What to Drink for Electrolytes: 5 Drinks for Healthy Electrolyte Replenishment
If there’s anything as important as staying hydrated during summer, it is to make sure your electrolytes level is at a healthy level. But what exactly are they and what do you have to do to replenish electrolytes?
In simple terms, electrolytes are naturally occurring minerals that carry an electric charge. Our body gets electrolytes from a variety of sources, including sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, chloride, and bicarbonate.
Why Do We Need Electrolytes?
As you may have guessed, electrolytes are an important part of your body, much like water. They are critical to maintaining proper nerve and muscle function, regulating blood pressure, and preventing dehydration.
Your body maintains the level of electrolytes with a strict balance—however, there are external or internal factors that can lead to an imbalance.
While you do lose electrolytes and fluids from your body on a daily basis due to sweating and other waste products, this is taken care of with a balanced, healthy, and mineral-rich diet.
However, there are times when you may lose much more electrolytes than normal. This can be the result of intense workout sessions, or serious bouts of vomiting or diarrhea. When you lose electrolytes too much and too quickly, you’ll feel weak and your blood pressure might drop.
Fortunately, you can replenish lost electrolytes by drinking refreshing drinks rich in electrolytes. Now this brings us to the next question: what drinks have electrolytes?
What to Drink For Electrolyte Replenishment
Generally, you can get enough electrolytes with a rich and healthy diet consisting of food and drinks that contain minerals and nutrients. At certain times, though, such as post-workout or when you’re ill, you may need an electrolyte boost to restore its balance in your body.
If you’re searching and wondering what is the best drink to replace electrolytes in your body, here are five healthy options:
1. Water with Lemon
Adding a squeeze of lemon to your water can provide a modest level of electrolytes. Lemons have trace amounts of potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sodium as well as vitamin C and antioxidant benefits and help to balance pH levels in the body.
It’s a great drink to have at the start of the day if you’re looking for what to drink for electrolytes because of how it replenishes your fluid after a long night of sleep.
2. Watermelon Juice
Watermelon juice is a light and refreshing drink that helps bring back the electrolytes you lost, while also providing you with other nutrients and minerals. This fruit juice contains a decent level of electrolytes like potassium and magnesium, and other electrolytes such as calcium and phosphorous in small amounts. Pure watermelon juice is also rich in antioxidants. The only drawback to watermelon juice is the high sugar content.
3. Ultima Electrolyte Powder Water-enhancer
Electrolyte-infused beverages have been gaining quite some popularity in recent years. These beverages either come in powdered form or ready-to-drink bottled. They are quite helpful in helping you replenish the minerals you lost during strenuous physical activity, too much heat, or sickness.
However, most of these beverages also rank high on sugar level as they contain as much as 30 grams of sugar and often have artificial sweeteners. Although they may help recover your electrolytes, they can reverse the effects of your workout with all that sugar.
Here’s where Ultima Replenisher electrolyte drink mix steps in. Coming in powdered form, you can easily mix it with water whenever you need a quick dose of healthy electrolytes.
Among the reasons why you’d want to drink Ultima Replenisher is that this drink mix contains no added sugar, calories, artificial sweeteners, or junk.
4. Milk, Plant-based Milk
You may have heard about cow’s milk being healthy for your bones, but did you know it is quite rich in electrolytes as well? This dairy product is packed with minerals like calcium, sodium, and potassium, which provide a high amount of your daily electrolyte needs.
Cow’s milk is also full of carbs, fats and protein, which can help promote muscle tissue repair after grueling physical activities but if you are on a carb- and sugar-restricted diet, this may not be the best option for you.
If you’re vegan or lactose intolerant, plant-based milks can also be a good source of electrolytes. A lot of the vegan milks available in the market are fortified with extra calcium. Milks based on soy and almonds are also rich in phosphorous.
5. Smoothies
Smoothies are a great way to take the health benefits of various fruits and vegetables and blend them into one delicious drink.
While fruit and vegetable smoothies are already popular, you can also blend in nuts, seeds, legumes, and milk or yogurt to make them even more nutritious and tasty. Since these are rich in electrolytes, smoothies can be a great energy drink at the end of a workout or at the start of the day to give you a healthy fill.
Preventing Electrolyte Imbalance
To prevent electrolyte imbalance, it is important to drink plenty of water and consume foods that are nutritious and rich in minerals like sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium.
Electrolyte imbalance can result in fatigue, irregular heartbeat, headaches, numbness, tingling, cramping, and in some cases, convulsions.
If you’re someone who engages in high-intensity physical training, it is imperative to keep a track of your fluid intake and supplement your diet with electrolyte-rich drinks. The Ultima Replenisher electrolyte drink mix solves this issue by providing you with a rich source of electrolytes without any added sugar or sweeteners, and comes in a variety of flavors, so you can pick and choose what you like!
Conclusion
Electrolytes are important minerals that make certain bodily functions possible, including hydration, maintaining pH balance, muscle contractions, and nerve signaling. While a balanced diet is generally enough to provide you with your daily electrolyte requirements, intense physical activities or sickness might require you to increase your electrolyte intake than usual. In these cases, it is important to know what to drink for electrolytes to replenish it and recharge your body.
Want to learn more? Try reading 14 Reasons To Stay Hydrated with Ultima Replenisher.