Sports Drink vs. DIY vs. Salt Tabs: How to Choose Electrolytes for Running

Quick answer: When you're choosing an electrolyte product, sodium content is the only number that really matters — everything else on the label is mostly marketing. Match the sodium to how much you actually lose in sweat (roughly 500–1,500 mg per hour for most runners, higher for salty sweaters), add carbohydrate only when the drink is also your fuel, and don't pay a premium for potassium and magnesium you barely lose. A sports drink, a tablet, a salt capsule, and a 50-cent DIY mix can all be the right answer — it depends on your number and whether you also need calories.

Walk into any running store and the electrolyte shelf is a wall of competing claims — "cellular hydration," "5 key electrolytes," "sugar-free." Almost none of it tells you the one thing you need to decide: how much sodium is in here, and is that the right amount for me? This guide cuts through it. First figure out your sodium target (we'll link you to that), then use it to pick the format that fits.

What actually matters when choosing an electrolyte drink?

Quick answer: Three things, in order: (1) sodium per serving, matched to your sweat loss; (2) whether you also need carbohydrate (fuel for efforts over ~60–90 minutes); and (3) taste, because the best electrolyte is the one you'll actually drink. Potassium, magnesium, and "proprietary blends" are a distant fourth.

Sodium dominates because it's the electrolyte you lose in by far the greatest quantity — sweat is mostly water and salt. The American College of Sports Medicine's position stand recommends a drink supplying roughly 0.5–0.7 g of sodium per liter of fluid for exercise longer than an hour, and notes this can go higher for heavy, salty sweaters [1]. Everything else on the label moves the needle far less.

How much sodium should the product have?

Quick answer: Match it to your loss. Most runners lose about 500–1,500 mg of sodium per hour in the heat, but the range spans under 400 to over 2,500 mg/hr depending on your sweat rate and how salty your sweat is [2][3]. Find your number first, then read the label in "mg per hour of use," not "mg per serving."

This is the step everyone skips. A serving size is arbitrary; what matters is how much sodium you'll take in per hour of running. Your personal sodium loss is the target — and it varies enormously between runners, which is exactly why one product can't be right for everyone. We break the math down in How Much Sodium Do You Actually Lose Running in the Heat? — start there if you don't know your number.

Representative sodium content, per manufacturer labels:

• High (heavy/salty sweaters, long hot efforts): LMNT — ~1,000 mg per packet; Precision Fuel PH 1500 — ~1,500 mg per liter.
• Moderate (typical training): Liquid I.V. — ~500 mg per stick; Gatorade Thirst Quencher — ~160 mg per 12 oz (~270 mg per 20 oz bottle).
• Low (light sweaters, short/easy sessions): Nuun Sport — ~300 mg per tablet.
• Sodium-only, no fluid or carbs: SaltStick — ~215 mg per capsule.

Notice the ~5x spread. A light sweater on an easy hour needs a very different product than a 2 L/hr salty sweater on a hot long run.

Sports drink, tablet, or salt cap — what's the difference?

Quick answer: A sports drink delivers sodium plus carbohydrate (it's fuel + hydration). A tablet or powder delivers electrolytes with little or no carbohydrate (hydration only). A salt capsule delivers sodium with no fluid or carbs — useful for topping up sodium when you're already drinking and fueling enough. Pick by what you're missing.

• Sports drinks (e.g., Gatorade): carbohydrate around 6–8% (~60 g/L), which doubles as fuel. Good when the session is long enough to need calories. The downside is you can't dial sodium and carbs independently.
• Tablets / low-carb powders (e.g., Nuun, LMNT): electrolytes without the sugar. Good for shorter sessions, low-carb athletes, or when you're getting carbs from gels/chews and just need to add fluid and sodium.
• Salt capsules (e.g., SaltStick): pure sodium (and a little potassium), no water or carbohydrate. Good for salty sweaters who already drink plenty and fuel with gels but still come up short on sodium — the cap adds salt without forcing more fluid or sugar.

Do you need the carbs, or just the electrolytes?

Quick answer: Carbs if the drink is also your fuel — efforts beyond ~60–90 minutes, or hard sessions. For anything shorter, or for pure rehydration, you want a sodium-forward, low-carb drink, which actually absorbs faster. A little glucose does help water absorption, but too much sugar slows it down.

Here's the science people get wrong. Your gut absorbs water fastest when sodium and glucose are transported together across the intestinal wall (the SGLT1 sodium-glucose cotransporter) — water follows osmotically [4][5]. That's the principle behind oral rehydration solutions, and it's why a little sugar with your sodium speeds hydration. But there's a ceiling: drinks that are too concentrated in sugar (much above ~8% carbohydrate, i.e., hypertonic) slow gastric emptying and can even pull water into the gut, leaving you feeling sloshy [4]. So:

• Fueling a long/hard run? A 6–8% carbohydrate sports drink (or gels + an electrolyte drink) gives you energy and the cotransport benefit.
• Just replacing sweat on a shorter run, or rehydrating after? Go sodium-forward and lower-carb — it empties and absorbs faster.

What about potassium, magnesium, and calcium?

Quick answer: Mostly marketing. Sodium makes up the overwhelming majority of the electrolyte you lose in sweat; potassium, magnesium, and calcium losses are small and easily covered by normal food. Don't choose a product for its long electrolyte list — choose it for the right amount of sodium.

Sweat sodium concentration runs roughly 20–80 mmol/L, while potassium is only about 4–8 mmol/L, and magnesium and calcium are trace by comparison [3]. A varied diet replaces those minor losses without a supplement. A "5-electrolyte" label isn't wrong, it's just optimizing the wrong variable. Prioritize sodium; treat the rest as a bonus, not a decision-maker.

Can you just make your own?

Quick answer: Yes — a DIY mix is cheap, and you can dial the sodium exactly to your number. The base: 1 liter of water + ¼–½ teaspoon of table salt (about 600–1,200 mg of sodium), plus sugar only if you want fuel, and citrus for taste. That's a legitimate electrolyte drink for a fraction of the cost.

A per-liter recipe you can adjust:

• 1 liter (about 4 cups) water
• ¼–½ tsp table salt → ~600 mg (¼ tsp) to ~1,200 mg (½ tsp) sodium. Start at the low end and match to your measured loss [6].
• Carbohydrate (optional, for fuel): 30–60 g sugar, honey, or maple syrup gives a ~3–6% carb drink. Skip it for pure hydration or if you're low-carb.
• Potassium (optional): a pinch (~⅛ tsp) of "Lite Salt" (potassium chloride).
• Flavor: juice of half a lemon, lime, or orange — adds taste and a little potassium.

Quick reference: 1 teaspoon of table salt is about 2,300 mg of sodium, so ¼ tsp ≈ 600 mg and ½ tsp ≈ 1,200 mg [6]. That lets you build a drink anywhere from "light sweater" to "salty sweater" precisely.

How to read an electrolyte label in 10 seconds

Quick answer: Find sodium per serving, check the serving size, then multiply out to sodium per hour at the rate you'll actually drink — and compare that to your target. Ignore the front-of-package claims; the Nutrition/Supplement Facts panel is the whole story.

1. Sodium (mg) per serving — the headline number.
2. Serving size — a "serving" might be half a scoop or two tablets; adjust accordingly.
3. Carbohydrate (g) — is this also fuel, or hydration only?
4. Do the per-hour math — e.g., one 500 mg stick per bottle, ~one bottle per hour = 500 mg/hr. Under your target? Add a salt cap or a second serving. Over it? Dilute or switch.

Where Mealvana fits

This whole decision hinges on one input: your personal sodium and fluid target — and it shifts with your sweat rate, the weather, and how long you're out, so any label can only ever give you a generic guess. The Mealvana Endurance app takes the guesswork out: it calculates your personalized during-workout sodium (mg/hr) and fluid (ml/hr) numbers from your sweat profile, adjusted for the day's heat and humidity — how much you actually need, down to the milligram. Download the Mealvana Endurance app to get your exact targets, and picking (or mixing) the right electrolyte becomes simple: you know precisely what you're aiming for.

This article is educational and not medical advice. If you have high blood pressure, kidney issues, or another condition affecting sodium balance, talk to your doctor before increasing sodium intake.

Key takeaways

• Sodium is the deciding number — match the product to your personal loss (~500–1,500 mg/hr for most runners, more for salty sweaters) [1][2][3].
• Read labels in "mg per hour of use," not per serving, and compare to your target.
• Carbs = fuel. Use a 6–8% sports drink when you need calories; go sodium-forward and low-carb for shorter runs and pure rehydration [4].
• A little glucose speeds water absorption (sodium-glucose cotransport), but too much sugar slows it down [4][5].
• Potassium/magnesium are minor — don't choose on the electrolyte count [3].
• DIY works: 1 L water + ¼–½ tsp salt (600–1,200 mg sodium) ± sugar ± citrus, dialed to your number [6].

References

1. American College of Sports Medicine. Position Stand: Exercise and Fluid Replacement. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2007. journals.lww.com/acsm-msse
2. Baker LB. Sweating Rate and Sweat Sodium Concentration in Athletes: A Review of Methodology and Intra/Interindividual Variability. Sports Medicine, 2017. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28332116
3. Barnes KA, et al. Normative data for sweating rate, sweat sodium concentration, and sweat sodium loss in athletes: an update and analysis by sport. Journal of Sports Sciences, 2019. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31230518
4. Merck Manual (Professional). Oral Rehydration Therapy — sodium-glucose cotransport, osmolality, and why very sugary drinks rehydrate poorly. merckmanuals.com
5. Potency of Oral Rehydration Solution in Inducing Fluid Absorption is Related to Glucose Concentration. Scientific Reports, 2020. nature.com/articles/s41598-020-64818-3
6. U.S. FDA. Sodium in Your Diet — table-salt sodium reference (1 tsp salt ≈ 2,300 mg sodium). fda.gov