We all know vitamins, minerals and proteins are very essential for our body to maintain it healthy. But many of us are not aware of electrolytes, even these are very important for normal functioning of all the body organs. Electrolyte disorder or imbalance refers to either too high or too low levels of electrolytes in our body.
For our body to function properly even presence of electrolytes is a must, other wise it may lead to several health issues and sometimes it can be as severe as seizure, coma and cardiac arrest.
What Are Electrolytes?
Electrolytes are actually minerals like sodium, potassium, phosphate, magnesium, calcium and bicarbonate which can easily convert into bodily fluids by creating charged ions, might be positive and negative in our body.
Balancing electrolytes in your body plays major role in normal functioning of your body.
Here are 6 signs you need to know that you have imbalance of electrolytes in your body.
1. Dehydration
Dehydration can lead to electrolyte imbalance. The important electrolyte that helps to maintain fluid balance in our body is sodium and imbalance of this may occur by having this mineral high or even low.
Excessive exercise, over exposure to heat, diarrhea, vomiting, all these conditions will lead to rise of sodium in our body. This leads to dehydration, so it’s important to drink water in adequate amounts and if you are doing excessive exercise then it’s better to have sports drink to balance electrolytes in your body.
2. Irregular Heartbeat
The mineral potassium plays a major role in normal functioning of brain and nerves and it is also needful for muscle contraction. This electrolyte also works close with sodium to maintain normal muscle contraction and heart function which makes it an important mineral for controlling heart rate.
Even too much potassium in your diet leads to muscle weakness, kidney diseases, paralysis and sometimes to life threatening conditions called hyperkalemia which is linked with level of potassium in your body that can be treated with potassium lowering medications.
3. Tingling Sensation In Your Fingers And Feet
If you are one of them who often experience tingling sensation in fingers and feet, then it might be because of imbalance of electrolytes in their body.
The condition called hypocalcaemia occurs when you have too much calcium in your body. Calcium is the major mineral to maintain healthy and strong bones. Generally calcium levels are maintained by parathyroid glands that produce hormones that raise and decrease the level of blood calcium.
Too much calcium will also lead to kidney stones, bone pain, frequent urination, depression, fatigue, constipation, abdominal pain. Hypocalcaemia also occurs as the deficiency of vitamin D, which is the main vitamin which helps to absorb calcium to your bones in the body.
4. Fatigue
One of the most common symptoms when you have electrolyte imbalance is fatigue. This generally occurs due to low levels of magnesium in the body.You might wonder after knowing that, magnesium has involved in more than 300 processes and often called as fatigue fighter too.
According to national institute of health, too little magnesium is also linked to poor diet, prolonged use of diuretics, excessive consumption of alcohol and gastro intestinal disorders and acid reducing pills. You can increase magnesium by including green leafy vegetables, and other magnesium rich foods in your regular diet.
5. Poor Circulation And Excessive Itching
When phosphorous levels are too high, then it leads to severe itchiness and poor blood circulation throughout your body and causes kidney stones. Malnutrition and excessive consumption of alcohol leads to fall down of phosphorous levels in your body. The symptoms include weak respiratory system, cardiac arrhythmia and even death sometimes. Processed meats and canned foods are rich source of phosphorous which have to be excluded from your diet.
6. Overhydration
Over hydration is nothing but having too much of water in our body. Excessive drinking of water also leads to many health issues. Over hydration is also known as hyponeatremia in medical terms, this occurs when the sodium levels are abnormally low in the body.
This condition is quite uncommon, but it happens due to use of anti depressants pills, liver failure, heart failure, diabetes, hypothyroidism, diarrhea, vomiting.
As we know sodium controls the amount of water in our cells, but when we become over hydrated the sodium becomes diluted and cells begin to swell. The symptoms of this condition include, mild to life threatening like nausea, diarrhea, restfulness, confusion, fatigue, muscle weakness, seizures and coma.