When we sweat excessively we risk losing a lot of liquids and electrolytes, resulting, in the most serious cases, in dehydration. So you have to take some supplements Of salts minerals during the summer? Not always, not for everyone and not every day. Usually, just drinking or eating something is enough to reintroduce lost fluids and electrolytes, but for who does sports or experience severe symptoms such as cramps and muscle pain related to dehydration, it may be useful to take mineral salt supplements, as recommended by both the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Let’s see when and for whom they are recommended and what mineral salts do in our body.
Does it make sense to take mineral salts in the summer?
When we sweat we mainly lose water and electrolytes (minerals), such as sodium, magnesium and potassium. How many and which ones specifically depends first of all on how much we sweat, It varies from person to person and it is also influenced by factors such as nutrition, external temperature, stress level… In short, it is something very complex to calculate and almost impossible to predict.
But we don’t have to worry. Even though we lose a lot of mineral salts through sweating, normally It is possible to replenish them by drinking and eating something, especially fruit or vegetables, as recommended by both the Istituto Superiore di Sanità and the WHO.
For healthy adults, in fact, a healthy diet and good hydration they are more than sufficient to maintain the right hydro-saline balance therefore it is not necessary to “prevent” the loss of mineral salts taking supplements daily. During the summer and heat waves, the advice of ISS and WHO is to increase fluid intakeremembering to drink even when you are not thirsty, to reduce the risk of dehydration which results from excessive sweating.
Drinks alcoholic, sugared or containing caffeine However, they should be avoided because they actually require more water to be disposed of by the kidneys and therefore would lead to a further loss of liquids.
THE’mineral salt integration it is instead recommended from both institutions for those who play sports, or when we have sweated a lot and for a long time without drinking or eating. After sweating a lot, the WHO, in fact, recommends first of all going to a cool place, drinking water and resting. It then specifies that if the effects of dehydration, such as muscle cramps and mental confusion, are prolonged over time, it may be useful to take a rehydrating solution with mineral salts.
What happens if I lose too many minerals?
The main risk of excessive sweating is related to the loss of fluids and dehydrationbut it can also cause a electrolyte imbalance, or mineral salts. Being essential for many biological processes, an excess or deficiency of these electrolytes can lead to various imbalances.
THE’hyponatremiaor sodium deficiency in the blood, can cause headaches, confusion, difficulty sleeping and shortness of breath. Potassium deficiency is responsible for cardiac arrhythmias, fatigue and muscle cramps. Another well-known deficiency is magnesium, which can lead to ventricular arrhythmias, drowsiness, vomit and muscle spasms.
The conditions under which one has a excess electrolytes are usually rarer and linked to serious pathologies, except for sodium, the excess of which is most often linked to a diet rich in salt and which can cause an increase in heart pressure.
Let us remember, however, that the only way to to ascertain a deficiency of these minerals is talk to your doctor about it which will give you the most suitable indications for your specific case.
Why mineral salts are important
Our body fluids contain many dissolved minerals, such as sodium, potassium, magnesium, chlorine and phosphorus, which we ingest through food.
These minerals are also called electrolytesas they are ions (atoms with an electrical charge) dissolved in the solutions that make up our body, such as blood or intra and extracellular fluids, and contribute to multiple functions of our body.
Thanks to the opening and closing of specific channels (called ion channels) located on cell membranes, these minerals can enter and exit cells creating a difference in concentration between the extra and intracellular environment. This difference is called “concentration gradient” and is used to convert the accumulated chemical energy into other types of energy to be used to make our organism work: for example into mechanical energy (for example in the case of muscles), into electrical signal (as in neurons) or in ATP.
This is how minerals help maintain the so-called hydro-saline balance in cells, blood vessels and tissues and allow cells, muscles and neurons to function properly.
