Drinking water is not the sole solution to overcoming dehydration. The human body relies on electrolytes to function properly. These essential vitamins and minerals, including sodium, potassium, and calcium, fuel the body’s command center to help carry out functions like blood pressure regulation, muscle contraction, fluid balance, and tissue repair.
When the body loses electrolytes and fluid through sweat, urine, vomiting, and diarrhea, it cannot complete these essential functions. Plain tap water and drinking water do not contain electrolytes. But electrolyte drinks like DripDrop may help correct an electrolyte imbalance while hydrating you quickly.
In this article, we’ll dive into electrolyte basics, what happens when you experience electrolyte imbalance, and how electrolyte drinks can help.
What Do Electrolytes Do?
Electrolytes naturally existed in certain foods, such as fruits and vegetables. Humans consume electrolytes through foods and drinks. Once these minerals mix with fluids in the body, like blood and water, they become electrically charged, which helps them carry out vital processes.
Balanced electrolyte levels are important for:
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Maintaining alkalinity of pH levels in the blood
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Regulating fluid levels in the human body
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Transmitting signals from nerves, muscles, and cells throughout the body
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Building tissue and clotting blood
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Contracting muscles
The seven main electrolytes your body needs are potassium, magnesium, sodium, chloride, bicarbonate, calcium, and phosphate. These minerals direct water and fluids to where they’re needed most, helping to maintain homeostasis and fluid balance.
What is an Electrolyte Imbalance?
The human body loses electrolytes through a variety of activities. When this happens, you may experience symptoms, including signs of dehydration — a condition in which the body loses more water than it takes in.
Here are the main causes of an electrolyte imbalance:
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An illness that causes vomiting or diarrhea
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Heat-related illness such as heat exhaustion and heat stroke
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Intense exercise or labor during hot weather and high humidity
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Not drinking enough fluids
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Medical conditions such as respiratory ailments, including emphysema
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Certain medications including diuretics and laxatives
Electrolyte imbalances cause discomfort. When you don’t have the right balance of fluid and electrolyte, you may have symptoms like headaches, irregular heartbeat, and fatigue. You may also experience muscle cramping, digestive upset, irritability, and confusion. Many of these symptoms are also associated with dehydration.
What Is Electrolyte Water?
Electrolyte water is different from drinking water or tap water because it's enhanced with minerals like sodium and potassium. Plain water contains only trace amounts of electrolytes, not enough to support important bodily functions, while electrolyte drinks are fortified with necessary minerals.
Drinks with electrolytes include sports drinks, coconut water, and juices, but these often contain high levels of sugar, which can have negative health impacts and also exacerbate dehydration. Sports drinks and juices contain large amounts of added sugars and sweeteners and lower amounts of sodium, making them less effective at restoring electrolyte and fluid balance.
Electrolyte drinks like DripDrop that are designed with a precise formula to combat hydration and restore electrolytes are much more effective. This doctor-developed formula includes a particular ratio of minerals and glucose to unlock a hydration shortcut to allow the body to absorb water and electrolytes more quickly while delivering the exact amount of minerals needed. For people looking for sugar-free electrolyte drinks, DripDrop Zero hydrates fast and tastes delicious with zero-sugar.
Research-Backed Benefits of Electrolyte Drinks
Electrolyte drinks like DripDrop are the most effective choice when it comes to electrolyte balance replenishment. They are particularly useful when the body loses electrolytes due to strenuous activity, illness, or hot weather.
Here are some of science-backed health benefits of electrolyte drinks:
Sports and Exercise
When we work out or partake in strenuous activity, we lose electrolytes through sweat. Sodium and chloride are the primary minerals lost through sweat, though potassium, magnesium, and calcium are also lost at lower levels. On average, the human body loses one gram of sodium for every liter of sweat.
Water loss equivalent to more than 2% of your body weight can result in a fluid imbalance and electrolyte loss that impacts performance and overall health. Not only does water loss affect sports performance, it can also lead to serious conditions, including dehydration. Left untreated, dehydration can affect thought processes and result in confusion, lightheadedness, fainting, and headaches.
According to the American College of Sports Medicine, endurance athletes should consume fluids before, during, and after strenuous exercise. This also applies to people who regularly work outside and may be exposed to high temperatures, including military service members, law enforcement officers, laborers, and first responders. People in these professions don’t have the luxury of taking the day off simply because of heat. Oftentimes, they must do their jobs in extreme conditions that increase the likelihood of fluid and electrolyte imbalance.
Illness
Illnesses and infections are a key contributor to electrolyte imbalances. Vomiting and diarrhea result in a rapid loss of electrolytes, leading to dehydration if the fluids aren’t replenished fast enough. Children are particularly susceptible to fluid imbalances caused by diarrheal diseases.
For decades, the WHO and other organizations including Unicef and the CDC have recommended the use of oral rehydration solutions to treat dehydration caused by diarrheal disease. When used rapidly and effectively, the WHO found oral rehydration solutions decreased the mortality rate to less than 1% when treating dehydration in cholera patients.
When you’re sick, it can be hard to keep fluids down, especially if your symptoms include vomiting. Try taking small sips of DripDrop, an electrolyte drink based on ORS-science to help your body absorb fluids and electrolytes more quickly than normal.
Heat
Heat and humidity are two factors that can increase the likelihood of electrolyte loss. During heat waves and when the heat index is above 90 degrees Fahrenheit, the risk of dehydration increases substantially.
One study published in the Journal of Occupational Health found that drinking an electrolyte drink may help prevent dehydration on job sites in high temperatures, reducing the incidence of worksite accidents. Additional research shows electrolyte drinks help address mild dehydration in relation to heatstroke and heat exhaustion.
Replenish Electrolytes with DripDrop
DripDrop is one of the best electrolyte drinks to hydrate you fast and boost electrolyte intake. The doctor-developed formula uses a precise ratio of sodium to glucose to unlock a hydration shortcut, helping your body absorb water and electrolytes more quickly than normal.
Whether you’re recovering from a strenuous exercise, working in hot weather, or recovering from an illness, DripDrop is a delicious, easy to use solution available in various flavors. Simply add DripDrop to your water and enjoy the taste and benefits of fast hydration.
