Summer Hydration -
​Do I Need Electrolytes?

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June 30, 2023 - Episode #116 - Summer Hydration-Do I need Electrolytes

Sweet Summer time.  The days are longer, you are outside and enjoying all the summer activities with your friends and your family.. The sun is out and, man it is hot!  You know you need to be hydrated.  That’s kinda a given but do you need electrolytes?  Spoiler alert….Yes!  Yes, you do and I’m going to tell you why today on our summer health tip series…..on the Healthy Harmony Podcast.

Welcome back to the Healthy Harmony podcast! You may have noticed that we took a little break as my daughter graduated from High School and we took a family trip to Belize.  It was wonderful.  

And I'm really happy about what I have for you this summer!  Obviously, summer schedules are different and I wanted to give you some quick summer tips that are short, sweet and to the point! So, introducing our Summer Health Series.  You will appreciate these short podcasts addressing your most frequently asked questions.  Today we are answering the question, "do I need electrolytes?"

Join me as I unpack 3 key electrolytes and why they are essential to the body, give you signs of electrolyte imbalance and provide you with my favorite electrolytes (including my favorite flavors).
And, bonus...give you the secret to making your own electrolytes at home! 

Join me next time as we chat Summer Fasting - Is Intermittent Fasting the right Strategy for Me?

​Oh yeah! Need some links to my two favs I mentioned?  Here you go.......

LMNT electrolytes - www.drinklmnt.com (great resources and research on their website) Also available on Amazon.  Try the variety pack! 

Pickleball Electrolytes by Jigsaw Health ​

 
​SEE BELOW FOR FULL TRANSCRIPT

​Where else to listen:  (note: Google is only available on android devices)

TRANSCRIPTION

Sweet summertime. It's here. The days are longer. You're outside. You're enjoying all sorts of fun with your friends and your family. And man, it is hot. Yes. You know, you need to be hydrated. That's kind of a given, but do you need electrolytes? Okay, spoiler alert. Yes. Yes you do. And I'm going to tell you exactly why today on the Quick Summer health tip series on the Healthy Harmony Podcast.
 
Welcome back to the Healthy Harmony Podcast. If you've been around for a little bit, then you've realized we took a short break. I'm Jennifer, your host, a dietitian turned functional medicine health coach, and my oldest daughter, Maddie, just graduated from high school. So we have been celebrating that. We went on a family vacation to Belize. And I'm so proud of Maddie because in high school she completed the two year cosmetology program.

So we've been in the process of launching her career. So she has been busy taking the cosmetology license exams and and we're just beyond thrilled for her. So, so, so happy about that. But needless to say, we needed to take a short break and just focus on family for a bit. And now we're back.

And I'm excited what I'm gonna do for you this summer. So, obviously summer's a little bit different and the schedule should be a little bit different. So I think you'll be really excited for this summer series. Very short podcast. Short, sweet to the point, answering your most pressing questions. We will get back to the more in-depth discussions, the guest experts in the fall. But for right now, we're gonna add start our summer series. And today's topic is hydration. It's a given. Yes, you know, you know, you need to be hydrated.

In fact, you could shock your body and actually drink water, right? Some of you aren't even doing that, but this is for that person. You already feel like you're doing a good job and you're hydrated. But do you need electrolytes? Maybe you've heard some stuff about electrolytes and you're wondering if that is for you. So I'm gonna answer that question today. So let's start off with what electrolytes are. Electrolytes are very, very important. Minerals that keep our body in balance, they help our body to stay hydrated, really helps our body utilize that hydration effectively. It keeps our muscles working properly. It helps our nerves communicate with each other.
Now, there are several electrolytes. I'm only gonna focus on a, a short breakdown of three key electrolytes today that are absolutely crucial for your health. So number one is sodium. And you know, sodium's kind of gotten a bad rap in the past, but it's very, very good for you.

It's very important for your body. So sodium is essential for maintaining hydration. It really regulates what gets into our cells. It helps with stomach acid production and it really assists with nerve function. Here's the deal. If you have a deficiency of sodium, that's gonna lead to insulin resistance, which will make it very hard to be metabolically healthy and lose weight it will lead to a sluggish thyroid, poor digestion, and a poor stress response. So that's sodium.

Potassium. Potassium is absolutely crucial. It is essential for nerve and muscle activity. Potassium really helps to transport nutrients and hormones into the cells. And we know that potassium works along with sodium for blood pressure and fluid regulation. Potassium also supports healthy digestion and helps to shuttle blood sugar into the cells. So very important, a deficiency of potassium is going to lead to a lot of weakness, fatigue, potential heart issues, muscle cramping, high blood pressure, the list goes on.

Finally, let's talk about magnesium. You've heard me talk about magnesium before. It has been nicknamed the Miracle Mineral. It is essential for detoxification and elimination. It helps calm the adrenal glands. It's important for heart function, sleep, nutrient, balance, hormone balance. And yes, it's even port for mental and emotional health. Crucial mineral, crucial electrolyte, a deficiency of magnesium. This is a long list, but let me give you only the highlights. If you have a deficiency of magnesium, you're going to have problems eliminating. You can have insulin resistance, osteoporosis, increased blood pressure, insomnia, brain fog, anxiety, just overall toxicity. So huge. So there's a breakdown of three key electrolytes.

Now, what are some signs that you need? Electrolytes? What are some of those symptoms that might give you an indication of, Hey, I, I need some electrolytes here. There's something going on with my body. So here's some symptoms of electrolyte imbalance.

You ready for this? List? Fatigue, low blood pressure, feeling faint when you stand up. Brain fog, low blood sugar, feeling that wired but tired, feeling decreased resilience to stress. Dry skin and lips, headaches, muscle cramps frequent urination, a fast or irregular heartbeat, increased thirst and anxiety. Those are symptoms of electrolyte imbalance. So let's look at this. What are the benefits of hydrating with electrolytes? Obviously your body's gonna be able to utilize that hydration more effectively, increase muscle function, a cognitive boost, bone health and density. It really supports heart health. Here's what I love. Here's what I've noticed personally and my clients have noticed. When we've incorporated electrolytes, we've noticed improved energy, just a little bit sharper thinking, improved energy, just an overall feeling, feeling better. Okay? So that's why I love to use electrolytes. Let's get into some of the favorite electrolytes out there.

Obviously I'm going for a much more holistic approach, avoiding the junk, cuz I don't need that toxicity. You do not need that toxicity. So one of my absolute favorite electrolytes is called element, L m n T, kind of clever. Now this one has a, a really good ratio of sodium, potassium, and a magnesium. Those are the three things that's in it. There's a lot of good science there. Their website is a wealth of information. My top three flavors would be citrus salt, raspberry salt, and grapefruit salt. Now these taste pretty salty, so you definitely need to mix that in a larger amount of water. Especially if you're just starting out. And when I say larger amount of water, I'm talking anywhere from 16 ounces to 32 ounces. Personally, I put mine in my 40 ounce Stanley cup and I'm good to go.

That's what I drink first thing in the morning. Now, because element has a a higher amount of sodium, that's not necessarily a bad thing, but that means element is gonna be absolutely ideal for someone who is sweating a good bit. Definitely really good for those athletes if you're on a low carb or a keto diet because of the sodium content element's gonna be ideal for you. Another electrolyte that I really want to highlight here is one from a company called Jigsaw Health. And it is a, it's called pickleball electrolytes. Now they're just kind of being clever and using some good marketing. I think it's pretty brilliant because everybody's playing pickleball and now you can have the right electrolytes to go along with your stellar pickleball game. But pickleball electrolytes from Jigsaw Health depending on the expert you're listening to, this may have a little bit more of an appropriate ratio of potassium to sodium.
So not as much sodium in this one. And and this might be a good place to start, especially if you feel like you're sodium sensitive or maybe you're not sweating, you're not doing any sort of athletic activity. You're not, you, you have a lot of processed foods, so that means you're getting a lot of, of sodium anyway. So pickleball, electrolytes are definitely one you wanna check out. My favorite flavor is orange and a good, good clean ingredients in those pickleball electrolytes. So there's two of my absolute favorites right there. Those are ones that come in little packets. You can mix it in water, you're, and you can do that on the go.

Now if you're saying, okay, but Jennifer, I don't want to buy electrolytes. Like, that's crazy. These are just some, some key, you know, electrolytes and minerals. Can I just do my own?

Yes, of course you can. So here's how you do that. Get some salt. Okay, Redmond's real salt, Celtic sea salt, pink Himalayan sea salt, very high quality salt. Put a fourth of the teaspoon of salt in your water. And if you, and that's gonna give you the sodium if you really want to like have that potassium in there, you desperately need it. And a good way to put potassium in there is to use coconut water. You're getting 400 milligrams of potassium when you drink coconut water. So doing that mixture, put a little bit of lemon in there for the vitamin C and the detox benefits. And you've got a very powerful drink to start your day. So that is the low down on electrolytes.
Obviously we want to say no to liquid IV body armor, Gatorade, Powerade, the list goes on.

You don't need the chemicals. And you might be saying, but Jennifer, it's low calorie and it's okay. No, it's not. At some point you've got to stop counting calories and start counting chemicals. It's those chemicals that are destroying your health. I don't care how good the marketing is or how deceptive that marketing is, you need to turn that bottle around and look at what's in there. If you feel like you need a chemistry degree to decipher what is in there, then it's, it's too much. Okay? So just keep that in mind. That's my 2 cents on electrolytes and we will continue to bring you, hey, straight talk because that's what you need. So I'm so glad that you're here and I want to encourage you, be your own best advocate. Do your own research. This might be just a jumping off point for you to kind of open up your eyes and go, huh, I need some electrolytes, but I need to kind of evaluate what you're doing.

Especially if you've got kids and they're busy outside. Maybe they're playing sports, they're doing the summer camps. Yes, they need electrolytes. So consider LMNT or pickleball stay away from the Gatorade, the Powerade, all of that junk. The artificial colors, artificial sugars, artificial flavors are so detrimental yes, to you and your kids. So let's say no to that junk and choose something that's higher quality. And if you'll notice on Gatorade, they're not even gonna get the sodium, potassium, and magnesium that they need, but they're getting all the colors and all the nasty foul junk. So that's my 2 cents.
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So remember this is about your health, your life, it's about your kids' health. And we're going against systems that just care about money. It's not about profit. So join me next time. We're gonna chat. Summer fasting is intermittent fasting smart for me? So that's it for now. Go drink some coconut water and hey, put some salt in it. Bye friend.