From accidentally sending a text meant for a friend to your coworker to getting your affairs in order before a big move to just seeing a news headline these days, stress can feel like a fact of life, inescapable at times. As overwhelming as stress can feel, we have the power to make choices each day that will either exacerbate or calm our stress responses—and some of them are simpler than you think. Staying properly hydrated, for example, is an easy way to make your body and mind more resilient to stress. But drinking water doesn’t cut it. Being properly hydrated means eating whole foods and drinking beverages, such as those by LMNT, that supply the essential minerals magnesium, sodium, and potassium. How exactly do sodium, magnesium, and potassium play a role in stress management? How can stress deplete them, and why is it crucial to replenish them? Read on to learn more.
How Electrolytes Help With Stress Management
We’re all familiar with cortisol (a.k.a the “stress hormone”). When you’re stressed and your “fight or flight” mode is activated, your adrenal glands release this hormone. Whether it’s in response to a life-threatening event—like being chased by a lion—or worrying about a minor, modern inconvenience—like missing your 4 a.m. flight and having to reschedule—your body doesn’t differentiate. The stress response is all the same. Now, since sodium, magnesium, and potassium play an important role in managing our stress-related hormones, particularly cortisol, balancing our levels can help regulate your body’s stress mechanisms and stress response. Here’s an overview of how each mineral helps with stress management and why it’s important to keep your electrolyte levels up to remain resilient.
Magnesium
Magnesium aids in neurotransmitter regulation, muscle relaxation, improved sleep quality, and anxiety reduction—all of which are critical for managing stress (Cleveland Clinic). Specifically, it helps lower cortisol levels by stimulating certain enzymes, which can convert cortisol into its inactive form, cortisone, thereby calming the body’s stress response (Villaseñor). This mineral also does a great job of supporting the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, a complex endocrine system that plays a crucial role in regulating the body’s response to stress, controlling cortisol production and maintaining hormonal balance. Interestingly, a magnesium deficiency can lead to an overactive HPA axis, resulting in elevated cortisol levels and an increased stress response (Sartori et al., 2012).
If you find yourself experiencing a particularly stressful period in your life (as we all do), being deficient in magnesium can actually exacerbate your stress. Chronic stress depletes magnesium levels because of increased excretion and metabolic demands, resulting in a vicious cycle where low magnesium exacerbates stress responses (Pickering et al., 2020). So keeping those magnesium levels up at all times ensures that when stress arises, your body has what it needs to regulate itself.
Sodium
Like magnesium, sodium also influences cortisol, adrenal function, and overall nervous system function and regulation. It helps regulate blood pressure, fluid balance, and nerve and muscle function, all of which are vital for a healthy stress response. Already stress can induce physical symptoms, like gastrointestinal issues and sweating, which can lead to fluid loss and imbalances. If our sodium levels are imbalanced, we can experience fatigue and irritability, which can make us more susceptible to stress, once more creating a feedback loop of stress.
Potassium
We’ve talked a lot about how to balance cortisol, and—surprise, surprise—potassium is part of that equation too. If it isn’t clear already, all three of these minerals work in conjunction with one another to regulate the systems responsible for managing your body’s stress response. Specifically, potassium works alongside sodium to regulate blood pressure and fluid balance, which can be affected by cortisol during stress.
By replenishing your potassium levels, you prevent energy crashes and support your adrenal function too. Along with affecting magnesium and sodium levels, chronic stress can also affect your potassium stores. When you’re under immense stress, potassium depletion can occur due to increased excretion driven by elevated cortisol levels. If this imbalance isn’t remedied, it can impair muscle function and nerve transmission, which will only add to your body’s physical stress and ability to function.
Keep Your Electrolyte Levels Up to Remain Resilient
All three of these minerals are essential to manage your cortisol levels, support adrenal gland function, regulate fluid balance, and maintain nervous system stability during stress, so don’t let their levels plummet. If so, stress-related symptoms like fatigue, anxiety, irritability, or hormonal imbalances will be exacerbated. One way to keep your electrolyte levels up and replenish them properly is to consume electrolyte-boosted beverages like those by LMNT, which have all three necessary minerals.
With zero sugar and several flavors to choose from, including Citrus Salt, Orange Salt, and Raspberry Salt, they’re delicious, salty, and easy to integrate into your daily beverage routine. To set yourself up for success and less stress during the day, start your morning with a packet of LMNT in 16 to 32 ounces of water. If you prefer a sparkling beverage in a can, they also offer LMNT Sparkling. Whatever salty bev you choose to sip on, opting for an electrolyte-rich beverage like LMNT is a surefire way to manage your stress levels and feel balanced, resilient, and ready for whatever comes your way.
Get a free LMNT sample pack with 8 flavors by using our link.
For more information on the salty science behind LMNT, read here.
Note: If you are hypertensive or pre-hypertensive, consult your physician before using LMNT.