Your body loses electrolytes when you sweat (or lose a lot of water in general).
The problem is, your body uses those electrolytes for signaling in the body: your nerves pump electrolytes in and out of themselves to send electrical signals through your body, your muscle cells use them to control movement. It’s essential to replace them as your body loses them.
Your muscles and nervous system don’t function properly without adequate sodium, potassium, and chloride, and if you’re rapidly losing fluids through sweat or diarrhoea your supply of these is going to be depleted. Rehydrating with water alone is better than not rehydrating, but it can have the effect of diluting the remaing electrolytes in your body that are necessary to function (if sufficiently diluted, it can be fatal – see ‘water intoxication’). So, adding electrolytes means that muscle and nervous system function is supported as you rehydrate.
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