some questions i just can't seem to answer from researching on the net:
1. when our bodies have healthy levels of water, electrolytes, minerals, vitamins bla bla bla, basically everything it needs, would drinking too much water cause any harm or simple be excreted by the body through urination? basically, if the body can't, why can't it just pee out excess water, assuming it doesn't need electrolytes and so forth? does the water ingested pass through anything that prevents it from simply being expelled, can the kidneys or whatever not just let it pass to be expelled?
The problem really lies in the hyperdilution of the electrolytes, which can lead to a number of problems including brain swelling. The body can eliminate water, but only so much at a time. If the ingestion of water exceeds the elimination rate then this imbalance can occur. If there is a kidney issue then the risk increases. And purified waters such as distilled or reverse osmosis water further increase the risk due to the faster absorption rate.
2. are all electrolytes minerals? are all minerals electrolytes?
No and no. Electrolytes are not technically minerals but rather ions.
what's the meaning of positevely charged ions?
This is a cation, which is an ion with more protons than electrons. Anions are the opposite and contain more electrons than protons giving it a negative charge.
can some calcium ions be positively charged and some be negatively charged calcium ions?
Calcium in the body is a cation (positively charged).
are they used for different purposes in the body? can the body change the charge of the ions if it needs to? basically, is there a need for ingestion of certain kinds of calcium or both kinds if there are multiple kinds?
The differences in calcium are from the anions they are bound to. For example calcium sulfate where the calcium is the cation and the sulfate the anion.Calcium chloride where the calcium is the cation and the chloride the anion. Calcium oxide or hydroxide where the calcium is the cation and the oxide or hydroxide are the cations. Think of it in terms of opposites attract. The positive cations are attracting the negative anions.
3. what exactly is lost through sweating, that is needed to be replenished by the body? is it just water and electrolytes?
Primarily water and small amounts of electrolytes.
do we need to replace the salt that's lost, or is it an insignificant amount?
That depends on how much you are sweating. If you are outside sunning for a half an hour or so then you will not likely need to replace the electrolytes you lost. As the body starts losing electrolytes the body works to retain what it has left. this is primarily though shutting down urinary electrolyte excretion. But this only goes so far. If you are running marathon on a hot day then the electrolyte loss can exceed the body's ability to retain the electrolytes and therefore you will need to replace the electrolytes during the race. Vomiting and diarrhea can also deplete electrolytes quickly.
if the body does lose beneficial things in sweating, such as electrolytes, why? what purpose does electrolyte loss serve, as it doesn't cool down the body any more than just pure water loss right?
Correct, but the fluid excreted is very similar to plasma although without the proteins and carbohydrates. But remember my posts about why I am against distilled or reverse osmosis water? Water is the "universal solvent" and it will dissolve most substances it comes in to contact with. So the water is saturated with these electrolytes, and as it is excreted it is going to carry any dissolved substances in that water with it. This is the same principle that water can carry vitamins and minerals out of the body through the kidneys. In fact some vitamins can also be carried through the skin in sweat. This is why some people take B vitamins to keep mosquitoes away. The B vitamins excreted through the skin are a natural repellent to the mosquitoes.
4. i've read that protein enzymes need a certain favorable medium to work, such as acid environment in the stomach and starch or w/e need alkaline environment etc, okay.. so what if we eat say, a fruit, with very little protein content, is there any way the body can utilize that protein content along with the rest of the fruit? i mean, how does the body get all the nutrients out of a food if it requires different mediums for digestion?
The starch digesting enzymes need an alkaline environment is pretty much a myth. I posted about this on another forum the other day in this post:
http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=1615422#i:
Here is a chart showing the pH needed for various enzyme function: http://www.worthington-biochem.com/introbiochem/effectspH.html
Enzyme
pH Optimum
Lipase (pancreas)
8.0
Lipase (stomach)
4.0 - 5.0
Lipase (castor oil)
4.7
Pepsin
1.5 - 1.6
Trypsin
7.8 - 8.7
Urease
7.0
Invertase
4.5
Maltase
6.1 - 6.8
Amylase (pancreas)
6.7 - 7.0
Amylase (malt)
4.6 - 5.2
Catalase
7.0
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