What you eat before, during, and after running affects how you feel, your performance, and your recovery. Foods high in carbohydrates help maintain your glycogen stores. Glycogen is the body's primary ...

Understanding the Context

When it comes to what to eat before a run, successfully fueling before lacing up your trainers requires careful consideration. From short sprint work to hours-long efforts, every run is different, ... The Purdue Exponent: The essential guide to sweat, electrolytes, and muscle recovery Degree reports that sweating during exercise cools the body but also leads to the loss of vital electrolytes, impacting muscle recovery and hydration. Electrolytes are charged minerals essential for hydration, muscle function, nerve signaling, and pH balance.

Key Insights

Key electrolytes include sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and bicarbonate. They're found in many foods and drinks; most people get enough through diet. Electrolytes are substances that have a natural positive or negative electrical charge when dissolved in water. An adult's body is about 60% water, which means nearly every fluid and cell in your body contains electrolytes. Electrolytes are minerals that are dissolved in the bodyโ€™s fluids, water, and blood stream.

Final Thoughts

They have either positive or negative electric charges and help regulate the function of every organ in the body including the heart, muscles, bones, nerves, and brain. They're called electrolytes because they have an electric charge โ€“ positive or negative โ€“ when dissolved in fluids, such as blood. Those electric charges signal muscles and nerves. Our bodies would not work without electrolytes.