Electrolyte drinks used to be something reserved for serious athletes. But now, they’re popping up in every other advert on instagram, with each brand boasting about its flavours and more importantly, their absolute ESSENTIAL use in your day to day life. So it’s easy to assume that because everyone is drinking them and there are so many products out there, that we’ve been getting hydration wrong all along and water simply isn’t enough…but is it true?
Perhaps not. Let’s take a look at when electrolyte drinks and supplements really are a good idea, and when they’re just expensive, neon acid squash with a sporty label.
The Basics.
Electrolytes are minerals – mainly sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium – that help regulate fluid balance, muscle contractions, and nerve function. You lose them in sweat, particularly sodium which you’ll see talked about a lot and as one of the main ingredients in these kinds of supplements. If you lose too much and don’t replace it, the consequences range from sluggish performance to agonising cramps and dizziness. So yes, they’re important. But that doesn’t mean you need a bottle of the stuff in your laptop bag and at your work desk.
Who Actually Needs Electrolyte Drinks?
- Heavy sweaters: Dripping and wringing out your kit enough you could fill the bath tub? Yeah this is you.
- Salty sweaters: Some of us lose more sodium per litre than others. If your kit is white with salt stains post-ride, you’re probably a salty sweater meaning you’ll lose more minerals per litre of sweat than a less salty sweater.
- Hot and humid conditions: Sweat rate goes up, so electrolyte losses follow.
- Long-duration efforts (90+ mins): You’re more likely to need more than just water, but again this is much more dependent on your individual sweat circumstances and the environmental conditions.
- High-intensity sessions: More sweat, more electrolytes out the door, again, as above.
Any of these conditions above might signal a need to think a little bit more deeply about your hydration and consider whether an electrolyte substance might benefit you.
On the other hand, if you’re doing a 45-minute spin on the turbo in a cool room, spoiler alert, water is fine!
The Problem with Overdoing It
Because of the widespread MISinformation that we all need electrolytes in our water these days, it’s easy to assume that more is better than there are no detrimental side effects to having as much as you like whenever you fancy. But just as electrolyte supplements have an active benefit when required, they can have some really negative impacts if we’re drinking them willy-nilly.\
🦷 Oral Health: Many electrolyte drinks are acidic and high in sugar. These contribute to enamel erosion and decay, especially if you’re sipping them slowly over hours.
💧 Fluid Balance: Over-supplementing sodium without adequate fluid can cause bloating or GI distress. More is not better, especially without balance!
🍌 Nutritional Overkill: Replacing what you haven’t lost isn’t helpful. If you’re not sweating heavily, you’re just adding unnecessary stuff your body will try to excrete. And remember that you’ll be consuming plenty of minerals in your day-to-day diet if you’re eating a healthy rainbow selection of nutritious, whole foods.
Sodium is continually proven to be detrimental for blood pressure in the longer term and as athletes, we should really be focusing on health first. So these side effects shouldn’t be considered minor if we’re chronically overkilling the electrolyte!
How to Know If You Need Electrolytes
- Track your sweat: Weigh yourself before and after training (naked, towel dry). A weight loss of more than 2% = significant fluid loss.
- Look for salt stains: White streaks on kit = high sodium loss.
- Listen to your body: Cramping, lightheadedness, or excessive thirst post-session can be clues.
- Get tested: A proper sweat test (like Precision Hydration or similar) will tell you how much sodium you lose per litre of sweat and will help you come up with a tailored electrolyte plan for your individual sweaty circumstances and events!
How Much Electrolyte Is Enough?
Here’s a rough guide:
- < 60 minutes, low intensity, cool conditions: Water.
- 60-90 minutes or high intensity in heat: Consider a low-to-moderate strength electrolyte drink (300-700mg sodium/L).
- 90+ minutes in heat or if you’re a salty sweater: Use a higher-strength product (800-1000mg sodium/L) and consider drinking before as well as during (you may even consider a small amount of higher sodium product up around the 1500mg/L mark for pre-racing if you’re in this category)
Preload with electrolytes in the 90 minutes before big sessions or races in the heat (if you’ve got a history of cramping, dehydration symptoms or high losses).
Post-session: If you’ve lost significant sweat, add some electrolytes back in. But again, this doesn’t mean sipping sports drinks all evening. Recovery meals often contain enough sodium, especially if they’re real food. Sometimes it’s nicer to have a few salty crisps than it is to carry on with some ultra-processed rubbishy drinks!
Some extra helpful hints and tips:
As we said above, electrolyte (well, most sports specific nutrition prducts really) can have a devastating impact on your oral health, even when used appropriately. So here’s my top tips to save your gnashers too!
- Rinse with water after: Especially if you’re going hours between brushing.
- Use a straw or bottle with a valve to reduce contact with your teeth
- Brush with a fluoride toothpaste (but not immediately after – acid softens enamel and you could end up making matters worse!)
- Look for low-sugar options or sugar free options (assuming your gut is happy with sweeteners)
Electrolyte drinks are a brilliant tool when used properly. They’re not evil, they’re not magic, and they definitely don’t need to be in your water bottle 24/7. Think of them like your race wheels: essential when the conditions demand it, but overkill for a café spin.
Listen to your body, understand your sweat rate, and dial things in based on your needs, not what your Instagram says you should be drinking. Your performance and your health will thank you.
Want to stop guessing and start fuelling your training properly?
If you’re tired of trial and error with hydration, nutrition, and performance, I can help. My coaching programmes are designed to support athletes who want to train smart, not just hard, with practical strategies that balance performance, health, and real life (and yep, that includes when to actually use an electrolyte drink).
👉 Get in touch to find out more about coaching options by clicking here to book your FREE no obligation chat and see whether nutrition coaching is the right move for you!