You love sports but do you recharge properly your batteries with a healthy diet? Like the machines, our bodies carry electric charges by some substances called electrolytes.
Electrolytes are minerals and include calcium, magnesium, phosphate, potassium, sodium, and chloride. Their balance in your body is very important for its proper function. Electrolytes control important physiological functions maintaining a proper balance between acid and base pH levels. They control proper fluid levels, and regulate proper muscle and nerve function.
"Too much or too little electrolytes can be dangerous for you so be sure that you take them in moderation."
Electrolyte imbalance can be commonly caused, by dehydration during or after sports activities.
Why do we need salt?
Remember the genesis of life happened in salty water. So salt is as much important for your life as water. The importance of salt is known since ancient times and some medicine systems like Ayurveda explains that it causes heating up effect and improves the taste of food. Nowadays it is proven that salt when is taken in a balanced way, stimulates salivation, promotes digestion and detoxification of the body, improves blood circulation and normalizes the electrolyte balance.
One of the ingredients of the salt - sodium is very important for the communication in your body and especially that of the brain, the nervous system, and the muscles. It is responsible for maintaining your blood volume, the transmission of signals along cell walls and the transport of other nutrients, such as glucose. Another important effect of sodium in your body is maintaining proper fluid balance and preventing dehydration and low blood pressure. Recent research has suggested that salt can also reduce the risk of infection and kill harmful bacteria in your body.
However, be careful because extremes in the blood sodium levels (too much or too little) can be fatal. High blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver damage, osteoporosis, and kidney disease are linked to high sodium intake. You can reduce sodium intake by replacing fine-grain table salt with crystals of pink Himalayan salt, but again, use it in moderation.
How much salt do we need?
Medical experts recommend that people should eat less than one teaspoon of regular table salt per day (approximately 2,300 milligrams (mg) of sodium). But those that have high blood pressure should limit sodium intake to 1500 mg per day. However, some researches suggest that adults’ need for salt is probably greater than previously thought.So the golden rule is not to have too much salt but also not to eliminate it completely from your diet especially if you are very physically active.