Minute to minute throughout our lives, a delicate balancing act plays out inside our bodies. Electrolytes, essential minerals that carry electric charges, help maintain that balance and play a crucial role in ensuring our body functions as it should. 

These key electrolytes support various body systems and each one sustains specific concentrations, or levels, in our bloodstream and cells: 

• Sodium: Regulates fluid balance by maintaining the optimal amount of water in the body.
• Potassium: Works alongside sodium in cells and is critical to heart function. 
• Calcium: Helps control muscles by transmitting signals in nerves and managing heart rhythm.   
• Magnesium: Supports brain and muscle function and converts nutrients into energy. 
• Chloride: Helps cells maintain the internal and external balance of fluid and the body’s natural pH balance.
• Hydrogen phosphate: Helps cells metabolize nutrients.
• Bicarbonate: Recycled carbon dioxide that helps keep blood pH levels balanced.  

The kidneys play a vital role in helping the body maintain electrolyte balance by filtering them from the blood, returning some back to the bloodstream and excreting the excess into urine. 

Dr. Khaled Nashar, chief of nephrology for Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Health Network, explains that most healthy people naturally get the supply of electrolytes their bodies need through food and drink. 

“Our bodies do a great job of alerting us to hunger and thirst, and if we respond accordingly, our electrolytes will achieve balance,” Nashar says.

He notes electrolyte levels either too low or too high are potentially dangerous, but the range of non-specific symptoms associated with electrolyte imbalance make the condition challenging to diagnose without a metabolic-panel blood test. Signs and symptoms of electrolyte imbalance include confusion, dizziness, nausea, fatigue, headache, vomiting, heart rhythm problems and muscle spasms. If unaddressed, electrolyte imbalance and depletion can result in a medical emergency. 

People prone to ongoing electrolyte imbalances best managed by a nephrologist include the elderly, burn victims, those with cancer, kidney disease, liver disease, heart conditions, and other chronic diseases. 

Supplements including diuretics and herbal remedies can deplete electrolytes, as can gastrointestinal issues caused by pathogenic infections. Dehydration caused by vomiting and diarrhea causes electrolyte levels to drop. Low-sugar sports drinks and other rehydration solutions can help replenish electrolytes. 

For most healthy people, Nashar recommends a common sense approach to avoiding electrolyte depletion, especially that which can be caused by exertion during warm weather.

“Drink a reasonable amount of water — and more when you’re active — even if you don’t think you’re thirsty,” he says.