Electrolytes

Question 1

What are Electrolytes again?

Answer 1

• Dissolved minerals - ions

- This charge allows them to do what they do

Question 2

What do Electrolytes do?

Answer 2

• Help regulate fluid balance through osmosis

Question 3

What do Electrolytes do?

Answer 3

• Allow our nerves to work
  
  • Nerves carry signals using electrolytes, movement through nerve cells
  • Nerve cells like to have a lot of potassium inside the cells
  • The sodium is outside the cells
  • Sodium moves into the cell, then gets pumped back out again
  • The movement of one signals the movement of another
  • Similar to the wave at a sports game
  • The charge is very important for the process, does not happen without it
  • Allow our muscles to contract
  • When muscles get a signal that they should be contracting, calcium moves outside of the muscle cells to the inside
  • This is how the contraction occurs

Question 4

Regulation of Electrolyte Levels

Answer 4

• The kidneys are the main electrolyte regulator

- Can go out of whack if very severe kidney disease

Question 5

Where do you get Electrolytes?

Answer 5

• All foods contain electrolytes
  
  • Deficiency if rare
  • Plants and animals use electrolytes for the same way
  • Only if very specific things occur
  • All foods contain all electrolytes
  • Replace electrolytes with fluids that contain fluid and electrolytes

Question 6

Sodium

Answer 6

• Found in table sat
  
  • The main extracellular electrolyte
  • Is very important
  • If you don’t have enough sodium your fluid balance gets way out of whack
  • Trades off sodium with other nutrients
  • Sodium is like the handle on a pump
  • Sodium is important, only too much is bad for you

Question 7

Getting Enough Sodium

Answer 7

• 77% comes from processed foods
  
  • 12% if found naturally in foods
  • The upper level is the highest safe intake of a nutrient
  • Things that come from packages are processed
  • Is a good preservative which is why it is in processed food

Question 8

Sodium intakes above the UL

Answer 8

• Systolic = pressure during a heartbeat
  
  • Diastolic = pressure between beats
  • Systolic > 140 mm Hg
  • Diastolic > 90 mm Hg

Question 9

Hypertension

Answer 9

• 53% of those aged 50-79 have hypertensions
  
  • Almost half of people with hypertensions don’t know they have it
  • People who have hypertensions have higher risk for Kidney disease
  • Strokes

Question 10

The DASH Diet

Answer 10

• Lots of vegetables and fruit
  
  • Low sodium foods
  • Dietary approaches to stop hypertension
  • Very effective method
  • Is similar to eating well with Canada’s food guide with added physical activity and low sodium foods
  • Sodium levels are important for decreasing blood pressure
  • Eating well also plays a large part
  • Doing both gives you the best results

Question 11

Effect of Sodium on Blood Pressure

Answer 11

• Not as cut and dry as you would think
  
  • People don’t agree on how important sodium is for hypertension
  • Not everyone is very sensitive to a low sodium diet
  • Very hard to accurately measure people’s blood pressure
  • Some people argue that our current intake of sodium is necessary for some people