supplements. For example, if your medication increases sodium levels or if you have kidney disease, you should stay away from any electrolyte drink.
What Criteria Decide the Best Electrolyte Water Brands?
The best electrolyte drink brand doesn’t mean attractive labels or packaging. What’s inside the package is what’s important. You should consider several factors while choosing the right electrolyte sports drink.
Nutritional Value: It is crucial for electrolyte-enhanced water. The best brand should contain potassium, calcium, and magnesium, essential for hydration. Plus, it should not contain artificial sweeteners like added sugar, artificial dyes, etc.
Well Define Lable: A sports drink should have all the information on the label. It must show the ingredients used for making the drink.
Taste is significant because you wouldn’t like to drink anything that doesn’t taste well. It should be refreshing and tasty.
Environmentally Friendly Packaging: The packaging of the best electrolyte drink should be environmentally friendly, keeping sustainability in mind.
Price: Price is always a crucial factor in purchasing goods. While electrolyte water is expensive, choose a brand that offers good value for money.
How to Make Your Own Homemade Electrolyte Drink
Lucky for us, DIY electrolyte drinks are really easy to make. You’ll need just a few minutes if you already have all the ingredients. Here’s how you can make your own electrolyte drink:
- Firstly, collect all the necessary ingredients. You will need salt, baking soda, sugar, citric acid, lemon juice, and water.
- Take salt, baking soda, added sugar, and citric acid in the right amount and mix them in water.
- Then add lemon juice into the mixture and stir them well until they blend.
- Again add the necessary amount of water to the mixture.
- Finally, give the mixture a tablespoon of honey or maple syrup for taste, and your drink will be ready.
FAQs
Is it good to drink electrolyte water every day?
You can drink electrolyte water daily after sporting or exercising to recover the lost electrolytes and regain strength quickly. But you should not drink it as a substitute for regular water.
Is electrolyte water just water with salt?
No, salt is not the only element in electrolyte-enhanced water. It also contains minerals such as calcium and potassium, as well as vitamin c and other necessary elements.
What happens if you drink a lot of electrolyte water?
Drinking electrolyte water in hot environments is necessary. But if you drink it excessively, you will have an electrolyte imbalance in your body. It can cause severe or persistent symptoms of different health issues.
Final Thoughts
Drinking electrolytes during and after excessive physical activities can benefit your nervous system and help you recover strength fast. So, as an athlete, exerciser, or someone involved in physical activities, you should give it a try.
