From sports to flying to hangovers, the benefits of electrolytes and hydration tablets
- Athletes have been taking them for years, but did you know you can also use electrolyte tablets to treat hangovers and recover from flights more quickly?
- We look at six popular brands of hydration tablets available in Hong Kong
Runners have long known the value of hydration tablets – also known as electrolyte tablets – which contain electrolytes such as sodium and potassium that your body needs to be properly hydrated. There are a handful of brands that cater to this sporting niche, and a new kid on the block is squeezing into the market with a product it claims offers more than the standard fare.
“The key difference is that Phizz is a hybrid formula – it combines hydration mixture, vitamins and minerals. So, it’s ideal for long-haul flights, sport, hangovers and general wellness,” says Phizz co-founder Daniel Cray.
Cray believes it’s well suited to Hong Kong.
“Hong Kong’s humid climate and the work-hard, play-hard culture with a high-powered office environment and social scene mean it’s a dream market for Phizz,” says Cray, who lived in Hong Kong as a child.
Most of the time you don’t need to worry about electrolytes as they are readily available in your diet.
The challenge comes during intense exercise when you sweat out a lot of electrolytes. Rehydrating by drinking just water can dilute the electrolytes in your body and in extreme cases can lead to hyponatremia, a low concentration of sodium which leads to a decreased ability to think, headache, nausea, and poor balance.
Long-term Hong Kong resident Simon Pritchard began using electrolyte tablets 20 years ago, when he regularly did three-hour runs, popping one of the effervescent tablets into a litre bottle of water before heading out for a run or bike ride.
“These days I use them for all-day ski touring trips, which is essentially hiking in the mountains on skis. I use them in conjunction with an energy gel,” says Pritchard, 52, who buys multipacks of the brand Nuun from Amazon.
For Pritchard, the tablets are a family affair. His wife, Jane Moir, uses them when she goes on runs, especially during the hot and humid summer.
“They are great when the sweat is dropping off you can you feel you are losing lots of body salts. We also use them to rehydrate if one of us was sick. When our son had diarrhoea, we gave him the grape flavour, they taste a lot better than rehydration salts,” says Moir.
The only downside, she says, is that sometimes they can taste a little synthetic: “If you’re in the process of doing exercise, sometimes you just want pure water and if all you’ve got is a drink like that it can taste a bit sweet,” she says.
And they also come in handy for the morning after: “If I’ve had a big night out, I like to see one of those next to my bed in the morning with a nice big glass of water,” says Moir.
Cray and his co-founders struck on the idea of creating a hybrid tablet during a period when they were regularly travelling back and forth between Australia and Europe, a 20-hour journey.
“We were getting off the plane feeling rubbish. We were repurposing gastro medication for long-haul flights and using multivitamins, but we couldn’t find a hybrid,” says Cray.
The climate-controlled condition of a plane cabin mean that the relative humidity can be as low as 10-20 per cent. On a 10-hour flight a person loses an average two litres of water, he says.
In-flight dehydration not only leads to tiredness and irritability, it can also cause the blood viscosity to increase. When combined with the hypoxic (low oxygen) environment of the plane cabin, this may enhance the risk of developing deep vein thrombosis among at-risk people.
Luke Davey, head of athletic performance at the Hong Kong Rugby Union, says the team is given hydration tablets and use them in-flight as well as when they’re training in hot conditions.
“You can’t take electrolyte drinks onto the plane, so we bring the tablets and drop them into the water supplied. We encourage the players to take one on short flights and two on longer flights,” says Davey.
In addition to the convenience of the tablets – they are light and easy to carry in a kit bag – they are also eco-friendly because the tablets mean the players can use their reusable water bottle rather than relying on multiple single-use plastic bottles. Playing through the hot, sticky summers in Hong Kong and around the regions, he says electrolyte tablets are essential to replace salts lost through sweat.
“If not, we’d see an increase in players with cramp or else heatstroke, which is the most extreme factor of heat and sun exposure,” says Davey.
He says the tablets are useful for those doing short, high-intensity training sessions or else endurance runners who are out in the sun for long periods of time.
Cray believes that people often feel symptoms such as a loss of concentration or feeling grumpy without attributing them to dehydration.
“It only takes a one per cent drop in hydration for the body to see a negative impact on performance, whether it’s loss of focus or irritability,” says Cray, who takes at least one a day.
Launched in the UK three years ago, Phizz is used by 50 top sports clubs in Europe including Liverpool and Arsenal football teams, Middlesex Cricket Club and Saracens Rugby club. It’s also given to all first-class passengers on Emirates.
“The product gets to fly first class on Emirates, but I don’t,” says Cray.
Six electrolytes available in Hong Kong
Phizz
These tablets launched in Hong Kong this month. A blend of electrolytes, glucose, vitamins and antioxidants, they are marketed as fit for “play, travel and work” – helping cure hangovers, staying hydrated on long-haul flights and the aftermath of vigorous workouts and busy lifestyles. Available in two flavours: orange or apple and blackcurrant.
Available at City’super and Log-on HK$76 (10 tablets), HK$104 (20)
Nuun
Pronounced “noon”, this was the first company to separate electrolyte replacement from carbohydrates. This self-dissolving, sugar-free electrolyte tablet is one of the most popular brands in Hong Kong, widely available in sports shops and online. Available in 11 flavours: Tropical, orange, Tri-Berry, citrus fruit, banana, grape, strawberry lemonade, lemon+lime, fruit punch, watermelon, and lemonade there is something to take anyone’s fancy.
Available at Escapade Sports (Central, Causeway Bay and Repulse Bay stores) HK$60 (10 tablets) or online at The Store Hong Kong, HK$48 (10 tablets) thestore.com.hk
High5 Zero
In addition to the standard Zero tablets (no sugar, no calories), in flavours including citrus, berry, pink grapefruit, orange and cherry and tropical, there are also ones with caffeine as well as unflavoured tablets which can be added to sports drinks to boost the electrolyte content.
Available at Escapade Sports (Central, Causeway Bay and Repulse Bay stores) HK$100 (20 tablets) or Gone Running (Wan Chai, or online at gone.run) HK$95
ORS hydration tablets
Based on the standard oral rehydration salts formula, providing a balanced combination of glucose, salts and electrolytes. Available in three flavours: lemon, blackcurrant and strawberry.
Available at The Store Hong Kong, HK$42 (12 tablets), HK$55 (24 tablets) thestore.com.hk
Endurolytes Fizz
Produced by Hammer Nutrition, these claim to be superior in cramp prevention, but they are sweeter than other brands. The ingredients list shows that they contain sorbitol, an artificial sweetener.
Available at Escapade Sports (Central, Causeway Bay and Repulse Bay stores) HK$59 (13 tablets)
GU Roctane electrolyte capsules
From the maker of the popular energy gels, these capsules contain ginger root to help with nausea and stomach bloating.
Available at Gone Running (Wan Chai, or online at gone.run) HK$95 (50 capsules).
