Baby Carrots Quick Bites #2: Poor Person's Electrolytes

The Baby Carrots Quick Bites series of posts focus on fast, easy tips for health and wellness. In this installment, I will talk about electrolytes.

Electrolytes, as the name implies, carry electrical current, since the molecules are ions that are either positively or negatively charged. Thus, in the body they primarily support neurological function, but they do many other things as well. They are also extremely important for regulating fluids.

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Have you ever been thirsty but felt like no matter how much water you drank, it was just going right through you? This is one sign of electrolyte deficiency. The body’s cells walls are designed to keep some substances out and allow certain ones in. Electrolytes are like the key in the lock of the body’s cell doors, opening the door to allow water to enter and nourish the cell. Without electrolytes, the cell door stays closed, water stays out, and cells stay thirsty.

Besides dehydration, here are other signs that may point to low electrolytes:

• Random muscle twitches
• Cramps
• Sluggish digestion
• Excessive system dryness, such as dry skin, dry eyes, dry mouth…
• Interestingly, electrolytes also help with excessive wetness, such as edema, since they encourage proper water flow through the cells, instead of the water pooling between the cells and getting stuck.

You lose electrolytes in sweat, so if you get that “unquenchingly thirsty” feeling after mowing the lawn, that’s why. You also lose large amounts when you’re ill and vomiting. They are also used in normal bodily processes, so they need to be constantly replenished.

As the movie Idiocracy so adeptly showed, there are many companies profiting from the populace’s desire to be healthy, by putting science-y sounding words, like “electrolytes,” into their products.

The problem: electrolyte drinks and powders are often loaded with unhealthful stuff like artificial colorings, preservatives, sugar, artificial sweetener, and god-knows-what-else.

Another problem: electrolyte drinks and powders are expensive.

Enter: the poor person’s electrolyte drink! I’m going to share a life hack that will save you tons of money. You can drink it everyday, and you will notice a difference in your health! (But not in your pocketbook!)

It’s very simple.