Balancing electrolytes is important to maintain proper hydration which impacts nerve, kidney and cellular function. Because of its importance for maintaining proper cell function, there’s a lot of hype and marketing in purchasing these kinds of products. Electrolytes are essential. Of course, businesses are focused more on making money than quality and environmental impact which means as a consumer we’re often overpaying for subpar and unnecessary ingredients that are added to products. This is why reading labels is so important.

It seems like everyone is using packaged everything these days, including electrolytes. As a reminder, the convenience of packaging isn’t always the best for your body or the environment. Adding things like stevia and colors for sweetness have a negative impact on the body and can actually mimic consuming sugar even tho it’s “sugar free”. Not to mention the more packaged things we consume, the more waste goes into our planet hurting the quality of our water…which is partially why we’re supplementing things into our diet in the first place. Less is more. Let’s get back to basics, baby!

If it tastes “good” or sweet and it comes out of a package, chances are it has some artificial sweeteners or something else in it that will effect your gut health or blood sugar levels.

I highly recommend building your own electrolyte stack and taking most nutrients via food, or if you’re training and sweating a lot (you’ll likely need supplemental electrolytes here) take the supplements in the correct ratios based on how much you sweat directly in powder form to both save money and the environment from excess waste.

Salts like “real” Redmond’s salt have minerals found naturally in them, but not as much potassium and magnesium to the salt ratio that we need (which is very important when balancing electrolytes, you want to make sure there’s a balance of sodium and potassium in the body) so adding a cup of coconut water with a 1/2 tsp of salt would be a great DIY option post workout (again never a one size fits all but this will give the proper ratios based on studies).

If you need a quick and packaged option, go with LMNT raw unflavored. This is the best I’ve found so far. For best practice and stewardship of your body, stay clear of their flavored options that have added stevia.

Keep in mind consuming the American diet (and many other cultures have this issue as well) we often get enough salt on its own. Electrolyte balancing really comes from supplementing potassium, chloride, calcium and magnesium via our diet or supplements in the right ratios to the salt we consume already. Working with a naturopath that understands this is a great way to dial in your own high quality supplement stack. (I love Thorne supplements for high quality products.) A naturopath or functional medicine doctor will be able to work with you to find what is deficient in your body through various methods because everyone’s electrolyte loss is unique to your genetic makeup and deficiencies. This is not a one size fits all. You want more potassium than salt in the body (ideally 3-5:1 ratio, mixed research here but not less than 3:1 potassium to sodium respectively for a healthy person), more calcium to magnesium (ideally 2:1 ratio) check out this study to learn more about the balance of sodium/potassium—https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK234935/#!po=1.04167

There are some diseases that require close watch on your potassium & salt intake so this should absolutely be monitored by your doctor if you fall into this category. Education is power when it comes to your body. Understanding all of its functions will help you seek the appropriate guidance for what’s coming up for you in your body.