I’m not eating and I need to keep my electrolytes up. I’ve been trying different drinks and there pretty much all awful. The best I’ve had so far is pineapple coconut water. The worst is Powerade Zero fruit punch.
It seems like whatever stuff they put in there in these drinks is the problem because many of them have this horrible bitter taste they try to hide with flavoring.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
And yes, I know Brawndo has electrolytes. Very droll.
I am going to second making your own. Most electrolyte solutions are only sodium chloride, potassium chloride and sugar.
Morton’s makes a thing that is literally this without the sugar. It’s called “lite salt”. https://www.mortonsalt.com/article/morton-lite-salt-mixture-nutritional-facts/
Any “lite salt” should do the trick. You will also need a multivitamin/multimineral as well but if you are just looking for an “electrolyte” replacement drink… It’s just lite salt, water and sugar. If you want to get fancy you can add magnesium and calcium.
Is it salty? Yes. It’s salt. Electrolytes are salts.
How do I make it not salty? Add sugar.
Why are the things like propel bitter? Fake sugar + salt tastes bitter to some people. Most Gatorade/propel blends also need to be low cal so they use fake sugars. Gatorade originally had like 60grams of sugar in a bottle. That doesn’t sell well anymore. You, however can go nuts and use as much sugar as you like.
Is there electrolytes that don’t taste salty? No. They are salt.
What other options do I have? Pills. But if you aren’t eating you might not absorb them well.
Edit: after reading some other posts I am going to add the following.
Gatorade is potassium and sodium salt + sugars, artificial sweetener and flavors. You can check the nutritional facts. It only provides sodium and potassium… No calcium or magnesium. Gatorade is literally “lite salt” plus sugar, flavorings, artificial sugar and water.
Monk fruit, stevia and the like all have bitter aftertastes.
Personally my favorite artificial sweetener is erythritol. Incidentally it is the only artificial sweetener that doesn’t cause an insulin response. Monster zero energy drinks are sweetened with it for a flavor profile.
Don’t forget magnesium! I like Natural Calm, which becomes magnesium citrate when mixed with water. Avoid magnesium oxide, which is typically used as a laxative.
Mix it all with your preferred flavoring, such as Mio drops. Keto forums call this ketoade/ketorade.
Side note: different sweeteners are radically different. Stevia, sucralose, saccharine, aspartame, erythritol, etc all have different properties. Some have weird flavors, feels, or gastro effects, and affect each person differently. Saccharine is often called bitter; stevia is often described as metallic; erythritol has a cooling mint-like feeling.
Most commercial electrolyte mixes don’t supplement magnesium.
I did mention it… But it was in the middle of the wall of text.
I appreciate your better breakdown of the artificial sweeteners.
Careful with that erythritol…
Morton’s lite salt contains magnesium carbonate, which is an over the counter laxative. I tried using lite salt in lemonade as a sports drink while exercising in really hot weather and the results were… explosive.
Interesting. I wonder how much you used? I can imagine that a 1/4 tsp of the salt has enough magnesium carbonate to be effective… But I don’t know how much is in it (otherwise it should be on the label since magnesium does have an rda)
Quite a lot. I was road biking long distances in the summer in the American southeast and replaced all of my table salt with lite salt thinking it would help with recovery. It was 3-4tsp per day, about half in food and half in lemonade. The drink would set me running for the can.
Potassium citrate mixed that with table salt for a recovery drink wound up working really well instead. Based on that, I assumed it was one of the other minerals from the lite salt that was setting me off. Magnesium being the most likely suspect.
It’s pretty important to keep sodium, magnesium, and potassium in balance. If I wasn’t eating and depending on an electrolyte drink for these I’d make damn sure it had all three and in reasonably correct proportions.
Brawndo of course.
Just get Pedialyte or Liquid IV packets. They work wonders for me.
For the Pedialyte, pour a third of the bottle into about a liter and you’ll get more out of it.
For Liquid IV, a half packet into a liter of water is probably enough to not be overwhelmed by flavor. But you can use more or less depending on your taste.
Pocari Sweat. It’s a Japanese drink but you can find it in the US. Awesome flavor and it should have a good balance but check it out.
I’ve seen that in stores. Admittedly, the name always turned me off. I’ll check it out. Thanks!
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Sneaky caffeine content pisses me off. Bought a big thing of BCAAs at the store and didn’t realize until trying some it’s got caffeine in it.
I struggle with anxiety and caffeine is something I need to precisely control in order to keep from freezing up at work.
Coconut water, definitely. I like the kind with turmeric and ginger in it.
If someone is very dehydrated though, you want oral rehydration solution, which everyone with a kitchen should know how to make:
- 1 liter (quart) of clean water
- 70 grams (6 tablespoons) of white sugar¹
- 3 grams (½ teaspoon) of table salt
If you have them, also add some other electrolytes (or have the dehydrated person eat a banana, which contains potassium bicarbonate):
- 2½ grams (¼ teaspoon) of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda)
- 2½ grams (¼ teaspoon) of potassium chloride (sodium-free “salt substitute”)
¹ This is what the official recipes say, but it’s probably okay to cut it in half if the dehydrated person doesn’t also need the calories.
I’m not a nutritionist by any means, but I was under the impression that coconut water is a mild laxative. Not sure if that’s the case with commercial products though.
Nuun isn’t so bad.
But your sense of taste may be altered by not eating. You may have to just accept that keeping the electrolytes up means choking down a nasty substance. Think of it as your medicine.
I have myself cucumber water everyday, it’s fantastic but I don’t know if it will help you specifically : blend cucumbah in some wotah, add enough wotah that it becomes nicely fluid, deep jungle green, then filter it. Or don’t, if you want fibah. Pinch of salt, squeeze of lemon, good to go.
I read your previous post. This sounds like hell. I’m sorry you’re going through this awful shit.
L-Glutamine can actually help treat H. Pylori over a six week period. It’s pretty inexpensive, and it would be a good test while you wait. Take 5 grams twice daily mixed into whatever liquids you can manage to get into your system.
If it doesn’t help the problem, then there’s at least a reasonably good chance that H. Pylori isn’t the culprit. I hope that you obtain relief very soon.
I stick to electrolyte water the most. I know sugar can help with absorbing electrolytes but I don’t like sugar much.
I like the BodyArmor water the best, followed by probably Smart Water and Essentia. They’re all fairly similar; I’m splitting hairs with taste. I’ll buy whatever is the cheapest or on a sale.
Pokari Sweat.
I survived on that stuff when I did a one week Kebdo training camp in Japan. It’s fantastic!
I’m on a keto diet, and I NEED the electrolytes. I found this recipe and it’s been helping me so far. https://www.ketofitnessclub.com/blogs/drinks/electrolyte-drink
I’d be interested in anyone’s takes on that recipe, hopefully I’m not poisoning my liver or something…
Edit: I just read your previous post, so you probably shouldn’t try this recipe as it uses apple cider vinegar which I believe would aggravate your ulcer.
Could take a supplement. Most are useless but some do serve a use in the right circumstances. I take magnesium for leg cramps for example. Could do a mix of Calcium, magnesium, potassium, with just water. Throw to the back of the throat, no taste at all. A multi vitamin might do the trick too, like one-a- day. But you will need to research them.
One potential issue with this solution is most suppliments suggest being taken with a meal. If you are able, milk is an electrolyte source as qell, so that might serve the meal requirement.
Good luck, I’ve had ulcers most of my life, surgery 3 times for them, they suck, a lot
Thanks for the good wishes. Do they make electrolyte supplements?
Magnesium, Calcium, Potassium, these are all electrolytes and can easily be found in helth food stores. However, there is also tablets that contain these together with salt.
I buy boulder salt and add it to water with mio-type flavorings. Boulder Salt Electrolyte Powder and Hydration Pack | Oral Rehydration | Natural Alkaline Salt for Energy and Stamina | No Sugar | 8oz Bag | 113 Servings https://a.co/d/eNwrtPS
Isn’t it salty though?
Not bad. It’s only a small amount.
Before work every day, I go to the Dollar Tree next door to buy drinks for the day. I’ve been buying the various random flavored waters, and whatever other drinks are sugar and caffeine free. Found this stuff called Reward, in a square bottle talking about electrolytes and whatnot, back of the bottle making it seem like they’re claiming to be some knock-off Pedialyte. They claim to have a bunch of flavors, but I’ve only ever seen strawberry kiwi. Tastes a lot better than I expected. Kinda over-sweetened, if anything.
