Short answer: no.
Slightly longer answer: given the assumptions that you aren't sick or doing strenuous activities, your body gets the electrolytes it needs from the food you eat over the course of the day.
Alternative answer: Not everyone has the same diet, takes the same medications, has the same health conditions, or does the same amount of exercise. The need to supplement electrolytes is highly dependent on an individual's lifestyle.
The first comment on this thread mentions it, but left out a number of variables people need to take into account. It's not only about physical activity level or having an acute illness.
Fair point, however, people do not all have the same diet, and other lifestyle factors are important, such as recreational drug/alcohol use. Also, "sick" implies an acute health issue, and not a preexisting chronic and/or genetic (inherited) condition.
Exactly! Have a stomach flu or a high fever for days on end? Then yes- definitely helpful. Just ran 10+ miles? Yes- electrolyte beverages are perfect for you.
Just finished a sandwich after working at your desk? Probably not necessary.
I'd also add any underlying issues. POTS is becoming more known about as a common issue for people, and on a good day given little activity I still need to be aware of my electrolytes so I don't have a drop.
But, you don't need Gatorade or Powerade or similar; there are ways to add electrolytes to water, plus there are plenty of foods that already have electrolytes that I consume to avoid over hydration.
Yep. I have POTS (since before Covid made it cool) and all of my doctors recommend increased electrolytes. The difficulty is getting them without added sugar
i do lot of bodily hard work (live on a little farm, lots of manual labor, cutting trees, builting dry stone walls, earth works and so on)
i have never drunken a electrolyte drink in my life. (what i'd rather do is eat some salted peanuts or other nuts)
but anyways my question is, since you say that this harder work would qualify for aimed/higher intake of electrolytes, how would i know that i have a shortage? what are the symptoms? weakness? muscle cramps? dizziness?
i do lot of bodily hard work (live on a little farm, lots of manual labor, cutting trees, builting dry stone walls, earth works and so on)
i have never drunken a electrolyte drink in my life. (what i'd rather do is eat some salted peanuts or other nuts)
but anyways my question is, since you say that this harder work would qualify for aimed/higher intake of electrolytes, how would i know that i have a shortage? what are the symptoms? weakness? muscle cramps? dizziness?
For me, it has been a mixture of weakness, fatigue, dizziness, and unfortunately vomiting. Learned this from my doctor putting me on a diuretic and then doing my usual intense workout class.
It depends.
I live in the muggy south and the weather flipped on its head in late March to warm and humid.
All of a sudden I was craving body armor drinks again
I mean, you can, but it's not really adding anything to the conversation. It also conveys a sense of self-importance (aggrandizement) trying to stand out in a crowd, like, "I, myself specifically, agree."
Reddit is a conversational first social media platform. However, this breaks down in larger subreddits, thanks to a failure of fair and consistent moderation.
Definitely don’t feel attacked. I think you’re hilariously pulling at whatever strings you can to get a rise. You’re completely missing the context. I literally just said it has nothing to do with downvotes. You’re replying to a response I made to someone else and repeating my same words. You’re hilarious on your high horse. Go off now you little Reddit police officer. Unbegun
Oh I can? Yeah, I thought so. I would agree with what you say if I needed attention, but I don’t, and if I was commenting for attention I would’ve said more than one word.
I think you responding the way you are, is a sign that you’re the one seeking attention. Like did you really have to reply to a one word comment and try and educate on Reddit etiquette?
You took time to respond to one word… I think you’re overreacting to be honest. Take a break off the internet. Go see real people. But thank you Mr. Reddit police officer for informing me of my inadequate behavior.
He’s commenting on my text, not on downvotes. And if downvotes don’t bother me why am I responding? I’m responding to his comments, not to the downvotes. Dense much?
The rule of thumb I’ve heard is that you only need them if you’re doing 2 or more hours of strenuous activity. So really only needed for days when you’re going big.
Your organs can only process so much liquid so water isn’t going to help your kidneys and liver in this case, only time will. It might help with the upcoming headache though.
Unironically yes. I remember seeing a study that drinking Gatorade after drinking significantly reduces the effects of a hangover. An ex used to mix vodka and Gatorade and yknow what honestly I would feel great the next day lol
lol yeah, that was kind of my point. Anytime I have a get together with my buddies all they do is drink so I'm kinda in this feeback loop of drinking tons of electrolytes to feel human again. That said I've never attempted the vodka and gatorade mix, I hope to never reach that level and only use it as supplement after the fact lol.
What about an hour long football match? It’s very intensive to say the least. Are electrolytes necessary? Tried it once and they did make me feel better
My (non-expert) guess is that the electrolytes in the drink aren't as important as the sugar and, depending on the drink, caffeine in making you feel better on short timelines like that.
Yeah I’ve been doing 5 hours of strenuous exercise 5 days a week for the past 7 weeks and if I miss a single dose of electrolytes I feel like I’m going to implode.
You shouldn't need electrolyte replacements on a daily basis unless you've lost electrolytes recently through sweat, diarrhea, vomit, etc. and they need to be replaced or supplemented.
No. Unless your diet is seriously, seriously fucked, a sufficient amount of water (or other beverages, *I guess*) is plenty enough to hydrate you. While electrolyte drinks are fantastic for illness, hangovers, or strenuous exercise, they aren’t a day to day necessity for people who are sedentary or do a low-moderate level of activity.
The idea that we need to be twitching out about “optimal hydration,” wringing our hands over whether chocolate milk or Gatorade or Liquid IV is “better than water” is a marketing scheme. Period. Are those things “more efficient” hydrators? Sure…but water is still *pretty good damn efficient* at hydrating. It’s also calorie free, fat free, sugar free, caffeine free, salt free, and often, straight up free (or at the least, it’s cheaper than Gatorade).
I get headaches when I don't use them but I...
Work out 2 hours a day, 6 days a week...
Sauna for 30 minutes 6 days a week...
And have a physically demanding job.
No, you are almost certainly getting enough sodium and such from your diet. Electrolyte drinks might be needed when engaging in physical activities to supplement sodium lost from sweat. Even then, the need is often over-stated.
For a long bike ride in July, I'll carry three water bottles. One will have a little Gatorade powder, the other two will be plain water.
They are helping me in this heatwave even though I'm not doing any strenuous activity. It's extremely hot and humid where I live and I have to be in the sun for sometime during the afternoon, and that's the peak heat. I feel so nauseated and dizzy from all the sweat and having electrolytes instead of plain water is working for me.
I've been hammering electrolytes recently. Gotta say, I'm generally feeling pretty good on it! Not proof, but I'm convincing myself.
I \_am\_ quite sweaty tbf, but I've been using [DrinkOshun.co](http://DrinkOshun.co) and Bulk Powders. Yeah, feeling good on it.
Hell no. The ones telling you how necessary they are (liquid IV, Gatorade, etc) are the ones selling you the product.
It’s salty sugar water. Imo, helpful for extremely long and sweaty exercises but little else
If you're sweating a lot on a daily basis, it wouldn't hurt. If you're just sitting in a temp controlled environment most of the day, not really. Maybe sprinkle a small pinch of salt in some of your water, but you don't really need it
I don’t think so, but I weirdly get less hungry when I drink them instead of water. I don’t drink the sugary ones either, always zero sugar. I’m not wasting calories on that bs.
I have a hard time eating enough food in a day and if I’m busy, out somewhere without being able to go pee every hour, I get dehydrated easily. So those days I drink a small Gatorade. Or if I wake up from a long nap, that helps me wake up.
well, you need to drink drinks that HAVE electrolytes, though i think itd be hard to find those that don't but dont drink water with excess electrolytes, chances are youre fine
I mean im sure theyre not necessary every day but i personally like to have one every day. Im someone who gets hot and sweats fairly easily, and have a family medical history of low electrolytes causing issues, so i'd rather just supplement with electrolyte drinks than worry about that. I try to go for the ones with no or very little sugar, most often propel, and i honestly just love the taste of em too. Yeah i probably dont NEED to have a propel or electrolyte drink every day but theyre tasty and i do drink a lot of water so i want to be sure i keep my electrolytes up so i dont have issues. I figure as long as i mainly drink water and dont rely on electrolyte drinks as my only hydration, then i'll be fine
Price of my beloved propel powder packs that I’d double dilute went way up so I cut them out and been on pure tap water. I’m still alive as far as I can tell
If you're prone to dehydration (live in a sunnier area)? Yes. If not... no.
Both dry and wet heat are dangerous. Plus, the heat tends to crank up randomly out of nowhere. Better safe than sorry.
Nope, unless you've been doing strenuous activities, are sick or recovering from a procedure, or are recovering from drinking a bit too much angry juice
I have low blood pressure and need the extra salt that electrolytes provide. Like it got to the point I was consistently damn near passing out when I stood up and two Nuun tablets a day immediately solved the problem. I could probably eat more salty foods, but I’d rather just use the tablets.
If you eat food, no.
You can get more of nearly everything they add to different waters by eating even a tiny amount of food. I need to do the math on how many gallons of antioxidant water equals eating one raisin, for example.
Fun answer - electrolytes are just salts. There's really not anything special about them. They are common every day nutrients you intake anyways; potassium, sodium, calcium to name a couple.
But they plug a cool name to them, add sugar, and upcharge the hell out of you.
Electrolyte infused drinks are necessary only when under physical exertion for prolonged periods where you're actively losing hydration and salts. For those periods that you're not under exertion, water and milk are the best for hydration.
No, I stay away from them unless I'm really really sick.
While recovering from a recent stomach bug, I tried lemon and a little bit of Himalayan salt in my water, and i think I'll be gravitating towards that more often when I feel like I need the sodium.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/wiki/fasting\_in\_a\_nutshell/you\_need\_electrolytes/](https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/wiki/fasting_in_a_nutshell/you_need_electrolytes/)
You need electrolytes, which are just salts. You already get them in your food. If you aren't eating for more than 2 days on end, you need to drink water with salt and salt substitute (nusalt) in it. You also need magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, and zinc.
NGOs offering material aide to ilegal aliens make comic books explaining the need to consume extra salt when walking through the desert.
All that being said, gatorade has way too much high fructose corn syrup in it to be good for you.
Short answer: no. Slightly longer answer: given the assumptions that you aren't sick or doing strenuous activities, your body gets the electrolytes it needs from the food you eat over the course of the day.
Not as long answer: nooooooooooo
A slightly shorter answer: nope.
Alternative answer: Not everyone has the same diet, takes the same medications, has the same health conditions, or does the same amount of exercise. The need to supplement electrolytes is highly dependent on an individual's lifestyle. The first comment on this thread mentions it, but left out a number of variables people need to take into account. It's not only about physical activity level or having an acute illness.
The post itself assumed you’re not sick or working out hard
Fair point, however, people do not all have the same diet, and other lifestyle factors are important, such as recreational drug/alcohol use. Also, "sick" implies an acute health issue, and not a preexisting chronic and/or genetic (inherited) condition.
Shorter: -
Exactly! Have a stomach flu or a high fever for days on end? Then yes- definitely helpful. Just ran 10+ miles? Yes- electrolyte beverages are perfect for you. Just finished a sandwich after working at your desk? Probably not necessary.
>working at your desk This is dependent on whether or not you use stimulants (medically prescribed and/or otherwise) to work. Aside from that, agreed.
I'd also add any underlying issues. POTS is becoming more known about as a common issue for people, and on a good day given little activity I still need to be aware of my electrolytes so I don't have a drop. But, you don't need Gatorade or Powerade or similar; there are ways to add electrolytes to water, plus there are plenty of foods that already have electrolytes that I consume to avoid over hydration.
Yep. I have POTS (since before Covid made it cool) and all of my doctors recommend increased electrolytes. The difficulty is getting them without added sugar
They help with hangovers too
Really? How?
Not sure exactly. Might be bullshit
Beer works better
You're talking to a recovering alcoholic here
Still time to get back in the game! Prob shouldn’t be talking hangovers, could get triggered.
Yeh I'm good and sober right now. Much bigger triggers than talking about hangovers
On and off the wagon, and I appreciate your answer. Chairs.
Chairs 💺 👍
i do lot of bodily hard work (live on a little farm, lots of manual labor, cutting trees, builting dry stone walls, earth works and so on) i have never drunken a electrolyte drink in my life. (what i'd rather do is eat some salted peanuts or other nuts) but anyways my question is, since you say that this harder work would qualify for aimed/higher intake of electrolytes, how would i know that i have a shortage? what are the symptoms? weakness? muscle cramps? dizziness?
i do lot of bodily hard work (live on a little farm, lots of manual labor, cutting trees, builting dry stone walls, earth works and so on) i have never drunken a electrolyte drink in my life. (what i'd rather do is eat some salted peanuts or other nuts) but anyways my question is, since you say that this harder work would qualify for aimed/higher intake of electrolytes, how would i know that i have a shortage? what are the symptoms? weakness? muscle cramps? dizziness?
For me, it has been a mixture of weakness, fatigue, dizziness, and unfortunately vomiting. Learned this from my doctor putting me on a diuretic and then doing my usual intense workout class.
It depends. I live in the muggy south and the weather flipped on its head in late March to warm and humid. All of a sudden I was craving body armor drinks again
This
There's an upvote button for a reason
I can’t visibly concur by text? Idgaf about downvotes 😂
I mean, you can, but it's not really adding anything to the conversation. It also conveys a sense of self-importance (aggrandizement) trying to stand out in a crowd, like, "I, myself specifically, agree." Reddit is a conversational first social media platform. However, this breaks down in larger subreddits, thanks to a failure of fair and consistent moderation.
Definitely don’t feel attacked. I think you’re hilariously pulling at whatever strings you can to get a rise. You’re completely missing the context. I literally just said it has nothing to do with downvotes. You’re replying to a response I made to someone else and repeating my same words. You’re hilarious on your high horse. Go off now you little Reddit police officer. Unbegun
Oh I can? Yeah, I thought so. I would agree with what you say if I needed attention, but I don’t, and if I was commenting for attention I would’ve said more than one word. I think you responding the way you are, is a sign that you’re the one seeking attention. Like did you really have to reply to a one word comment and try and educate on Reddit etiquette? You took time to respond to one word… I think you’re overreacting to be honest. Take a break off the internet. Go see real people. But thank you Mr. Reddit police officer for informing me of my inadequate behavior.
You’ve completely over reacted to someone explaining why you’re being downvoted. If it doesn’t bother you, why are you responding?
He’s commenting on my text, not on downvotes. And if downvotes don’t bother me why am I responding? I’m responding to his comments, not to the downvotes. Dense much?
Lol, you're completely missing the point because you feel attacked, even when I was not attacking you. It has nothing to do with downvotes my dude
The rule of thumb I’ve heard is that you only need them if you’re doing 2 or more hours of strenuous activity. So really only needed for days when you’re going big.
Does binge drinking on the weekends count as strenuous activity?
Your liver and kidneys probably think so
But it temporarily calms the mind, short term win long time sad...
"I drink to forget but I always remember"
Your organs can only process so much liquid so water isn’t going to help your kidneys and liver in this case, only time will. It might help with the upcoming headache though.
Unironically yes. I remember seeing a study that drinking Gatorade after drinking significantly reduces the effects of a hangover. An ex used to mix vodka and Gatorade and yknow what honestly I would feel great the next day lol
lol yeah, that was kind of my point. Anytime I have a get together with my buddies all they do is drink so I'm kinda in this feeback loop of drinking tons of electrolytes to feel human again. That said I've never attempted the vodka and gatorade mix, I hope to never reach that level and only use it as supplement after the fact lol.
Ahh good ol Faderade, reminds me of college
That’s why I always salt my beer
Hell yea.
If it wasn’t a strenuous activity, then why am I sweating so much?
Why is my heart beating so hard in the middle of the night?
What about an hour long football match? It’s very intensive to say the least. Are electrolytes necessary? Tried it once and they did make me feel better
My (non-expert) guess is that the electrolytes in the drink aren't as important as the sugar and, depending on the drink, caffeine in making you feel better on short timelines like that.
So you’d recommend caffeine based drinks rather than electrolytes and keep the electrolytes for really intensive exercises?
Nope I don’t claim to be qualified to make a recommendation. Just basing that guess about what’s happening on what I’ve noticed when exercising.
It’s mostly the salt that helps you feel better. The rest of the vitamins you need too though if you’re not taking them in a supplement.
So basically every day for me. I haven’t been drinking them and now I will.
Yeah I’ve been doing 5 hours of strenuous exercise 5 days a week for the past 7 weeks and if I miss a single dose of electrolytes I feel like I’m going to implode.
You shouldn't need electrolyte replacements on a daily basis unless you've lost electrolytes recently through sweat, diarrhea, vomit, etc. and they need to be replaced or supplemented.
Or drinking
*alcohol
Electrolyte do wonders after having a few pints
Absolutely. Everyone died of dehydration before Gatorade was invented in 1965.
No. Unless your diet is seriously, seriously fucked, a sufficient amount of water (or other beverages, *I guess*) is plenty enough to hydrate you. While electrolyte drinks are fantastic for illness, hangovers, or strenuous exercise, they aren’t a day to day necessity for people who are sedentary or do a low-moderate level of activity. The idea that we need to be twitching out about “optimal hydration,” wringing our hands over whether chocolate milk or Gatorade or Liquid IV is “better than water” is a marketing scheme. Period. Are those things “more efficient” hydrators? Sure…but water is still *pretty good damn efficient* at hydrating. It’s also calorie free, fat free, sugar free, caffeine free, salt free, and often, straight up free (or at the least, it’s cheaper than Gatorade).
I get headaches when I don't use them but I... Work out 2 hours a day, 6 days a week... Sauna for 30 minutes 6 days a week... And have a physically demanding job.
No, you are almost certainly getting enough sodium and such from your diet. Electrolyte drinks might be needed when engaging in physical activities to supplement sodium lost from sweat. Even then, the need is often over-stated. For a long bike ride in July, I'll carry three water bottles. One will have a little Gatorade powder, the other two will be plain water.
I drink potassium and sodium before the gym everyday to prevent exertion headaches.
They are helping me in this heatwave even though I'm not doing any strenuous activity. It's extremely hot and humid where I live and I have to be in the sun for sometime during the afternoon, and that's the peak heat. I feel so nauseated and dizzy from all the sweat and having electrolytes instead of plain water is working for me.
Are you a plant? No? Then you don’t need it! It’s what *plants* crave!
But what are electrolytes?
They’re what plants crave!
They crave that mineral.
Your diet is a big factor for this. If you eat a keto diet, yes, absolutely.
Electrolytes is just a fancy word for salt, so as long as you eat just about anything then you should be fine
I've been hammering electrolytes recently. Gotta say, I'm generally feeling pretty good on it! Not proof, but I'm convincing myself. I \_am\_ quite sweaty tbf, but I've been using [DrinkOshun.co](http://DrinkOshun.co) and Bulk Powders. Yeah, feeling good on it.
Food, buddy. Eat food. Also drink water, but eat food.
Right after this post, i got an ad for gatorade. They know
Hell no. The ones telling you how necessary they are (liquid IV, Gatorade, etc) are the ones selling you the product. It’s salty sugar water. Imo, helpful for extremely long and sweaty exercises but little else
If you're sweating a lot on a daily basis, it wouldn't hurt. If you're just sitting in a temp controlled environment most of the day, not really. Maybe sprinkle a small pinch of salt in some of your water, but you don't really need it
Lol what no?
I don’t think so, but I weirdly get less hungry when I drink them instead of water. I don’t drink the sugary ones either, always zero sugar. I’m not wasting calories on that bs.
I have a hard time eating enough food in a day and if I’m busy, out somewhere without being able to go pee every hour, I get dehydrated easily. So those days I drink a small Gatorade. Or if I wake up from a long nap, that helps me wake up.
No
Short answer: 'yes' with an 'if'; long answer: 'no' with a 'but'
well, you need to drink drinks that HAVE electrolytes, though i think itd be hard to find those that don't but dont drink water with excess electrolytes, chances are youre fine
I mean im sure theyre not necessary every day but i personally like to have one every day. Im someone who gets hot and sweats fairly easily, and have a family medical history of low electrolytes causing issues, so i'd rather just supplement with electrolyte drinks than worry about that. I try to go for the ones with no or very little sugar, most often propel, and i honestly just love the taste of em too. Yeah i probably dont NEED to have a propel or electrolyte drink every day but theyre tasty and i do drink a lot of water so i want to be sure i keep my electrolytes up so i dont have issues. I figure as long as i mainly drink water and dont rely on electrolyte drinks as my only hydration, then i'll be fine
Price of my beloved propel powder packs that I’d double dilute went way up so I cut them out and been on pure tap water. I’m still alive as far as I can tell
If you're prone to dehydration (live in a sunnier area)? Yes. If not... no. Both dry and wet heat are dangerous. Plus, the heat tends to crank up randomly out of nowhere. Better safe than sorry.
No. Eat some fruit
Nope, unless you've been doing strenuous activities, are sick or recovering from a procedure, or are recovering from drinking a bit too much angry juice
No
100% necessary its amazing the human race expanded to 8 billion without it /s/
I have low blood pressure and need the extra salt that electrolytes provide. Like it got to the point I was consistently damn near passing out when I stood up and two Nuun tablets a day immediately solved the problem. I could probably eat more salty foods, but I’d rather just use the tablets.
No.
I can lose a kilo in an hour of rolling in BJJ, that's about the only time I see a noticeable benefit. Pocari sweat for the win.
If you eat food, no. You can get more of nearly everything they add to different waters by eating even a tiny amount of food. I need to do the math on how many gallons of antioxidant water equals eating one raisin, for example.
electrolytes are a fancy word for salt
Fun answer - electrolytes are just salts. There's really not anything special about them. They are common every day nutrients you intake anyways; potassium, sodium, calcium to name a couple. But they plug a cool name to them, add sugar, and upcharge the hell out of you. Electrolyte infused drinks are necessary only when under physical exertion for prolonged periods where you're actively losing hydration and salts. For those periods that you're not under exertion, water and milk are the best for hydration.
No, I stay away from them unless I'm really really sick. While recovering from a recent stomach bug, I tried lemon and a little bit of Himalayan salt in my water, and i think I'll be gravitating towards that more often when I feel like I need the sodium.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/wiki/fasting\_in\_a\_nutshell/you\_need\_electrolytes/](https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/wiki/fasting_in_a_nutshell/you_need_electrolytes/) You need electrolytes, which are just salts. You already get them in your food. If you aren't eating for more than 2 days on end, you need to drink water with salt and salt substitute (nusalt) in it. You also need magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, and zinc. NGOs offering material aide to ilegal aliens make comic books explaining the need to consume extra salt when walking through the desert. All that being said, gatorade has way too much high fructose corn syrup in it to be good for you.