What Are The Health Benefits Of Electrolytes And Electrolyte Water?

Regulating Body Temperature

Temperature regulation in the body is primarily governed by the hypothalamus in the brain. It works alongside other tissues, like skin, blood vessels, and sweat glands to increase or decrease the amount of heat retained in the body. Electrolytes play an important role in regulating body temperature as well. When internal temperatures are too high, the hypothalamus triggers the body to release sweat from glands in the middle layer of the dermis (skin). Salt within sweat enables water to be carried to the surface of the skin to evaporate. Once evaporation occurs, a cooling effect is achieved, thereby decreasing the body’s internal temperature. Electrolytes are also responsible for relaxing or constricting the smooth muscles surrounding blood vessels. The primary electrolyte responsible for this process is calcium. When internal temperatures are low, constricting blood vessels enables the body to retain heat as less blood is carried to the surface of the skin. Rapid muscle contractions (shivering) also generate heat during this time, and they’re generated through the signals electrolytes carry through the nervous system.

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Assisting With Muscle Contraction

Electrolytes are crucial to normal nerve functions and they are crucial to assisting with muscle contraction. Both nerve cells and muscle fibers work by utilizing energy and electrical impulses. The motor cortex communicates these impulses to neurons in the spinal column that radiate outward towards skeletal muscle. These electrical impulses are actually made of charged particles called ions, which are what electrolytes are. Ion channels in nerve cells allow electrolytes to pass through the way electrons moves along a current. Once the nerve impulse reaches the motor end plate (junction between the neuron and individual muscle fibers), a reaction between filaments in the muscle fiber occurs. This reaction is what causes the muscle to contract.

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