Maintaining proper levels of everything in your body is important for your body to function properly. Electrolytes are electrically charged minerals, negative or positive, and circulate in body fluids, blood and urine. The main electrolytes in the body are Na+ (sodium), K+ (potassium), Cl– (chloride), Ca2+ (calcium), H+ (hydrogen), HCO3– (bicarbonate), and phosphates; These electrolytes are found in the foods and drinks we consume daily. They are responsible for many bodily processes such as the transport of water and other fluids throughout the body, muscle activity, and even metabolism, to name a few. Failure to balance one's electrolyte levels, whether the amount is too high or too low, with any of the electrolytes used by the body, can create problems for any individual's functionality. That being said, electrolyte levels within the body are one of the many elements of the body that are important to keep in balance on a daily basis. Electrolytes affect the osmolarity of body fluids, which is the amount of minerals contained. present in the fluid itself. Directly related to fluid balance, electrolytes work with the body's water to carry out its processes and facilitate transport and distribution across membranes due to positive or negative charges resulting from solutions. This makes both, water and electrolytes, dependent on each other, meaning that if water levels are insufficient or if there is an excess, it would affect osmolarity, which would disrupt the balance, making the solutions in the body more diluted or more concentrated. Similar complications could arise if electrolyte levels are too low or too high. When this happens, electrolytes are unable...... middle of paper ......ine. Imbalances in phosphate levels don't really occur because the body can handle a wide range of phosphate concentrations and whether they are high or low, it doesn't have a huge effect on the body. But to maintain a balance, the parathyroid and renal tubules act to increase or decrease the concentration in fluids. Works CitedFluid and electrolyte balance. (nd). Retrieved from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/fluidandelectrolytebalance.htmlPatton, KT and Thibodeau, GA (2010). Anatomy and physiology. (7th ed., pp. 980-999). St. Louis, MO: Mosby Elsevier. Saladin, K. S. (2011). Conference overview – chapter 24. (6th ed.). McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Retrieved from http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/ap/saladin/outline24.mhtmlUpdegraff, E. (2014, March 9). What is the resting membrane potential? Retrieved from http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-resting-membrane-potential.htm