Tired of that sickly sweet taste that builds up after drinking many sports drinks? You’re not alone! Sometimes you just need other sodium sources so you can switch up those drinks and live to train another day.
A couple of weeks ago I had a triathlon coach ask for recommendations on sodium sources for an endurance athlete who was tired of the sweet taste of sports drinks. As a result, this athlete had almost stopped drinking entirely! That won’t get you far in a muggy Chicagoland summer, so I put together this list of options that provide water and sodium, but no or very little carbohydrate.
First, coconut water. Because I know someone’s going to ask!
Commercial coconut water drinks are fine if you need potassium. They generally have 500-600 mg potassium/cup but they’re not good sodium sources (~60 mg/cup). Since the primary electrolyte people lose in sweat is sodium, that’s what we’re really trying to replace in a sports drink. An athlete could use coconut water and add a sodium source and be fine.
Body Armor drinks, Coco Vita, etc., are very similar since they’re coconut water-based. Lots of potassium, low sodium, poor salt sources overall. Some drinks have no sodium at all!
Oddly, fresh coconut water is a fantastic source for potassium (~600 mg/cup straight from the coconut) and has some sodium (~250 mg/cup).
Is a solid potassium source a bad thing? NO! Most people don’t get enough potassium, particularly (in my experience) teenagers, college students and adults who don’t cook/do takeout frequently.
Straight sodium sources come in a couple of different versions.
SaltStick
The options with blue labels have third party testing! The main one I recommend is SaltStick capsules with ~200 mg/capsule. There are also chewables with 50 mg/chew, which some people really prefer. Their flavors are all a little tart (at least the couple I’ve tried) and don’t really taste salty. Unlike the capsules, which will be fine if you sweat all over them, the chewables need to be carried in a baggie. You can get little bags of 10 online – if you want boxes of 12 little bags.
Hammer Endurolytes
Hammer also has third party testing, but has two capsule options with either 40 (regular) or 120 mg/capsule (extreme). Seriously, if you need an extra salt source, why bother with 40 mg at a time?! The Extreme version also comes as a powder so you can add it to a drink you already have, which is an excellent option. And they have the Fizz version, which is dissolvable tablets you put in water with flavor and electrolytes but only 7 calories/tablet.
I’ve also had athletes show up with the 1 g sodium tablets that you can get in pharmacies for cystic fibrosis. That’s a LOT of sodium in one dose, especially for athletes to consume while exercising and blood is going to muscles instead of the gut!
Liquid and powder electrolytes to added to other drinks
Elete water is one sodium source of many in this category. EW is third party tested and has 125 mg/ half teaspoon. It doesn’t add any flavor unless you either put a ton into a different drink or you buy the Citrilyte version with a little bit of citrus flavor.
Gatorade has two products called Gatorlytes; one is a new drink and the other is a little packet of dry electrolytes you’d add to your drink of choice. There’s no flavor here, so add it to something with flavor or you’re drinking some VERY salty water!
Drinks
Gatorlytes #2 is a low calorie sports drink. You can get it either as a pre-made bottle or powder packets.
Gatorade Zero, which comes in tiny stick packs and as a pre-made liquid. Around here, I see the powder form with the Crystal Light-type instant drinks in grocery stores. 230 mg sodium/16 oz. The sweetness comes from artificial sweeteners, which may or may not be preferred, but doesn’t leave that nasty after taste in the mouth.
Propel (also by Gatorade) is lightly flavored water with 160mg sodium/12 oz. It also comes in the stick packs. Similarly, they have a product called Gatorade Fit that is part sports drink and part multivitamin with 230mg sodium/16.9oz bottle.
Pedialyte has a sport version. It’s very high in sodium (650 mg/16 oz), but very low in carbs (10g/16 oz) so athletes would have to add carbs somewhere else. I haven’t tried this, so I can’t comment on the flavor. It does come in powder packets, and you get get it at all the major stores (Target, Walmart, etc).
Some sodium sources are very convenient! Nuun Sport tablets or stick packs are a great travel option and they come in a wide variety of flavors. They have 4 g of carbs, ~15 calories and 300 mg sodium/16 oz. They’re also slightly fizzy which provides a bit of a bitter finish. Those tablets could also be added to other drinks besides water.
Skratch has a new drink out called Clear. It has a small amount of carbs and just a hint of either lemon or orange. It’s 270 mg sodium per scoop (12-16oz drink). I got a single serving to try a couple of weeks ago and it is… just a hint of citrus. It really isn’t sweet! The carbs are stuck together into one molecule called a cyclic dextrin that looks like a wreath; it’s a ring of glucose molecules with short branches sticking off. Skratch in general provides really solid sodium sources.
What about other popular drinks people consume because “they have electrolytes”?
Bai, SmartWater, alkaline water, Hint, and others don’t have sodium – or enough to make any difference. Drink them because you like them or your forgot your water bottle, not because they’re providing a benefit beyond the water itself.
Curious how much sodium you need?
If you’re an elite athlete or want to be part of a study, the Gatorade Sports Science Institute measures sweat rate and sweat sodium levels. However, this service is not available to regular people who just want to know what they lose. For that, they developed the GxPatch, which comes with an app available on Apple iOS phones only. The patch provides information on sweat rate (+/- 18%) and sodium loss.
Levelen also provides sweat rate and sweat sodium testing services, which they follow up with a hard sell on their sports drinks. And they cost more.
You can also just do a simple sweat test at home (get the Do A Sweat Test infographic here to learn how!) and at least discover some minimum needs. Per liter of sweat, athletes lose anywhere from 400-1800mg of sodium. So you’d have to do a little bit of extra math, but you’re smart and that’s not a problem! 💪
If you need help figuring out sodium sources that work for you, contact Dr. Schubert. For more information on various aspects of hydration, check out these blogs on sports drinks, environmental factors influencing sweat rate, ways to dissipate heat beyond sweating, and hydration needs in the winter. If you have GI issues when you drink sports drinks, here’s info on training the gut to make your exercise more comfortable!