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Why electrolyte drinks like Gatorade and Pocari Sweat aren’t always beneficial
Health professionals explain who does and doesn’t benefit from electrolyte supplements and why making them at home isn’t a good idea
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Social media is filled with influencers rating electrolyte supplements or even telling followers how to make their own. But experts say many of the claims about the health benefits of these drinks need to be taken with a pinch of salt.
Electrolytes are electrically charged substances that help regulate chemical reactions in the body. In the context of hydration, they balance fluid levels inside and outside cells, says Julia Zumpano, a registered dietitian at the Cleveland Clinic in the US state of Ohio.
We lose some electrolytes through sweat, primarily sodium chloride, which is what is in table salt. Drinking too much plain water when sweating very heavily can dilute the salt in your body even further, throwing things out of balance.
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Electrolyte drinks and powders are meant to hydrate and replace lost salt. They often contain other electrolytes such as potassium and magnesium. Many also contain some form of sugar.
In general, a healthy person’s kidneys do an excellent job of keeping electrolytes in balance. Extras simply come out in your urine, says Hunter Huston, a nephrologist at Vanderbilt University in the US state of Tennessee, who also consults for a UK-based company that provides electrolyte replacement plans for endurance athletes.
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Taking an electrolyte-enriched drink just for health purposes “probably isn’t doing much”, he says.
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