Research
Electrolytes the spark plugs for your bike - by Val John Anderson
The human body has often been compared to a finely tuned engine. the engine that powers a bicycle is, of course, the human body, and the better that body runs and feels, the more performance and enjoyment one can experience while cycling. In keeping with the analogy of the human body as a finely tuned engine, if food or calories are the fuel in the gas tank, then electrolytes are the spark plugs.
Muscle Cramps and Spasms: The Electrolyte Misconnection
Muscles need sufficient electrolytes--sodium, magnesium, potassium and chloride—in proper balance to function properly. The body manipulates the balance of these minerals inside and outside of muscle cells in order to get the muscles to contract and relax. An imbalance or deficiency of these electrolytes can cause problems with the body’s electrical impulses and lead to muscle cramps and/or muscle spasms. Low levels of any of these minerals can allow the muscle to contract, but prevent it from relaxing.
Trace Minerals and pH: It’s Simply a Matter of Health
The human body contains a massive amount of ongoing chemical reactions. The majority of these processes occur within our cells—the smallest building blocks of our bodies. Like a factory, the body produces wastes that can be quite toxic to the body if not disposed of properly.
Magnesium, Health, and Disease Prevention
Magnesium is one of the major mineral nutrients in the human body. Containing approximately 20 to 28 grams of magnesium, 60 percent is found in the bones and teeth, while the remaining 40 percent is found in muscle. Serum levels of magnesium range from 1.5 to 2.1 mEq/L; magnesium is the second-most plentiful positively charged ion found within the cells of the body
Effects of an Electrolyte Additive on Hydration and Drinking Behavior During Wildfire Suppression
Eight participants consumed plain water, and eight participants consumed water plus an electrolyte additive during 15 hours of wildfire suppression. Participants wore a specially outfitted backpack hydration system equipped with a digital flow meter system affixed inline to measure drinking characteristics (drinking frequency and volume).
Hyponatremia: Are Salt Tablets Sufficient to Prevent a Salt Deficiency?
Many athletes as well as others exposed to heat stress consume salt supplements to promote fluid replacement, prevent hyponatremia and dehydration, or ward off heat fatigue. While it is true that supplementing with salt can help reduce sodium depletion from sweat and help maintain adequate fluid levels in the body, supplementing with sodium alone is not enough to satisfy your body’s electrolyte requirements and, in fact, may cause additional problems (e.g., nausea, vomiting, muscle cramps) that significantly interfere with performance.
Clinical Study which demonstrates that elete can reduce the amount of water needed to hydrate by more than 40%
This is a significant benefit when considering how heavy water is to carry and was revealed in a peer review published study using forest fire fighters in California. The study was conducted in the summer of 2008 by The University of Montana, in which 8 forest fire fighters were given water with elete added and 8 were given plain water over a period of five days of intense forest fire fighting
Water + Electrolytes: How They Prevent Dehydration
Intense work or exercise in the heat and serious illness can quickly lead to dehydration. Drinking lots of fluid with electrolytes can prevent it. Here’s what you need to know about water, electrolytes, and why you shouldn’t reach for those calorie-dense, sugary-sweet sports drinks to meet your hydration needs.
Extracting Minerals from the Great Salt Lake
Nutritional minerals have been sourced from the Great Salt Lake (GSL) and provided to domestic and international markets since 1969. Endorheic properties of the lake leading to high mineral concentrations, in conjunction with the vastness of the lake, set the GSL apart as the most logical location for nutritional mineral extraction in the world. In spite of the vast abundance of mineral-based resources, only three companies possess water rights with accompanying food-grade mineral extraction claims1; Mineral Resources International, Inc.
Electrolyte Additives for Hydration
By Paul S. Auerbach, MD, MS, FACEP, FAWM
The current issue of the journal Wilderness & Environmental Medicine, published by the Wilderness Medical Society, has a number of very interesting articles of significance to the layperson outdoor medicine enthusiast.
Dehydration — An Imbalance of Water and Minerals
Dehydration results from the loss of water and important electrolytes from the body, including potassium, sodium, chloride, and many other minerals that are often overlooked. The very functioning of essential organs like the brain, kidney, heart and nervous system can’t function without sufficient water or minerals. In third world countries, millions of people die each year from...
Balancing Act (What Are Electrolytes?)
Electrolytes are responsible for maintaining proper fluid balance within cells. Many people hear the word “electrolytes” but have no idea how necessary they are to good health. Electrolytes are minerals capable of transmitting electrical charges within fluids.
Electrolytes and Human Health
Every living being is composed of cells. To sustain life, each cell depends upon a steady, adequate intake of two elements: water and nutrients, especially electrolytes. Electrolytes refer to essential minerals critical to health in a number of ways. Acting independently and cohesively, each these minerals called electrolytes – specifically magnesium, calcium, chloride, sodium and potassium – work with water in maintaining fluid and electrolyte homeostasis, in generating and conducting electrical impulses across cell membranes, in nerve transmission, muscle function and cognition.