7 Organic Electrolyte Food Sources
Electrolytes are an essential element of a healthy diet. They take the form of minerals like sodium, calcium, potassium, chloride, phosphate, and magnesium. These are nutrients that we take in through our food in trace amounts.
Electrolytes are commonly added to artificial sports drinks, but they are present in high concentrations in plenty of fruits and veggies, too! In fact, consuming electrolytes, especially during your breastfeeding journey, is more important than you might think.
Natural electrolyte sources can be healthier and safer than artificially-sweetened alternatives. This makes finding organic electrolyte sources a worthwhile pursuit.
What Are the Benefits of Organic Electrolytes?
Electrolytes are essential in balancing your body’s pH and hydration levels, delivering nutrients to your cells, and ridding your body’s cells of their waste products. They are also essential to many cellular processes, including the firing of nerve cells and the flexing of muscles.
This makes maintaining a healthy electrolyte balance vital to your overall health and well-being. Let’s discuss more benefits of organic electrolytes.
Electrolytes Help Keep Your Body Running Smoothly
We know that staying hydrated is essential to well-being. Taking in the proper amount of electrolytes can help ensure your body stays balanced and hydrated. These minerals are also crucial for regulating blood pressure, which can fluctuate as you rehydrate after exercise.
Electrolytes owe this effect to their ability to help balance the concentration of water inside and outside your body’s cells. This keeps your body’s hydration levels stable, promoting overall wellness.
Organic Electrolyte Sources Deliver Wellness Naturally
When looking for a source of electrolytes, organic, natural options are a great place to start. Many beverages marketed as electrolyte sports drinks contain even more sugar than electrolytes.
Artificial sugars can slow the hydration process, making these beverages less than ideal as sources of hydration. In addition, excess sugar is known to lead to weight gain and health problems in the long term.
Looking for a natural, sugar-free, or naturally sweetened option can help you avoid these health risks. Many organic electrolyte sources are naturally delicious, too, meaning that you won’t have to compromise on taste!
Organic electrolyte sources are produced naturally, without chemical fertilizers or pesticides. This lessens the risk that your snack or beverage contains less-than-ideal components, such as potentially harmful chemicals.
What Are Signs You Lack Electrolytes in Your Diet?
Having too few electrolytes in your system is an electrolyte imbalance. This may occur after vigorous exercise or on a hot day when you will lose many electrolytes through sweat.
Breastfeeding women, who expend a great deal of minerals and water in milk production, may experience this condition. In addition, illness – including fever, vomiting, or diarrhea – can lead to electrolyte imbalance.
The signs and symptoms of electrolyte imbalance are very variable, as electrolytes are important for numerous processes in the body. The following symptoms might suggest the need for electrolytes. It’s always important to speak with your doctor if you think you may be suffering from an electrolyte imbalance.
Here are the most common signs of dehydration include:
- Head and neck tension
- Muscle twitching, spasms, or cramps
- Dizziness
- Brain fog
- Nausea and/or vomiting
- Irregular heartbeat
- Seizure
With roughly 50% of expecting mothers experiencing morning sickness, symptoms like vomiting, increased sweating, and frequent urination can speed up water loss. Thus, dehydration can be quickly reduced with the help of electrolyte drinks, such as Greater Than.
What Are The Best Organic Electrolyte Food Sources?
Coconut water
Coconut water is the fresh, nutritious juice from the fruits of palm trees. It is stored in coconuts, the seeds of palm trees, to nourish them as they grow into new trees. Coconut water is jam-packed with vitamins, minerals, and natural energy, making it an excellent choice for naturally refueling and nourishing your body.
Coconut water naturally contains several vital electrolytes, including magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and sodium. In fact, this refreshing drink contains more potassium than an entire banana. Hydration and proper electrolyte intake are essential when it comes to staying healthy and feeling your best.
Coconut water can be purchased in its purest form within whole coconuts, but breaking through the durable husk to get to the beneficial liquid within can pose quite the challenge! Instead, look for a pre-packaged, but no less organic, coconut water.
Try a coconut-water-based natural sports drink for a tasty and natural way to boost your hydration and electrolyte intake. You’ll be feeling great in no time!
Cactus water
Cactus water is another natural sports-drink alternative that can provide an organic electrolyte boost. This beverage is usually made from the juice of cactus fruits, giving it a light pink hue and a lightly sweet taste.
While as many as 90% of American adults consume an excess of sodium in their diet, very few adults consume enough potassium. One virtue of cactus water is its high potassium content. In the human body, a careful balance of sodium and≈ potassium must be maintained.
Over time, this can lead to a dangerous imbalance. Therefore, protect yourself – and your heart health – by adding potassium-rich foods and drinks, like cactus water, to your diet.
Dairy
Dairy is exceptionally high in calcium, a mineral essential for neural and muscular function. After a strenuous workout on a hot summer’s day, it might not be your first instinct to reach for dairy products like milk, cheese, and yogurt.
However, adding these foods to your diet can be an efficient way to replace electrolytes.
Bananas
Bananas are another great source of the mineral potassium. Aside from preserving the important sodium-potassium balance, potassium ions are essential for preventing painful muscle cramps, promoting heart health, and protecting your wellness in the long term.
Many people consume inadequate potassium. This can have serious health effects, including high blood pressure, kidney stones, and bone loss in the long term. Including potassium-rich foods in your diet is an easy, simple, and natural way to prevent a potassium deficiency.
A single banana contains 450 mg of potassium,3 grams of dietary fiber, and naturally-occurring sugars’ sweet energy boost. Bananas are wonderful to eat alone or when added to shakes, smoothies, and fruit salads.
Avocados
Avocados are high in the electrolytes magnesium and potassium. They are delicious, whether eaten alone, spread on whole-grain toast, as guacamole, or even in smoothies.
In addition to electrolytes and vitamins, avocados contain healthy fats called mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids. These fats can keep the so-called “bad cholesterol,” or LDL cholesterol, at low levels in your body. This makes avocados a great food to promote heart health.
The healthy fats found in avocados are also long-burning energy sources. In addition to the natural electrolytes found in these veggies, these qualities make avocados a fantastic addition to every diet.
Nuts
More than one-half of the U.S. population does not consume enough magnesium in their diet! Consistently low magnesium intake can lead to magnesium deficiency, a condition with symptoms including fatigue, nausea, cramps, and even heart palpitations or seizures when severe.
Fortunately, being mindful of magnesium consumption can minimize the risk of developing a magnesium deficiency. Nuts are a great source of magnesium. For example, just one ounce of almonds contains nearly one-fifth of the recommended daily magnesium intake.
Salted, roasted nuts can be a delicious and healthy post-workout snack. The salt added to this snack further raises its electrolyte content: table salt is a chemical compound known as NaCl or sodium chloride! This makes salted, organic nuts a great way to replenish electrolytes quickly.
Watermelon
Who knew that this well-loved summery fruit had such health-boosting power? Watermelon is a great source of hydration, natural energy, vitamins, and electrolytes such as magnesium and potassium.
In one study, pureed watermelon was shown to be equal to non-organic sports drinks in terms of hydration and energy-replacement ability. This makes it a great, organic option to replace sugary, inorganic sports drinks in your workout routine.
Combine watermelon juice with other excellent sources of electrolytes, like coconut water for a hydrating natural electrolyte beverage to maximize its benefits.
When It Comes To Electrolytes And Hydration, Being Proactive Is Key
Maintaining adequate hydration and a healthy electrolyte balance is essential to your wellness. Whether you are embarking on a long run or sitting down to nurse a child, being conscious of and proactive about your electrolyte intake can significantly improve your health.
Finding organic, sugar-free sources of electrolytes doesn’t have to be challenging.
In fact, many high-electrolyte foods are likely familiar already! Staying healthy and hydrated is making healthy choices and developing a wellness routine that can empower you to care for yourself now and in the future.
Not sure where to start? Stay hydrated with Greater Than.
Sources
Fluid and Electrolyte Balance | MedlinePlus
6 Health Benefits of Coconut Water | Cleveland Clinic
Nature’s Gatorade | Huffines Institute for Sports Medicine & Human Performance
Bananas | Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health