It’s a scene we’ve all watched on television at some point in our lives. Smiling athletes celebrating in a locker room, soaked jerseys clinging to their skin. They’re crying happy tears and maybe chanting a boastful phrase originally conjured up in the stands. At this point in the celebration, they’re wiping champagne out of their eyes, the drink of choice to spray and consume when celebrating a championship.
But in the hours before that, they were drinking a beverage with very different effects. While the champagne will facilitate drunkenness (which usually leads to dehydration), the electrolyte-infused sports drinks that athletes drink during a game (and dump on their coach’s head after they win) have the opposite function: hydration– or in the case of exhausted athletes, rehydration.
We’ve come a long way in hydration beverages since the earliest sports drinks were introduced. Today, antioxidants aren’t just for athletes, and anyone can get their hands on a huge variety of brands that feature the MVP of hydration: electrolytes.
What are electrolytes?
In fact, electrolytes have become so ubiquitous in modern beverages that most of us don’t even know what they are. Frankly, the definition is even more exciting than we expected. Electrolytes are substances that conduct electricity when dissolved in water or other solvents. Sounds dangerous right? We thought so too.
But no need to worry. It’s not the same as the electricity that we use to power our appliances and charge our devices. The electric charges are ions that are already present in most of our own bodily fluids. The ionic electric charges regulate fluid balance, nerve function, muscle performance and pH levels. Science!
It’s not surprising then that beverages with electrolytes are popular among people with totally different reasons for the need to refuel. Athletes who sweat a lot, people who have overindulged in alcohol (and neglected to drink water), and parents caring for a child with a stomach bug.
When electrolyte levels are imbalanced, it can lead to symptoms like fatigue, muscle weakness, dizziness, irregular heartbeat and even more severe complications if left untreated. None of these are ideal for anyone, so knowing how to replenish when needed is important.
Common sources of electrolytes
Like almost any other ingredient we highlight (that we also put in All Friends), you can get plenty of electrolytes by eating a balanced diet. Get enough (but not too much!) sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium and you probably won’t have any serious electrolyte deficiency issues.
Of course hitting it hard at the gym or battling the stomach flu are not the ideal conditions under which to eat a well-balanced meal filled with electrolytes. You need a quick infusion of electrolytes to replenish what you’ve lost.
Electrolytes & All Friends
At first glance it would seem having electrolytes in All Friends wouldn’t make it particularly unique. But what makes All Friends unique is that electrolytes are only one of its many functional benefits, and it doesn’t come with any of the baggage you usually find in sports drinks.
For example, many sports drinks have artificial ingredients along with electrolytes. Not All Friends. All Friends has no artificial ingredients at all. Neither do sports drinks have all the B Vitamins found in All Friends. Often, they come with a sky high dose of sugar or other artificial sweeteners.
Whether you’re in the middle of the big game, or feeling the pain the morning after your victory– or anywhere in between— the addition of electrolytes, along with all the other functionals (and low sugar), makes All Friends the perfect beverage to rehydrate anytime you need it.
