Sweat, or perspiration, is the primary means that humans use to cool themselves through the use of evaporative cooling. Very few mammals actually use perspiration as a cooling mechanism: in fact, other than a few primates, horses are the only mammals that use perspiration to cool down.
Sweat is 99% water. Dissolved in each liter of this water are the following minerals:
- Sodium 900mg
- Potassium 200 mg
- Calcium 15 mg
- Magnesium 1.3 mg
This means that perspiration has a much lower concentration of electrolytes than does blood. Still, as we sweat, we are not only losing water, but a lot of key electrolytes. If you are sweating heavily, you are losing more than just water, and that needs to be replaced. If you aren’t sweating heavily, then you shouldn’t have a lot of these because too many electrolytes is just as bad as not enough of them, especially if you have high blood pressure or heart failure.
There are a ton of electrolyte drinks out there: Gatorade is perhaps the most well known, but there is also Pedialyte, as well as a plethora of others. My biggest issue with many of these drinks is that they also contain an incredible amount of sugar. That’s why I only drink the zero sugar versions of these.
Gatorade has the electrolytes, but also comes with a lot of sugar. It carries 2 grams of sugar, 13.3mg of Sodium and 4.2mg of Potassium per ounce. I only drink these when I am exerting myself, and even then, I only drink the zero sugar versions. Cost is about 65 cents for a 16 ounce serving.
Liquid IV is a powder that is mixed with 16 ounces of water. When mixed, it carries 0.7 grams of sugar, 31mg of Sodium, and 23 mg of Potassium per ounce as mixed. I haven’t tried this one, but I know a lot of people who swear by it. Cost is $1.38 per 16 ounce serving.
LMNT (pronounced “element”) is another powder. It has 0.8g of sugar,16.5 mg of Sodium, and 12.5mg of Potassium per ounce as mixed. Cost is $1.30 per 16 ounce serving. I have never tried it, but I have seen advertising for it.
Pedialyte is a powder that is designed to replace electrolytes in children. It has about 0.675g of sugar, 16.25mg of Sodium, and 11.25mg of Potassium per mixed ounce. Cost is about $2 for a 16 ounce serving. I know that there are some athletes that like this stuff, but I hear that it tastes like armpit sweat.
I drink Gatoraid zero or another drink called Propel. I think they did well for me because my electrolytes were just a tiny bit low when I was in the hospital. Had I been drinking water, they would have been much lower, due to perspiration losses.
The disclaimer: I don’t advertise, and receive nothing for my reviews or articles. I don’t think that I ever will. I have no relationship with any products, companies, or vendors that I review here, other than being a customer. If I ever *DO* have a financial interest, I will disclose it. Otherwise, I pay what you would pay. No discounts or other incentives here. I only post these things because I think that my readers would be interested.
14 Comments
beans · May 21, 2025 at 11:10 pm
I’ve had good success with dill pickle juice. Cold, cut with some water maybe.
The sports drinks are okay for heavy sweating periods, but when I’ve drunk them I’ve always made sure to use the lighter colored ones as upchucking dark purple sports drink will stain just about anything not colored 100% black. Favorite was some kiwi-something flavored. Not bad, not staining.
Craig · May 22, 2025 at 6:38 am
Another good use for dill pickle juice is to get the gasoline taste out of your mouth when siphoning gasoline.
SiG · May 22, 2025 at 6:55 am
On Pedialyte, “I know that there are some athletes that like this stuff, but I hear that it tastes like armpit sweat.”
Not sure I’ve ever read such a ringing endorsement, but I’ll never forget that. Thanks!
Years ago, like in the late 1990s, my wife and I took off for century bike ride on our own, nothing official. Late 1990s means we were both in our mid to late 50s. “Century” here means 100 miles, not 100km. The trick was we did it on the 4th of July. That was, well, stupid.
No, we didn’t need hospitalization, but it was ice and Gatorade at every stop – basically every hour of riding. Rubbing ice into my hair, and on my arms. My dominant memory of that day, though, is the looks we got when we passed a bunch of guys doing road work, hot black “tar” on a day with a “feels like” temp over 100. I’ve never seen so many “are you crazy?” looks in one place.
SiG · May 22, 2025 at 10:35 am
D’oh! Didn’t notice I hit a wrong key. We were in our mid 40’s not 50s.
xGator · May 22, 2025 at 7:23 am
I lived in FL in the mid-70s – went to UF in Gainesville where I believe Gatorade was first developed. It had a far different (better, “cleaner”) flavor then – still the green stuff – but I suspect the rights to the drink got sold and someone decided to add way too much sugar for broader appeal and increased sales. Marketing people are just about as bad as politicians.
Divemedic · May 22, 2025 at 12:04 pm
I do remember Gatoraid in the glass bottles when the only flavor was green- and it DID taste a lot better then than it does now.
Elrod · May 22, 2025 at 7:39 am
20 years ago, when I lived not far from where you are, I did what SiG did, at about the same age he was when he did it – long bike rides. The distances were controlled by the amount of fluid I could carry on the bike – one liter would last 9 miles. I carried 5, 2 of pedialyte and 3 of water, one of each frozen. Did a century several times, but hit convenience stores along the route to reload (none of which carried Pedialyte, but they did have water and Gatorade in the coolers).
I’d hit the road as soon as it was light enough to see (and be seen) to avoid as much of the heat and sun as I could. More than once I broke off in the middle of a ride and took the shortest route home because I realized I was losing fluid faster than I could take it in, and right on the edge of severe overheating – at ~18-25 MPH the air movement evaporated sweat fast enough you felt fine….right up until you weren’t fine anymore, and that was when the accumulating fluid deficit would hit.
It’s tough to force yourself to take in enough fluid until it’s *almost* too late. When you start experiencing heat symptoms it’s too late, unless you immediately take action – cooler environment, near-zero activity and LOTS more fluids, especially fluids with the right electrolyte balance. And allocate enough recovery time to allow the body to begin recovery; doing the “Mike Macho” thing and pushing on will, if you’re lucky, will take you to your knees. If you’re >not lucky, at least it will be nice and cool in the drawer at the coroner’s office.
Himself · May 22, 2025 at 7:42 am
So I’m wondering how these people know what armpit sweat tastes like.
TLF · May 22, 2025 at 10:58 am
There’s a zero sugar version of Liquid IV, too, with 5g carbs and the same amount of sodium and potassium (roughly) per 16-oz serving. Costco sells 26-packs relatively cheaply.
JNorth · May 22, 2025 at 12:56 pm
I’ve tried the LMNT, looking at the others being about the same on sodium so it’s probably due to the much lower sugar but man does taste like just salt water. I normally just drink G0, I wish I could get Pocari Sweat but I haven’t seen that since I was stationed in Japan.
Slow Joe Crow · May 22, 2025 at 2:08 pm
I use Nuun tablets a lot for long bike rides. They are a fizzy tab that tastes OK and has no sugar. Otherwise we use sugar free Powerade or Gatorade when it’s really hot. Central Oregon is semi desert so you stay cooler even in 100 degree heat, but you need to keep drinking
Gryphon · May 22, 2025 at 3:21 pm
“Original” Gatorade may have had a little bit of Sugar, but like almost all Carbonated ‘Sodas’ the Sugar got replaced by Corn Syrup (which is now flooded with ‘Agent Orange”, a.k.a. Roundup) because of the Subsidies to ‘Big Ag’ corporations. You are correct in looking for sugarless Drinks, but read that Label closely; it may say “Sugar Free” but likely has Corn Syrup in it.
And Horses Sweat like Crazy. My 2,000+ Pound Dutch Warmbloods have Salt on their Fur by the end of the Day, without being put to Work for anything. I put out 5, 50-Pound Salt Blocks in the Shed, and the Gnaw on them like Termites.
Dan D. · May 22, 2025 at 7:05 pm
I’ll add some noise to the signal here. In the past two months of working out like a crazoid I’ve started slurping pickle juice. So I recently bought a case of the LMNT drink and it really does satisfy my craving plus it has the taste of fake watermelon or something akin to an African fruit I’ve never heard of.
If you’re really up against the clock and can’t IV someone who is likely to crash, my go-to kit is the WHO oral rehydration salt packs. They taste terrible (much like the thinking of the WHO themselves!) so you know it has to be good.
Unknownsailor · May 22, 2025 at 7:30 pm
I used to be a firearm training junkie, and staying ahead of dehydration is always a challenge when at a class standing on a range doing drills in hot weather. Getting behind can lead to brain farts in weapons handling, and potential unsafe actions, leading to sit downs or being asked to leave the class.
CamelBak used to make Nuun type tablets that were great, and not as sugary as Gatorade. If I use Gatorade (the sugared kind) I always cut it with 50% water, and I’m constantly sipping on my hydration bladder through the day. I’ve come close to heat related injury once, and it was at a class at Casa Grande, AZ in the summer, 130 degrees ground temp, with about 110 ambient. It was HOT.
I’ve been stationed at Okinawa twice, and summer there is no joke, well over 90 with 90% humidity. Black Flag conditions by 10AM some times.