Hydration and electrolytes play crucial roles in maintaining the balance of fluids and essential minerals in our bodies. Understanding the science behind hydration and electrolytes involves exploring the mechanisms of water balance, electrolyte functions, and the factors influencing fluid regulation.
Understanding the science of hydration and electrolytes helps individuals make informed choices about their fluid intake, especially in situations where there is an increased risk of dehydration. It's essential to tailor hydration strategies based on individual needs, activity levels, and environmental conditions.
Electrolyte Intakes for Heart Health:
How much electrolytes should you consume for heart (and general) health? Based on the available evidence, suggested baseline ranges that work for many people in many situations:
- Sodium: 4–6 grams/day
- Potassium: 3.5–5 grams/day
- Magnesium: 400–600 mg/day
- Calcium: 1 gram/day (from dietary sources)
Magnesium and Heart Disease:
Magnesium influences most of the cardiovascular system. It influences calcification, clotting, heart rhythms, blood vessel relaxation, and inflammation, as I alluded to earlier.
Inflammation advances heart disease. Excess immune particles can incite an inflammatory cascade that accelerates plaque formation in the arterial walls. And, of course, more arterial plaque increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, and death.
Back to magnesium. Magnesium-deficient people (about 30% of the population) have higher levels of inflammation, so optimizing magnesium intake is a reasonable step to reduce CVD risk. Magnesium supplementation (compared to placebo) has also been shown to reduce CVD risk by preventing cardiac arrhythmias.
Calcium and Heart Disease:
Calcium is best stored in your skeleton, not your arteries. Calcium in the arteries is a sign of advanced heart disease—indicating that particles have broken into the inner lining of the blood vessels called the endothelium. High blood calcium levels (hypercalcemia) cause this calcification, which stiffens and narrows your arteries.
A quick route to high blood calcium levels is to consume calcium in great excess. This may explain why calcium supplements (but not dietary calcium) are linked to higher CVD risk. Swallowing a calcium pill causes transient hypercalcemia, but distributing your calcium over several meals does not.
One last point on calcium: Coronary calcium doesn’t track perfectly with heart disease risk. Many people have heart attacks and strokes with zero measurable calcification. But all else equal, less coronary calcium is generally a good thing.
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