The truth about electrolytes

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If you walk into any gym, convenience store, or sports bench and you’ll see bright neon-colored bottles promising hydration, energy, and peak performance. Brands like Gatorade, Powerade, BioSteel, and Prime have tried to build an entire culture around the idea that replenishing electrolytes is essential to reach peak performance. 

There’s that word. Electrolytes. 

I’m sure you’ve heard that buzz word many times and even had at least a few people tell you straight to your face that you need electrolytes. But does anyone actually know what electrolytes are? 

Electrolytes, as you might have guessed from the name, carry an electric charge. They help regulate things like nerve function, muscle contractions, and fluid balance. When you sweat, you lose both water and electrolytes.  

The truth is that electrolytes are just minerals that your body needs. In fact, it’s mostly salt.  

There is some potassium, calcium, and magnesium mixed in there, but for the most part, if you shook a saltshaker over your drink, you would get most of the benefits as you would from an electrolyte drink. 

So then when should you be using sports drinks? Sports drinks were developed for high-performance athletes training in extreme conditions. During long-duration or high-intensity exercise when they would sweat a ton, like marathons or professional sports, electrolytes can be super useful.  

The problem is that the average person will never need to worry about their lack of electrolytes, water will be enough.  

Sports drinks are usually filled with artificial flavors and a ton of sugar. Drinking them regularly is basically like drinking a soft drink without the carbonation.  

So how can you spot the deceptive marketing? The rabbit hole can go pretty deep. Now that you actually know what electrolytes are, that’s already half the battle. Not even scientific studies are safe, most of the studies highlighting the benefits of sports drinks like Gatorade are usually sponsored by the brand they’re promoting. Sneaky, eh? 

And this isn’t just limited to sports drinks and hydration. Nearly every name food or drink brand, especially in the “healthy” field, is built on their deceptive marketing. Check out @cheatdaydesign on Instagram to get a better idea on how companies can lie straight to your face about their products.  

Here is a great post to practice finding some of their tricks.

Sports drinks aren’t inherently bad they’re just unnecessary for most situations. Unless you’re training hard, sweating heavily, or competing at a high level, your body doesn’t need a sugar filled brightly colored drink to stay hydrated. 

It’s just like that nutty gym teacher always screamed at you in 8th grade. Water is enough.