The electrolyte supplement market has exploded. What was once limited to Gatorade and Pedialyte now includes dozens of powders, tablets, and drops, each claiming to be the ultimate hydration solution. Some are genuinely useful. Others are glorified sugar packets with a pinch of sodium and a hefty price tag.
The difference comes down to what's actually in the formula and how much of it. And honestly, once you know what to look for, you can evaluate any electrolyte product in about 30 seconds by reading the label.
Electrolytes are minerals that carry an electrical charge when dissolved in water. Your body uses them for nerve signaling, muscle contraction, fluid balance, and pH regulation. The four that matter most for supplementation:
The most important electrolyte you lose through sweat. Average sweat contains 800-1,400mg of sodium per liter (with huge individual variation). Sodium regulates fluid balance, blood pressure, and nerve function. During extended exercise, sodium losses can significantly impair performance and, in extreme cases, cause hyponatremia (dangerously low blood sodium).
The RDA for sodium is 2,300mg/day for most adults. Athletes and heavy sweaters often need considerably more on training days.
Critical for heart rhythm, muscle contraction, and nerve function. You lose some through sweat (about 200mg per liter), but less than sodium. Most Americans don't get enough potassium from diet—the adequate intake is 2,600mg/day for women and 3,400mg/day for men, and fewer than 2% of Americans meet that.
Supplemental potassium is capped at 99mg per serving in the US (an FDA regulation), which is why most electrolyte products contain relatively small amounts. This is a safety measure—too much potassium too quickly can cause dangerous cardiac arrhythmias.
Involved in 300+ enzymatic reactions, including energy production and muscle relaxation. You lose about 10-20mg per liter of sweat. Chronic low magnesium contributes to muscle cramps, fatigue, and impaired recovery. About 50% of Americans are insufficient in magnesium based on dietary intake data.
You lose some calcium in sweat (about 20-40mg per liter), but dietary calcium intake is usually sufficient for replacement. Most electrolyte supplements include small amounts. It's the least critical to supplement specifically for hydration.
Not every workout or hot day requires electrolyte supplementation. Plain water handles most situations fine. But certain scenarios significantly increase your electrolyte needs:
The American College of Sports Medicine recommends sodium replacement during exercise lasting longer than 1 hour, particularly in heat. For sessions under an hour at moderate intensity, water is typically sufficient. For 1-3 hour sessions in warm conditions, 300-600mg of sodium per hour is a reasonable target. Ultra-endurance athletes may need 600-1,000mg per hour.
This is the scenario most people underestimate. When you dramatically reduce carbohydrate intake, your kidneys excrete more sodium. Insulin (which drops on low-carb diets) normally signals the kidneys to reabsorb sodium. Without that signal, you lose sodium at an accelerated rate. This is the main cause of "keto flu"—headache, fatigue, brain fog, muscle cramps. It's not carb withdrawal. It's electrolyte depletion.
People following ketogenic diets often need an additional 1,000-3,000mg of sodium, 1,000-3,500mg of potassium, and 300-500mg of magnesium per day above what they get from food.
Similar mechanism to keto. Fasts longer than 24 hours significantly increase electrolyte excretion. If you're doing prolonged fasts, electrolyte supplementation isn't optional—it's medically important.
The WHO's oral rehydration solution (ORS) was one of the most important medical developments of the 20th century. For acute gastroenteritis, the WHO formula (which contains 75mmol/L sodium, roughly 450mg per serving) has been shown to reduce dehydration mortality by up to 93% in developing countries. Commercial products like Pedialyte are based on this research.
Some people are salty sweaters—they lose 2-3x more sodium per liter of sweat than average. If you notice white salt stains on your workout clothes, you're probably in this group. Sweat rate also varies enormously: some people lose 0.5 liters per hour, others lose 2+ liters in the same conditions.
Alcohol is a diuretic. It increases urine output, which depletes sodium, potassium, and magnesium. Electrolyte replacement won't cure a hangover (the mechanisms are more complex than just dehydration), but it does address the electrolyte component. A 2020 study in the Journal of Clinical Medicine found that mineral supplementation improved some hangover symptoms, though the evidence is limited.
Here's where most electrolyte products fail. A good electrolyte supplement should have:
| Mineral | Minimum Per Serving | Ideal Per Serving | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sodium | 500mg | 800-1,000mg | Primary electrolyte lost in sweat |
| Potassium | 200mg | 200-400mg | FDA caps single-dose supplements at 99mg, but foods/combinations can provide more |
| Magnesium | 50mg | 50-100mg | Supports muscle function and recovery |
| Sugar | N/A | Under 5g | Some sugar aids sodium absorption, but most products overdo it |
Many popular electrolyte products contain embarrassingly little sodium. Some contain as little as 40-100mg per serving. That's less than a pinch of table salt (which contains ~590mg sodium per quarter teaspoon). If the primary electrolyte you lose through sweat is sodium, and the product barely contains any, what's the point?
Traditional sports drinks are similarly weak. A typical 12-oz serving of most major sports drinks contains 100-160mg of sodium. Compare that to sweat losses of 800-1,400mg per liter, and you see the mismatch. You'd need to drink 5-10 servings to replace what you lost in an hour of hard exercise.
A small amount of sugar (specifically glucose) actually helps with electrolyte absorption. The sodium-glucose co-transport mechanism in your small intestine pulls sodium and water into your bloodstream more effectively when glucose is present. The WHO oral rehydration solution includes glucose for exactly this reason.
But there's a difference between the 6-8g of glucose that optimizes absorption and the 21-34g of sugar in a typical sports drink. Beyond the absorption threshold, extra sugar is just empty calories. Products with 30+ grams of sugar per serving are essentially soda with minerals.
Zero-sugar electrolyte products work fine too. You lose some absorption efficiency, but for most use cases (particularly keto, fasting, or general daily use), the trade-off is worth it.
If the label says "Electrolyte Blend: 1,200mg" and lists sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium without individual amounts, walk away. This is the supplement industry's trick for hiding inadequate doses. That 1,200mg could be 1,100mg of cheap sodium chloride and 33mg each of the other three. You have no way of knowing.
Some products list 15-20 ingredients including exotic-sounding minerals: manganese, chromium, selenium, boron, zinc. These might be fine in a multivitamin, but in an electrolyte supplement, they're distracting from the question that matters: does this product contain enough sodium, potassium, and magnesium?
Seventy-two "trace minerals from ancient sea beds" sounds impressive but adds negligible value for acute electrolyte replacement.
Some tablets or drops contain 50mg of sodium per serving and market themselves as complete electrolyte solutions. Fifty milligrams. That's about 2% of what you lose in a liter of sweat. Even for casual daily hydration, that's homeopathically useless for electrolyte replacement.
Some "electrolyte energy" products sneak in 100-200mg of caffeine. Caffeine is a mild diuretic (though its diuretic effect is modest at habitual doses). If your goal is hydration and electrolyte replacement, adding a diuretic is counterproductive. Check the label.
You can make an effective electrolyte drink at home for almost nothing:
This roughly matches or exceeds most commercial electrolyte products in mineral content. It costs about $0.05 per serving instead of $1-2.
The downside is taste and convenience. Commercial products nail the flavoring. If bad taste means you won't drink it, a product you actually use beats a recipe you don't.
If you're a serious athlete, one-size-fits-all electrolyte recommendations aren't ideal. Sweat testing services can measure your individual sweat sodium concentration and rate, which lets you dial in your needs precisely.
General athletic guidelines from the ACSM and NATA:
For ultra-endurance (marathons, Ironman, multi-hour events), sodium needs can reach 1,000+ mg per hour. Hyponatremia (critically low sodium) is a real risk during prolonged events, particularly for slower athletes who drink large volumes of plain water without electrolyte replacement. It hospitalizes people every major marathon.
If you eat a normal diet, exercise moderately, and aren't on a restrictive diet, you probably don't need an electrolyte supplement. Your food provides electrolytes. Your kidneys regulate levels with remarkable precision.
The situations where daily electrolyte supplementation makes sense for non-athletes:
For everyone else, the electrolyte supplement craze is mostly marketing. Drinking an electrolyte product while sitting at your desk doing nothing isn't hydrating you better than water. Your kidneys don't need the help.
Read the label. If a product won't tell you exactly how much sodium, potassium, and magnesium it contains per serving, it's probably not worth your money. — Suppi Research Team
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