Why is it that electrolytes are supposedly better at hydrating the body better than regular water?
In: Biology
Imagine that you are a moving, thinking sack of powdered iced tea drink. You sweat, piss, poop, and exhale iced tea. Just by living, you are slowly, but constantly, losing iced tea. Naturally, you want to replace these losses. So you infuse yourself with water. The problem is if you refill a jar of iced tea with water, it makes the jar taste watery. Same thing if you put too much iced tea mix into the jar, it makes it taste too strong. You need the right amount of iced tea to water.
Under low stress conditions, we lose water and electrolytes slow enough that eating and drinking water solves the problem. In high stress scenarios, like running, exercising, diarrhea, vomiting, burns, etc., we lose iced tea at a much higher rate. We might also not be eating at this time. In this case it’s vital that we replace the mixture properly or else we get too watery.
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