Electrolyte are essential to the production of the body's "natural electricity" that ensures healthy teeth, joints and bones, nerve and muscle impulses, kidneys and heart, blood sugar levels and the delivery of oxygen to the cells. Your body needs adequate levels of minerals, particularly calcium and potassium, in order to maintain the electric currents that keep your heart beating. Anorexia and bulima can both cause electrolyte imbalance due to inadequate intake or vomiting.
If electrolytes exceed their normal, tightly controlled range, normal functions will cease. Dr. Mike Myers explains, “Muscles may weaken and cramp, nerves may fail to conduct impulses correctly, or the brain (which, after all, is a collection of nerve cells) may not function correctly, leading to confusion, lethargy, or even seizures.”
Drinking too much water (more than eight, eight-ounce glasses in less than twelve hours), can cause hyponatremia, or not enough sodium in the blood, especially in someone already malnourished or dehydrated. Hyponatremia is another form of electrolyte imbalance and can cause fluid in the lungs, the brain to swell, nausea, vomiting, confusion and even death.
Disruption of your body's levels of fluids and minerals creates an electrolyte imbalance. Unless restored, this imbalance can be life-threatening.
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