Cramping is one of the most common complaints of athletes. It can occur at any time but more often at the tail end of their workout. Cramps are a one way street in the complete cycle of muscle action. All body motion is controlled by the opening and closing of ion channels that sit in the membranes of all cells. Sodium (Na) contracts the cell and potassium (K) relaxes it. Similar action occurs to transmit a thought with Na and K triggering neurons (depolarizing) to both transmit and fire. In effect the electrolytes do it all. You can’t blink your eye or even see or hear without them. 

A heart cell begins the process with Calcium (Ca) signaling the Na ion channel to open to begin the contraction cycle. There are hundreds of Na and K ion channels on each cell. A half second later Magnesium (Mg) encourages K to rush in which relaxes the cell. That’s the beat of your heart or the closing of your fist. With a heart cell the cycle is non stop; constrict with Na and relax with K. Its quite easy to see what happens when a muscle cramps. In essence you have half a beat. If a cramp hits your heart, you’re history, but in a different muscle you’ll hurt, but recover. If you’re swimming in a race half way home, it could be a disaster. Whenever it happens, it’s the guys in charge of the relaxing half of the cycle, Mg and K, that are missing. 

Often, athletes who are pushing the envelope sense a tingling of sorts, in say a leg muscle, before it tightens. A swig of E-LyteSport could be a G-D send at that moment because it contains a high concentration of both K and Mg. (Check out the exact numbers at elytesport.com - Compare Sport Drinks). 

“ I don’t cramp any more!” We hear this from our elite athletes. All of them also say that they last longer. They don’t see an improvement in performance or time, but they are able to stay at a strong performance rate for a longer time. (Read Nicole and Ron’s comments on the athletes spotlight). I would argue that if you can train longer, the logic would be that you would also increase muscle mass, or improve the flow of nutrients to a more efficient level, which, over time makes you stronger and better. But I leave the proof to the performers. 

Actually, what is happening, is that the high K concentration is sufficient to complete the back side of the heart beat, or leg pump, etc. Without those 2 electrolytes Mg and K, in plentiful supply, your muscles have only the first half of the action potential to work on. Over time, that’s a one way street, that can end up as a cramp. Cramps don’t usually occur when your doing sprints, they are the result of cellular stress (loss of electrolytes) over long workouts. What E-LyteSport does is make sure that you have enough K and Mg to complete the back side of the muscle pump. 

A number of coaches have tried “pickle juice” to prevent cramping in hot weather. Pickle juice is predominantly vinegar. Vinegar is acetic acid, and is used to remove sodium (Na) with individuals with high blood sodium levels. The coaches are lowering their athletes Na levels to prevent the first half of the muscle cycle instead of making sure that they have enough of all the electrolytes needed. Lower Na and you may not begin the cramp. Not exactly what the doctor ordered, but it can work. 

However, you are removing Na to restore balance, instead of providing the correct electrolytes that the body needs at that moment, which is ……..Mg and K. Training logic says that you want as high a level of electrolytes as possible, all the time, not robbing one, Na, to achieve balance. E-LyteSport is perfectly designed to address the problem of cramping, and very possibly, the big one after that, and that is the potential loss of an athlete that could not handle the extremes of temperature and high performance workouts. If your in training, a coach, or a trainer, you owe it to yourself and your athletes to check out E-LyteSport. 
 

http://www.elytesport.com/sportshealth/

Electrolytes turn on all thought and motion, almost like a wall switch. They trigger all events like muscle action by controlling ion channels. Ion channels are the gates that open and close to move life support material to and from cells in the body. Say for example, you want to start running. Your brain starts the signal that initiates a complicated series of timed muscle actions. Every sequence of that function is both timed and controlled by electrolytes. 

Body fluids are primarily water and electrolytes. Electrolytes are ions comprised of 4 minerals that include Sodium, (Na) Potassium, (K), Magnesium (Mg), and Calcium (Ca). An ion is the disassociated part of a molecule like salt, (sodium chloride). It comes apart in water and floats in the blood stream as a free atom (ion) of sodium (Na), along with it’s partner, an (ion) of chloride (Cl). Na has a + electrical charge when dissolved in water. Its partner, have which can include Chlorides, Phosphates, Sulphates, or Carbonates, etc., have the - charge. The opposite charges originally attracted them and kept them together until they dissolved in water, whereupon they separated. The ions (+ -) accumulate in the watery blood system of our body. All of our cells use that (+ -) charge differential as a driving force when they isolate (permit) some ions on the inside of the cell and others on the outside. The membrane of every cell is composed of fat and acts as an insulator. By encouraging more of the sodium ions to accumulate in the blood stream, outside the cell (with potassium on the inside), they build up a charge on either side of the cell wall. That charge separation then becomes the driving force for all cells to be able to move the life giving materials in and out of the cell. It’s important to understand this because all the electrolytes are vital for cellular function and especially necessary for high performance. Simply put, without them we could not exist... even with the absence of just one of the basic 4 electrolyte minerals, we would be history. 

The list of functions that electrolytes control is endless but include; temperature control / fluid level / cardiac arrhythmia / respiratory rate / digestion / fluid transport across cells / ion transport / renal function (bladder control) / neurological function / signal transduction / thought / memory/ all the senses both gathering information and then transporting that message to the brain and to the muscles including the sense of touch / energy production / glucose metabolism etc. etc. It is easier to count the stars in the sky than to list all the functions in the body controlled by electrolytes. But the body, in its miraculous evolutionary way is structured to maintain it all in some combinatorial marvelous life-giving manner. The majesty of it all is so wondrous that the study of cells and of life can often leave one breathless. We frequently sit back in our research as the concepts unfold and are literally awestruck. The most one can attempt is to try and convey a small picture of this wonder. 

The team at E-LyteSport is extremely passionate about the science and research regarding electrolytes. Just as all top athletes know that you cannot achieve perfection with out mastering the basics, we at E-LyteSport know that you cannot provide the body with the optimal level of energy until you balance the electrolytes required by all the molecules within the body. E-lyteSport is the ultimate tool to replenish those vital electrolytes to the correct or optimal ratios. Balance is the key. You drink E-LyteSport for improved function and performance. It is not designed to satisfy your taste buds with sugar or fructose like other sweetened sport drinks on the market. In fact, sweet drinks add a burden to metabolic control by forcing the production of insulin to balance your blood sugar levels. So not only do these drinks do little to enhance performance, it’s quite possible that the extra sugar they add is doing more to slow you down. 

We welcome any questions or comments that you have about electrolytes and E-Lyte Sport and we look forward to helping you train and compete beyond what you thought was possible. 

Think fast: What was the biggest news in sports nutrition last summer? Answer: Pickle juice! Professional football trainers for a few NFL teams had their players chugging pickle juice in an effort to rapidly hydrate them. An interesting concept to say the least, but is pickle juice really the best way to hydrate the body when it has been depleted of valuable electrolytes? 

Pickle juice is basically acetic acid (vinegar) and water with a bit of salt (sodium chloride) to give it some flavor. All muscle cells, like the heart, use sodium (Na) to close or contract the cell, and potassium (K) to relax the cell. Calcium (Ca) starts the closing process with Na doing the actual closing; magnesium (Mg) starts the reverse side of the pump—relaxing. Potassium (K) is the key element responsible for managing the relaxing process within the cell. In order for the human body to function properly under physical stress, all 4 of the mineral electrolytes (sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium) are absolutely required. If they are not replaced, you wind up with a cramp, or arrhythmia. Both are alleviated with K and Mg if you can catch it in time. Prolonged effects of improper replenishment can result in serious injury or death. 

Vinegar is used to remove sodium from the body, so drinking pickle juice will, in a way, tend to help balance the lack of the back side of the beat, low K and low Mg. Generally we get too much sodium from processed foods like snacks, chips, etc. For over 20 years our team at BodyBio (makers of ElyteSport) have been teaching doctors to use vinegar for high blood pressure because of the ability of acetic acid to lower Na. The vast majority of the medical world uses a calcium blocker to control (lower) the timing of the pump. Block the Ca and you lower the beat count. In actuality you block some of the heart cells from performing. Not the preferred route. It would be far better to add in the desperately needed potassium and magnesium rather than lower Ca or Na. 

There is also an added benefit to having plenty of K and MG. Quite simply, you increase endurance. One of the principle reasons for fading under stress is that you run out of K and MG. The body has a marvelous ability to conserve Na, but doesn’t do the same with K or Mg. In addition you obviously need some nutrients, even a bit of sugar to keep you up, but the real key lies in the supply of electrolytes. Of course we all fade out sooner or later, but those that are on ElyteSport have the edge. In essence it’s a numbers game. Check out the numbers on the comparison chart at elytesport.com. There is no other product on the market that comes close to replenishing electrolytes like ElyteSport. Keep the pickle juice in the pickle jar and reach for ElyteSport when you need serious electrolyte replenishment!