Do I need electrolyte drinks?

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Electrolyte drinks are a real product solving a real problem - for a much smaller group than their marketing implies. Electrolytes - sodium, potassium, and friends - are minerals you lose mainly through sweat, and your kidneys are good at holding them in balance when intake is normal. MedlinePlus notes that for most people, food and normal hydration cover electrolyte needs fine.

When drinks earn their keep: exercise past 60-90 minutes, especially in heat; heavy sweaters and salty sweaters - white residue on clothes is the tell; working long shifts in hot conditions; and illness with vomiting or diarrhea, where an oral rehydration solution replaces both fluid and salts better than water alone. In those cases, sodium is the key ingredient - check the label for it, since some trendy mixes are mostly flavor.

When they are wasted money: desk days, 30-minute gym sessions, and hangovers that water and food fix just as well. And a caution: many electrolyte drinks carry sugar close to soda levels, and the zero-sugar ones lean on sweeteners. People with kidney disease or on blood pressure medications like ACE inhibitors should not freelance potassium-heavy electrolyte products without asking their doctor.

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