What’s the deal with Electrolytes?

If you exercise for more than 1–2 hours at a time, you’ve most likely heard of electrolytes. You hear about them all the time in the sport community but what are Electrolytes anyhow and why are they so important?

Well, simply put, among other things, without them you wouldn’t move a single muscle in your body. Got your attention?

Good, now let’s look at what these are and why they are so important. Our intent is not to go in detail here with the chemical and physiological description of electrolytes but rather highlight their importance to sport performance.

An electrolyte is any substance containing free ions that behaves as an electrically conductive medium. That means that one of the main functions of electrolytes is to work together to conduct nerve impulses that allow you to contract your muscles. Other functions include controlling fluid balance and regulating certain hormones to name a few.

In our bodies, there are 5 main electrolytes, Sodium, Chloride, Potassium, Calcium and magnesium. These are all lost in varying degree when we sweat while exercising. That is why it is important to replace the lost electrolytes during exercises lasting more than 1–2 hours. Most of us have felt it when these are out of balance with symptoms like dizziness and cramping. Such imbalances lead to serious performance declines. In some cases, it can lead to Hyponatremia, a very serious electrolyte imbalance condition.

Hyponatremia defined:

Hyponatremia is an electrolyte disturbance (disturbance of the salts in the blood) in which the concentration in the plasma is too low. Over hydrating with plain water, especially during exercise that causes lose of electrolyte through sweat, can dilute essential electrolytes in the body, causing disorientation, illness and in rare cases, death.

For this reason, supplementation is key. To help with this, there are some excellent products on the market. We carry the ones that we’ve come to trust because we use them all the time. As endurance athletes, training and competing in such sports as expedition length adventure races (3 – 10 days long), ultra-marathons, long distance kayaking, road racing, and endurance mountain biking we’ve had the time to use and test these. We’ve only kept the best of the best. Each one offers something slightly different that meet individual preferences. Many of us use a combination of these electrolyte offerings. For example, many of us use nuun in our water bottle and then use a capsule product as an additional supplement when we feel the need to increase our intake (when it’s hot and humid for example).

Here’s an overview of these great products:

nuun
nuun delivers its electrolyte supplement via effervescent tablets that dissolve in water and come in a convenient water proof container. They are easy to use and come in various delicious flavors. They believe that the slight taste will entice you to drink more and thus keep you hydrated. We concur! nuun separates an athlete’s energy needs from his/her electrolyte needs. As a result, nuun isn’t a sugary drink and avoids the upset stomach many athletes feel when drinking sweet drinks. It works for us!

Motor Tabs 

Motor Tabs delivers its electrolytes via effervescent tablets but these are individually wrapped if you only want to carry a few at a time. Motor Tabs' approach is to not only offer electrolyte replacement, but also provide some energy in the form of Dextrose, Sucrose, and Maltodextrin. Many of us like the combination of electrolyte and energy in their water. If you’re the same, try Motor Tabs.

Elete^TM Electrolyte 

What we like about Elete^TM is the simplicity of the product, it’s natural ingredients, and it’s delivery system. Elete^TM offers electrolytes with nothing else added in a liquid form. Just add a serving to your water bottle and you’re ready to go. If you just want electrolytes with no added taste, Elete^TM is the way to go, especially if you don’t like carrying pills and keeping track of them while training or racing.

Salt Stick Caps

SaltStick electrolytes come in a capsule form so you can take them as needed based on the intensity of your workout as well as the climate conditions. SaltStick offer a full-spectrum electrolyte profile that include, Sodium, Chloride, Potassium, Calcium, and Magnesium. They also add Vitamin D3 to improve Calcium absorption. Many of us like the simplicity and effectiveness of SaltStick caps. You can also get one of their convenient handlebar or belt dispensers.

Endurolytes from Hammer Nutrition

Endurolytes have been used by many of us for years with excellent results in all sorts of conditions from short sprint races to multi-day endurance events. Each capsule provides all the necessary electrolytes as well as some other minerals, vitamins, and amino acids. Each capsule contains a small amount of electrolyte so individuals can precisely supplement themselves hourly (typically 1 -6 caps / hour). These work well for all of us!

Thermolyte from Sport Quest Direct
Thermolyte provide full-spectrum electrolyte. In addition to Sodium and Chloride they provide Potassium, Magnesium, and Calcium in a proprietary blend of high performance Krebs Cycle mineral complex supplied in equal amounts as mineral citrates, aspartates, succinates, malates, fumarates and alpha-ketoglutarates. The benefit, according to Sport Quest, is to increase energy. Here’s a quick definition of the Kreb cycle according to the Sport Quest Direct website:

Krebs Cycle represents the joining of fat, carbs, and protein into one common energy producing pathway that is responsible for extracting energy from food - ATP. The Krebs cycle contains carriers that are intermediates and keep the process going continually. THERMOLYTE provides Potassium, Calcium, and Magnesium which are complexed with Krebs Cycle Carriers (superior organic mineral carriers), providing readily bioavailable forms of these minerals as well as carriers which the body recognizes and knows how to process. The result is increased ENERGY! Other products provide only Potassium, however, in the form of Potassium Chloride.

These have worked well for us over the years.

Zone Caps from Medion Corp

Zone Caps provide replacement for our bodies 5 main electrolytes. They don’t add anything else and that’s what many of us like. In that sense, they are quite similar to Salt Stick caps (except for the vitamin D3 Salt Stick adds) but offer electrolyte in smaller doses similar to Endurolytes. This way, you can consume more precise quantities of electrolytes during a given workout. This appeals to many of us. The company recommends taking Zone Caps in conjunction with eload - a sports drink formulated specifically for the heat - but that is optional.

We know the above electrolyte products work because we all use them. But, we all have our individual preferences as we’re sure you will. Give these a try, we’re confident one or more of these products will help keep you at your optimum performance level.

As always, if you have any questions, give us a call or drop us a line.

The Team at Feed The Machine.

Note: Common search phrases for this article include electrolites, electrolite, what are electrolites, electrolite imbalance, fluid and electrolytes, and serum electrolytes