6 Signs You Have an Electrolyte Imbalance—and What to Do About It

What are electrolytes?

You may have heard about getting electrolytes from sports drinks—here’s a guide to clever rehydration techniques, by the way. Well, electrolytes are actually minerals—sodium, potassium, chloride, magnesium, calcium, phosphate, bicarbonate—that dissolve in the body’s fluids, creating electrically charged ions. “Some are positive, some are negative,” says Robin Foroutan, RD, a nutritionist and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “They are essential because they help the body with nerve and muscle function as well as body fluid balance, blood pressure, and blood pH.”

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