Electrolyte replacers: Do athletes need to buy them?

Electrolytes are electrically charged particles, most commonly known as sodium, calcium, magnesium, and potassium. They are abundant in “real foods” – including fruits, vegetables, grains, meats, and dairy foods. These real foods are generally far less expensive electrolyte replacers.

The electrolyte of biggest concern is sodium. Sodium enhances fluid retention and helps keep you hydrated better than water; plain water goes in one end and out the other. Yet, sports drinks are actually low in sodium compared to what you consume in your meals—and many sodium replacers have far less sodium than you may think. People who sweat heavily might lose about 1,000 to 3,000 mg sodium in an hour of hard exercise. Here are options for replacing these sodium losses:

The majority of non-endurance athletes have no need to buy electrolyte replacers. The people who might benefit include athletes who will be sweating in the heat for extended periods of time, such as marathoners, ultra-marathoners, triathletes, and tennis players baking on the courts during long tournaments. But even these athletes tend to consume food during the extended exercise time, so they can eat abundant electrolytes, if they thoughtfully choose their snacks and meals. That is, the football player doing double-sessions during pre-season training who has a high-sodium ham and cheese sandwich with mustard, dill pickles, and (baked) potato chips can bypass the Gatorade at lunch.

When you know you will be exercising in hot weather, choose some salted foods (i.e., sprinkle salt on scrambled eggs and oatmeal) before you exercise in the heat. Getting a hefty dose of sodium into your body before you even start to exercise has been shown to retain fluid, delay the rate at which you might become dehydrated, and enhance endurance.

For more information:

Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook