Are electrolytes real?

Yes, I know a lot of people say they are.. What i'm thinking: could it be that sports drink companies made up electrolytes to better sell their drinks?

For exaple, whenever I search for electrolytes on the internet, all I see is they 'replenish' your body etc, without any side effects at all. Is this possible?

And I heard that the main function of sweating is trying to get rid of salts (electrolytes). For some reason it's now explained that your body needs salt?

I don't want an answer explaining how good those 'electrolytes' are too..
The reason why I came across this is because one day, I saw a completely random graph showing a person that doesn't drink gatorade, and the one who does.. the one that drank was had more 'performance'. Reason for that was these electrolytes..

I can verify that electrolytes are very important. For years I have taken medication that washes the potassium out of my body. When I'm low on potassium, I get sever muscle spasms and really bad Charley horses.

We keep a baby monitor in the bedroom. When I holler, my husband comes running and massages them out.

I go to the lab at the hospital every 6 weeks to have a test on my electrolytes.

I have to eat foods that are high in potassium and take potassium 3 times a day with meals.

I also get disoriented when I'm low on potassium.

So far I'm lucky. Low potassium can effect any organ in your body. You could get so low that it can end in your demise/death.

Hope I'm not telling you more than you want to know.

My grandson had cancer. He went through chemo for 6 months. He was hooked up to a continuous monitor to track his electrolytes. They watched from the desk and as soon as his potassium lowered, they feed him potassium through his IV.

Athletes do need the gator aid. They sweat out their electrolytes because of their vigorous play.

Kobe, had spasms during a game and had to leave and go on an IV to restore them into his system.

Most people never have to worry but, I think the drinks can be helpful or just taste good to some.

The drink companies are making millions on them.

Hope I helped.

Never click that!!he keep asking people to see...

Look up the meaning of the word electrolytes. I have always thought that the purpose of sweating is to to cool a person's body when it is too hot. A person needs salt, but too much salt has harmful effects.

Yes, electrolytes are real. They are necessary for your body to function correctly. Potassium, Chloride, Sodium, Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphate, and Hydrogen carbonate are electrolytes. If they are out of balance your body does not work correctly and things start to go wrong. For example high potassium causes heart arrythmias. They also help with the balance of water in the blood and cell. They are very very important and are very much real.