Reload Essential Minerals with Sports Drinks For Electrolyte Balance

Minerals like Calcium, Sodium and Potassium all play an important role in your electrolyte balance.   Excessive sweating from exercise can cause the water levels in your body to change and cause you to lose these essential nutrients.  Anytime you workout it is important to stock up on your intake of Calcium, Sodium and Potassium with a Sports Drink or a supplement which will help replenish your electrolytes.

Calicum is abundant in dairy products, greens and tofu – but a Calcium supplement is recommended to maintain proper levels of this mineral in your body.  We need to consume roughly 1000-1500 mg of calcium per day, which most people don’t get from food alone. You will see many Calcium supplements with Magnesium as well, since Magnesium is crucial for the absorption and utilization of Calcium.

You don’t usually need to add Sodium to your diet especially since most diets include processed foods that take you well over your daily recommended intake.  Both over-hydration and excessive sweating can cause sodium levels to be unstable which can cause drowsiness, fatigue, muscle weakness and cramping.

That brings us to the third essential nutrient discussed in this blog, Potassium.  You’ve probably heard that when you get a cramp you should eat a banana.  Bananas are rich in potassium so the idea behind this is that your potassium levels are probably low which may cause the cramping.  Take a look at the labels on your sports drinks and you will see Potassium listed as one of the ingredients on most.

So continue to workout hard, and always replenish your body.  Try to stay away from high sugar sports drinks and stick to something that will balance your electrolytes and keep you hydrated and energized.  Remember, you need to constantly reload the essential minerals into your body to keep it going.