One of the worst things I can think of would be to come down with a stomach bug while traveling.
I mean, you’re on the road, you have this great trip planned, you’re looking forward to all the delicious foods you’re gonna eat and the beautiful places you’re going to see, and BAM! It hits you right in the gut.
Vomiting. Diarrhea. It doesn’t matter. They both suck, and they can both wreck your trip.
Unfortunately, it happens to the best of us, and oftentimes, there’s no predicting it. Thankfully, though, if you do come down with some sort of stomach bug or food poisoning, there is one thing that will make you feel better.
Yes, it’s your travel first-aid kit. Remember that little bag you packed full of natural remedies to help you in case sickness came in some form or another on your trip. Yep, that one. Aren’t you so glad you have it now?
Okay, so hopefully that NEVER happens to you on a trip, but it’s always nice to be prepared in case it does. Today, I want to share a quick and easy recipe for electrolyte salts that you can take with you on the go in your travel first aid kit. That way, if you do find yourself sticking close to the toilet for whatever unfortunate reason, you will at least be prepared to keep yourself properly hydrated and hopefully out of the ER with an IV in your arm.
What’s So Great About Electrolytes Anyway?
Everyone knows that your body needs electrolytes (minerals: sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, etc.) to function properly. If your electrolytes get off balance then the fluid levels in your body are unbalanced and then your body functions don’t work properly.
Ready for a little physiology? Come on, it won’t hurt!
You see, parts of your body communicate with other parts via nerve impulses and neurotransmitters, and all of these communications happen thanks to the electrolytes in the body (Neuron Conversations: How Brain Cells Communicate, 2012). Electrolytes have either positive or negative charges and when these charges build up and discharge, electrical currents (with the help of neurotransmitters) travel through various kinds of nerve cells which tell the body what to do (How Human Bodies Create Electricity, 2013 and Freudenrich, 2007). If these electrolytes get out of balance, then nerves are either sending too many impulses or not enough and therefore, muscles are firing when they’re not supposed to or they don’t fire at all.
It’s really a big mess, and you really wanna keep yourself out of that situation.
Now, sometimes, you just can’t help it. If you have a stomach virus or you’ve gotten food poisoning, your body is doing its darndest to get those toxins out of your body, either through vomiting or diarrhea. And when you are experiencing those two unfortunate methods of cleansing, you’re losing a good bit of water and electrolytes at the same time.
So, your goal in a situation like this is to let your body do what it needs to do – get the toxins out. However, you wanna work with your body to keep it hydrated and to keep your electrolytes in balance at the same time.
How To Keep Your Electrolytes Balanced
For most healthy people, you don’t need to do anything special to keep your electrolytes balanced other than eat a healthy whole food diet and stay hydrated drinking water.
Yes, a good bit of people have mineral deficiencies these days, but there are things you can do to help that. Eat real food, cook with healthy fats and bone broth, soak and/or sprout your grains if you eat them, and supplement with herbal minerals.
However, when you’re vomiting or have diarrhea and losing electrolytes fairly quickly, it’s a good idea to replace them with a hydrating herbal electrolyte drink.
No, I’m not talking about store-bought electrolyte drinks that are full of sugars and dyes. I’m talking about good ole homemade electrolyte drinks that can be made quickly and sipped on throughout the day. I’ll be sharing my favorite homemade herbal electrolyte drink with you soon, but for now, I want to share how to take the foundation of your electrolyte drink with you when you travel.
Below you’ll find a recipe for homemade electrolyte salts that you can take with you in a travel first aid kit. You never know when sickness will hit and you’ll need to whip up a homemade electrolyte drink.
Electrolyte Salts For Your Travel First Aid Kit
Serving size: 1/4 teaspoon per 4 cups of liquid
Ingredients:
- coffee grinder or mortar & pestle
- 3 tablespoons Redmond Real Salt
- 9 drops Concentrace Trace Mineral Drops
- small glass jar
Directions:
- Place 3 tablespoons of Real Salt in a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle and grind into a fine white powder. Transfer to a bowl.
- Place 9 drops of Concentrace trace mineral drops on powder and mix well with a spoon.
- Transfer these electrolyte salts to a small glass jar. Label and store in your travel first aid kit.
It’s always a good idea to make a fresh batch of electrolyte salts before you head out as powders tend to go stale after a while. You also don’t have to powder your salt if you don’t want to. It just helps it to dissolve into your homemade electrolyte drink faster.
Mineral Value of Electrolyte Salt
So you might be wondering just how much of each mineral you’re getting in one serving of this electrolyte salt. Below you’ll find my estimated totals for the major minerals that are found in this blend.
Sodium – 532 mg
Potassium – 2 mg
Calcium – 7 mg
Magnesium – 64 mg
Chloride – 1,003 mg
How does that compare to the estimated daily values the average person needs? Here’s a great chart that details the daily recommendations for various age groups.
So there you go. Electrolyte salts… a first-aid must-have that is easy to take with you when you travel.
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REFERENCES:
- Neuron Conversations: How Brain Cells Communicate. (2012). Retrieved July 1, 2016, from http://www.brainfacts.org/brain-basics/cell-communication/articles/2012/neuron-conversations/
- How Human Bodies Create Electricity. (2013). Retrieved July 01, 2016, from http://themedicinejournal.com/articles/how-human-bodies-create-electricity/
- Freudenrich, C. (2007). How Nerves Work. Retrieved July 01, 2016, from http://health.howstuffworks.com/human-body/systems/nervous-system/nerve.htm
Do you put your electrolytes in water, or use some other liquid like tea, coffee, or juice?
You can put a small pinch in your water, but it will make it taste a touch salty. We like to put ours in these homemade electrolyte drinks. They are delicious, and my kids love them!
how do you use it? how much do you use ? thanks!
The most common way to use electrolyte sales, Anita, is in a homemade electrolyte drink. You can also add it to any foods (such as bone broth) that you’re eating when sick and loosing too many fluids (as in diarrhea and vomiting). I use about 1/16 teaspoon for every cup of water in drinks so they’re not too salty, but I use around 1/8 teaspoon or more in bone broth because I like it to tastes saltier. Hope that helps.
Could you use Himalayan salt?
I’m sure you could, Patricia. I’m not sure what the comparison is as far as mineral content goes, but I do know that there are a lot of minerals in Himalayan salt.
So it has 1/100th to 1/1000th DV potassium? How is that helpful?
There are more minerals than potassium alone. This is simply supposed to help replace some important minerals that are lost when you are sick and losing electrolytes.