Making your own electrolytes. - Nonequine edition.

[Polyboros2]

I work outside a lot sweating, and drinking electrolytes are a necessity. However it's ricockulous how much they fuck you in the ass for salty water.

Gatorade is usually the cheapest, but it tastes like shit if it isn't a sugar variety. Very poor on electrolytes too. Generics are usually no better. Cost wise since you're paying for shipping the water premixed, will still probably loose out to powdered sticks.

For the powdered sticks variety, it's become kind of a trendy market with absolutely insane price tags. Liquid IV is good, not I'll only get them at Costco for ~$23 for I think 24 servings. At the grocery store you're paying $20 for 6-8. I have other people that swear by others like Nuun and Drip Drip, but bawk at the price too much. The Advanced Hydration Pedialytes are really good and I will often turn to a local generic version when I'm really sweating, but their still around the $1 per 16 oz mark.

My current go to for cheap and easy is simply Kool aid and lite salt. Lite salt is just half Sodium chloride and Potassium chloride, the majority of what's in electrolytes. In a really hot period I'll add a magnesium supplements powder which is the pricest part, but goes a long way in this mix.

Does anyone else have recommendations that are not Horse(or other animal) products. I decided to make a new thread to distance from the meme.

Currently I'm interested in drink mixes that do not have citric acid. I'm not a fan of the Kool aid, it's just cheap and readily available. Almost everything does, and it really limits the flavor profiles to citrus and citrus pairings. I'm trying out a new company I found, SALTT, that offers no citric acid or malodextrin , but it's at the typical $1/serving price point.

A friend has been getting into commercial grade flavoring. While they cost a lot, their concentration is really high too, and I may investigate using those for making electrolytes flavoring myself.

 

[herefortheactualthreads]

i drink water. salt just makes you dry and then you gotta drink more. simple as.

 

[Pierre D'Olnique]

I made basically the same thread elsewhere. Every solution I tried to mix ended up being not potable. Honey, himalayan salt, lemon juice, shaken and stirred, and it tasted like salty snot. Peach-flavored powder stuck to my throat and made it burn. I eventually settled for dissoluble tablets. No need to spend 10 minutes preparing it, no need for a 500ml bottle, just dump it in a glass of water and chug that, twice or thrice a day. A package of 20 costs as much as two gatorades.

 

[TheOtherSideofMakeBelieve]

A little bit of vinegar is nice to add, or you could keep a bottle of pickle juice in your cooler along with your water and take a sip or two with each bottle of water you drink, it already has salt in it. You could probably add a bit of potassium salt to it. The vinegar really helps with cramps if that's an issue you have. Personally I start getting foot/toe cramps once I get home after a long day of hot outdoor work and pickle juice fixes them so fast it feels like there's no way it's even had time to do anything. I do enjoy the dill and the vinegar but obviously that's not going to be for everyone, if you don't want the citric acid then you might not want the acetic acid either

 

[Polyboros2]

A little bit of vinegar is nice to add, or you could keep a bottle of pickle juice in your cooler along with your water and take a sip or two with each bottle of water you drink, it already has salt in it. You could probably add a bit of potassium salt to it. The vinegar really helps with cramps if that's an issue you have. Personally I start getting foot/toe cramps once I get home after a long day of hot outdoor work and pickle juice fixes them so fast it feels like there's no way it's even had time to do anything. I do enjoy the dill and the vinegar but obviously that's not going to be for everyone

Vinegar is caustic to me. I can barely stand to be next to and open container of it. I can live with citric even though I'd line to find options without, but anything involving acetic is a no go.

 

[Yandex Captcha Solver]

I just make lemonade from concentrate bottles, add sugar, dump some salt, dump some fake salt, and I'm off to the races. When making I like to make it too salty to really enjoy while at home, but when you've been sweating for a bit, it doesn't get any tastier. Sugar is definitely welcome on a hot day, I've always felt sugar drinks did better for me than sugar-free. You could always replace sugar with stevia or some other sugar alcohol if you really want sugar free. The downside is it isn't a powered drink mix, so it's not nearly as convenient.

I was looking at using koolaid mix for drinks, but it's more frugal to just use lemon juice concentrate for how much those small packets cost anymore.

 

[Hamstirer]

Vinegar is caustic to me. I can barely stand to be next to and open container of it. I can live with citric even though I'd line to find options without, but anything involving acetic is a no go.

Are you ok with dill pickles? If so pickle juice is fantastic as a electrolyte drink after a hot day. I won't PL but I have spent most of my life doing high intensity sports in hot weather and have always had a problem with cramping afterwards. Pickle juice is the best thing I have found to help, and I can kill a whole jar the afternoon after.

Like you said, Liquid IV is good but pretty pricey, powdered Gatorade is fairly cheap but not super great, and I know a few people who swear by biolyte but I have never tried it myself.

If you are comfortable doing it, you can find vet grade IV bags for fairly cheap but I am kind of bothered by needles so I have never went through with trying them.

Edit: I forgot to add. Throwing some magnesium and some potassium supplements in can help to if you are prone to getting cramps.

 

[Drip Torch]

i drink water. salt just makes you dry and then you gotta drink more. simple as.

Water only goes so far after your sodium and potassium level drops. I work in environments for hours at a time that drain mineral levels rapidly, Water rehydrates but after a while makes electrolyte depepletion worse.

 

[herefortheactualthreads]

Water only goes so far after your sodium and potassium level drops. I work in environments for hours at a time that drain mineral levels rapidly, Water rehydrates but after a while makes electrolyte depepletion worse.

salt is in alot of foods and potassium can be gained by eating bananas. other than that i agree.

 

[Agamemnon Busmalis]

I add enough Morton Lite Salt to make the water taste slightly salty and bitter, then some sugar to make it slightly sweet, then some magnesium citrate powder until it tastes sour. Tastes like shit but works like a charm.

Morton Lite Salt is a godsend if you do intermittent fasting, but be careful because it has a lot more potassium than actual supplements. Too much salt will dehydrate you but too much potassium can kill you.

 

[Hamstirer]

salt is in alot of foods and potassium can be gained by eating bananas. other than that i agree.

Go out and do some strenuous activity for a few hours in the heat and see how long you last drinking only water.

 

[herefortheactualthreads]

Go out and do some strenuous activity for a few hours in the heat and see how long you last drinking only water.

*laughs in cristiano ronaldo*

 

[Drip Torch]

salt is in alot of foods and potassium can be gained by eating bananas. other than that i agree.

The issue I have with bananas is they don't travel well in my gear, getting hot, smashed and brown before I need to eat it. So portability is an issue. Any food I need during work has to survive extreme conditions. Granola with extra salt or salted peanuts is my go too as those foods pack well and survive being banged around by gear. I can only carry so much water too, though how far I can go and how long I can remain in normal work conditions depends on the amount of water I can carry.
I try to load my system with minerals and water before I start work. Watching sodium intake during meals helps to negate excess sodium intake lessening the effect initial mineral loss, as your body is more interested in taking up salts than trying to process.
It's a balancing act to carry enough food, water and minerals, work efficiently and not hurt yourself.

 

[Polyboros2]

If you are comfortable doing it, you can find vet grade IV bags for fairly cheap but I am kind of bothered by needles so I have never went through with trying them.

Lmao I'm just trying to make salty water tastier and maybe cheaper, I don't need to go that far.

Also I absolutely abhor pickles

 

[herefortheactualthreads]

Also I absolutely abhor pickles

Chris-Chan is that you bro?

 

[Hamstirer]

Lmao I'm just trying to make salty water tastier and maybe cheaper, I don't need to go that far.

Haha I completely understand , I just wanted to throw it out there.
Overall it you want a cheap option you can probably get some of the Gatorade power tubs and supplement it with extra salt, potassium, and magnesium.



And there is always the option of the 4chan horse electrolytes.

Also I absolutely abhor pickles

I simply can't trust a person that doesn't enjoy pickles.

 

[Hamstirer]

laughs in cristiano ronaldo*

Is that one of those poofters that chases a ball down a field and falls down when he sees people near him?

 

[powdered toast]

When my household is sick in a way that requires rehydration I make my own solution based on the WHO directions for 3rd world children who would die of diarrhea due to lack of IV hydration.

For a liter of water add 6 tsp sugar and 1/2 tsp table salt. I also add some cranberry juice and a squirt of lemon juice to make it more palatable.

 

[147573952589676412927]

On the farm we drink this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switchel

Water, Molasses, A little bit of apple cider vinegar, Lemon Juice, little bit of salt.
It's often called "Haymaker's Punch" and is not only full of electrolytes but also the long-chain carbohydrates from the molasses gives you a ton of energy all day.

If it's a "slow" day (i.e. we're digging a hole all day) you can mix it with a little bit of rum (not too much, we're not trying to get drunk) to get a bit of a loosey-goosey-kinda-boosty.

 

[Magicicada_septendecula]

I did the snake diet for a while and the guy who came up with it recommends a concoction of water, salt, potassium chloride (No Salt or Nu-Salt), and food grade Epsom salt for magnesium. It tastes terrible, but keeps you from dying when you fast for several days. It also makes a great hangover prevention or cure.