Maintaining adequate levels of anything 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 of the body are Na+ (sodium), K+ (potassium), Cl– (chloride), Ca2+ (calcium), H+ (hydrogen), HCO3– (bicarbonate) and phosphates; these electrolytes can be found in the foods and drinks we consume every day. They are responsible for many bodily processes such as the transport of water and other fluids within the body, muscle activity, and even metabolism, to name a few. If one is unable to balance one's electrolyte levels, whether the amount is too high or too low, with any of the electrolytes used by the body, this can create problems for the functionality of any individual. That said, electrolyte levels within the body are among the many important things to keep in balance on a day-to-day basis. Electrolytes affect the osmolarity of body fluids, which is the amount of mineral content present in the fluid itself. Directly related to water balance, electrolytes work with water in the body to carry out its processes and aid in transport and distribution across membranes due to the positive or negative charges resulting from solutions. This makes the two, water and electrolytes, dependent on each other, meaning that if water levels are insufficient or there is excess this would affect the osmolarity which would throw the balance off causing greater dilution or concentration of solutions around the body. Similar complications would occur if electrolyte levels were too low or high. When this happens the electrolytes are incapable... half of the paper... end. Imbalances in phosphate levels don't really occur because the body can handle a wide range of phosphate concentrations, and whether they're high or low, they don'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 the fluids. Works Cited Fluid and electrolyte balance. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/fluidandelectrolytebalance.htmlPatton, K. T., & Thibodeau, G. A. (2010). Anatomy and physiology. (7th ed., pp. 980-999). St. Louis, MO: Mosby Elsevier. Saladin, K. S. (2011). Lecture outline - chapter 24. (6th ed.). McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Retrieved from http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/ap/saladin/outline24.mhtmlUpdegraff, E. (2014, March 09). What is the resting membrane potential? Retrieved from http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-resting-membrane-potential.htm