Hyponatremia is an electrolyte disorder in a person because sodium levels in the blood are quite low. In this condition, a person will usually experience bloating, headaches, difficulty thinking clearly (brain fog), and nausea.
Athletes who are doing strenuous sports such as football, marathons or triathlons are at risk of developing hyponatremia. This condition can occur due to consuming more water than the amount of fluid excreted by the body or profuse sweating that is not accompanied by good hydration.
Chair of the Central Executive Board of the Indonesia Sport Nutritionist Association (PP ISNA) Dr Rita Ramayulis, DCN, M.Kes said that salt water can actually reduce the risk of athletes developing hyponatremia. The reason is, salt or sodium chloride can replace the body's minerals lost during exercise.
"Salt itself is a combination of sodium and chloride, people who run long distances or do triathlons will sweat a lot. So what is lost from the body, from our sweat, is that the biggest mineral in our sweat is sodium chloride,"
"So, if a person sweats a lot, his sodium and chloride will decrease and he will tend to experience hyponatremia. This will affect his sports performance," he continued.
Rita continued that the role of salt water will replace minerals lost from the body through profuse sweat. He reminded again that the largest component contained in human sweat is sodium chloride.
"When someone drinks fluids and then adds salt, it helps to replace the sodium chloride. Adding salt to someone's drink while exercising or after exercising turns out to be very good, especially when exercise produces a lot of sweat," said Rita.
"Once again the largest component of human sweat is sodium chloride," he concluded.
