What are electrolytes and how do they help us?

Answer 1

Electrolytes are ions (K+, Na+, Ca++, Cl-, Mg++ etc.), without which we would not be alive. Their functions vary on an individual basis, but basically the body uses the concentrations and the concentration GRADIENTS of these ions across cell membranes to communicate and to activate enzymes.

For example, the body maintains concentration gradients of K+, Na+, and Ca++ across your cell membranes by using pumps and channels to move ions. These concentration gradients create an electrical potential, or a voltage (remember, they are electrically charged). It can change these gradients by opening channels, causing voltage changes, which can move along the cell membrane of neurons as channels open and gates close, just like an electrical current along a wire. It is essential that the body keep the fluid surrounding these neurons at a certain concentration of Na+, K+, etc., otherwise this whole process will be destroyed. Also, muscle contraction works the exact same way, where an electrical impulse travels in the muscle myofibrils, which stimulates calcium entry into muscle cytoplasm, and the calcium activates enzymes in the muscle cells. I'll give you two specific examples of conditions where these are affected.

(1) Lethal injection is a perfect example of upsetting the balance of electrolytes. KCl (Potassium Chloride) is injected into the criminal's bloodstream, the potassium in his blood and in the fluid around his cells goes higher than it should. This lessens the concentration gradient of potassium across the membranes of his heart muscle cells, and so the current that travels through his heart to stimulate his heartbeat decreases until his heart stops.

(2) Every now and then fraternity hazing or some other stupidity leads to death by water poisoning. You may remember a woman dying when she won a radio contest for drinking too much water over too short a period of time. Water poisoning occurs when the concentration of ions in the blood becomes too low, upsetting the gradient across a cell membrane. Normally, the kidney detects this, and simply makes you urinate more water, but the kidney doesn't act instantly, it takes some time. So in this woman's case, she drank so much water that the concentration of all ions became way too low in her blood and fluid around her cells. Since water can diffuse freely across cell membranes, the COMBINED TOTAL concentration of all ions is balanced off by the movement of water into and out of cells. When the concentration of ions in her blood became too low, water flowed into her cells to balance off this concentration difference, causing swelling in her brain cells. Ultimately her brain cells swelled, compressed her brain in her skull, and burst, killing her very quickly.

Answer 2

Electrolytes are salts like NaCl, KCl, MgSO4. They maintain osmolarity of body fluid and polarity of cell membranes.

Answer 3

Its what plants crave