{"id":4748,"date":"2024-08-14T14:59:54","date_gmt":"2024-08-14T11:59:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/empharmacy.gr\/do-i-really-need-electrolytes-myths-and-electro-truths\/"},"modified":"2024-08-16T11:52:53","modified_gmt":"2024-08-16T08:52:53","slug":"do-i-really-need-electrolytes-myths-and-electro-truths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/empharmacy.gr\/en\/do-i-really-need-electrolytes-myths-and-electro-truths\/","title":{"rendered":"Do I really need electrolytes? Myths and Electro-Truths"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Imagine yourself in front of a supermarket shelf. A variety of colorful liquids in plastic bottles, promising improved exercise performance, less fatigue and faster recovery after training. The same picture on the eshop pages, with electrolytes being among the 10 most popular categories of dietary supplements in Greece. But how far is the promise from the reality? Do the benefits in practice live up to expectations? <strong>Can we all take electrolytes safely?<\/strong> And if so, which formulation is <strong>right for me?<\/strong><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4733 alignleft\" title=\"sports drinks\" src=\"https:\/\/empharmacy.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/sports-drinks.jpg\" alt=\"sports drinks\" width=\"429\" height=\"274\" srcset=\"https:\/\/empharmacy.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/sports-drinks.jpg 564w, https:\/\/empharmacy.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/sports-drinks-300x191.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 429px) 100vw, 429px\" \/> Electrolytes are chemicals which, when dissolved in water, make it <strong>a conductor of electricity<\/strong> (water in the absence of ions has only negligible conductivity). The main electrolytes are Sodium, Potassium, Magnesium, Chlorine and Calcium. Many bodily processes that occur automatically in our body are regulated by a variety of mechanisms by electrolytes. All multicellular organisms rely on electrical balance on either side of their cell membranes. The <strong>muscular<\/strong> and <strong>nervous systems<\/strong> offer the most typical examples of the importance of electrolytes. The kidneys are the main regulator of electrolyte balance in our body. When there is an <strong>excess<\/strong>, the kidneys <strong>remove<\/strong> it by balancing electrolyte levels. This balance also depends on the action of hormones. Potential imbalances usually lean towards deficiency, when the <strong>loss of electrolytes<\/strong> is greater than the intake through food. <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4725 alignright\" title=\"ffc0e2e8 bb2c 4078 8f2a 6c59c81a25c1\" src=\"https:\/\/empharmacy.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/ffc0e2e8-bb2c-4078-8f2a-6c59c81a25c1.jpg\" alt=\"ffc0e2e8 bb2c 4078 8f2a 6c59c81a25c1\" width=\"362\" height=\"201\" srcset=\"https:\/\/empharmacy.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/ffc0e2e8-bb2c-4078-8f2a-6c59c81a25c1.jpg 793w, https:\/\/empharmacy.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/ffc0e2e8-bb2c-4078-8f2a-6c59c81a25c1-300x166.jpg 300w, https:\/\/empharmacy.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/ffc0e2e8-bb2c-4078-8f2a-6c59c81a25c1-768x426.jpg 768w, https:\/\/empharmacy.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/ffc0e2e8-bb2c-4078-8f2a-6c59c81a25c1-600x333.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 362px) 100vw, 362px\" \/> An <strong>intense<\/strong> <strong>workout<\/strong>, through sweat, can lower the body&#8217;s electrolyte levels. Symptoms such as fever, diarrhoea and vomiting can have the same effect. Electrolyte loss and <strong>dehydration<\/strong> usually go hand in hand, resulting in headaches, cramps, confusion and malaise. <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4729 alignleft\" title=\"Screenshot 2024 08 14 143454\" src=\"https:\/\/empharmacy.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Screenshot-2024-08-14-143454.png\" alt=\"Screenshot 2024 08 14 143454\" width=\"307\" height=\"307\" srcset=\"https:\/\/empharmacy.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Screenshot-2024-08-14-143454.png 551w, https:\/\/empharmacy.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Screenshot-2024-08-14-143454-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/empharmacy.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Screenshot-2024-08-14-143454-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/empharmacy.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Screenshot-2024-08-14-143454-100x100.png 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 307px) 100vw, 307px\" \/> For workouts lasting up to an hour, in normal weather conditions, and at low to moderate intensity, all you usually need is <strong>water<\/strong>. Hard or high duration workouts make <strong>the<\/strong> <strong>benefit<\/strong> <strong>of<\/strong> electrolyte replenishment more <strong>clear.<\/strong>  Higher benefit is expected in people who, by nature, <strong>sweat<\/strong> more than others, while <strong>high temperature<\/strong> also increases sweating. Endurance athletes can benefit from the rapid hydration offered by a <strong>hypotonic<\/strong> formulation (lower concentration of solutes from the blood).Electrolyte formulations help recovery from <strong>diarrhoeal episodes<\/strong>, and combination formulations with <strong>probiotics<\/strong> are available. The advantage of the latter is the simultaneous maintenance of the electrical balance and the gut flora.The same preparations can be used to treat dehydration caused by vomiting or multi-day fever.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Imagine yourself in front of a supermarket shelf. A variety of colorful liquids in plastic bottles, promising improved exercise performance, less fatigue and faster recovery after training. The same picture on the eshop pages, with electrolytes being among the 10 most popular categories of dietary supplements in Greece. But how far is the promise from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[164],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-empharmacy-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/empharmacy.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/empharmacy.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/empharmacy.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empharmacy.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empharmacy.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/empharmacy.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4748\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/empharmacy.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empharmacy.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empharmacy.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}