The Ten Best Electrolytes for Runners of 2020, Based on a Dietitian

Great sit down. Really enjoyed this conversation. I’ve been on carnivore for a year. I cheat every so often and go on sugar binges but as a whole I stick with it and feel better in all aspects. If you guys work out a lot and dont take in carbs you need to make sure you keep up your healthy fat intake or you’ll feel sluggish.

You can buy electrolyte powder for peanuts from bulk powders or ebay. Failing that just put normal sugar and himalayan salt in Yr drinks and it will do almost same thing.

It’s estimated that 90 percent of the population is magnesium deficient and it’s pretty essential for sleep regulation.

Remembering my humble background in Pharmacology, I assure you that both concoctions are just different levels of the same rip-off. Most of what we sweat out is NaCl and KCl, everything else is negligible, at least during a 2-3-hour ride. Basically, all we need on a hot day is a pinch of salt (a source of sodium) in 500ml of water and one banana (a source of potassium) to eat sometime mid-ride. If you want to go fancy, brew 250ml of green tea, put it in a bidon, top it up with orange or grapefruit juice and add a pinch of salt. That will cost less than one tablet and it will cover all necessary nutrients and vitamins.
For a performance ride or a race, use the same drink, just add two tablespoons of honey to it and replace orange juice with mango juice. This will work better than a gel (or, rather, just like the gel, but without upsetting your stomach). The only possible drawback is that it will weigh you down 0.5 kg as opposed to the gel, which weighs next to nothing. However, water is needed anyway, and this drink is like the best of both worlds. For longer rides I take two bidons, and I have never had a bonk.
That is, of course, a recommendation for cyclists with normal sugar tolerance whose ability to use fast carbs as an energy source is not compromised.

The Aldi ones seem to be an alternative to Berrocca rather than an Electrolyte tab, hence the high Vit C, and your pee will be an interesting shade of yellow after using them continuously. Quite often the High5 Zero and SIS Hydro ones end up on sale somewhere for around £3.50 a tube. Worth keeping an eye out and stocking up, when the chance arises.

Are rather brand guaranteed to have what’s in them as what they say on the label. That’s where I do not trust supplements no governing body

Fig Newtons in a sandwich baggy with potato chips (yeah, the chips get pulverized), Accel Gels (4:1 carbs to protein), and ususally a PBJ. I don’t always eat the PBJ though. I use safety pins to attach the gels and the other stuff go in the small pockets of the camel bak. Shot blocks are great, however, each time I have used them I ended up stopping to poop.

Hi Leonard… here in Germany I bought at a Netto supermarket, 1 tube each of Magnisium, Calcium, and a multivitamin… the magnisium had 250mg pro tablet, the Calcium 500mg pro tablet and the multivitamin had Mag 112.5mg and Cal 200mg…. each tube with 17 tabs cost 55 €cents = 0,49 pence… but it’s a long way to come to safe 50%:-)… I’ll have to check the price at our Aldi

I take magnesium only at night or after a long ride, seems to stop cramps ��

I out a quarter teaspoon of tablet salt, a banana and a magnesium tablet. You’ll get all you need.

One thing I’d caution…which ever version you buy…is dilution into water. People forget that on very very long rides guzzling this stuff back that is too concentrated (or when you dont have enough pure water in between concentrated electrolyte gulps) upsets the osmotic pressure in the kidneys.

Been using Aldi tropical ones for refills when I’m out and about for convenience. Only side note is watch your urine after, it can be very misleading as the effervescent tabs make it go a wonder shade of yellow. Could be seen as dehydration. Off out in this beautiful weather now, be safe people ����

We have Aldi here in the states too. But, I can’t stress enough, B1, B6, and B12… which the cheaper one has… B1, B6, B12 taken daily will double or triple your fitness. It tripled mine.

For long runs or races, I wear a wrist band that has a pocket and store jelly beans to eat every mile after mile 5, and for fluid I drink lucozade, usually following the same pattern. Can’t use the gels because of digestion issues, but jelly beans seem OK, except when they stick to your teeth… I try to gradually eat more carbs the week leading up to the race and have a decent breakfast (4 slices of toast about 2 1/2 hours before a half marathon serves me well). It’s usually after the race that I have trouble with, I try to eat something soon after finishing but I’ve no appetite after the 13 miles so force myself to eat!

Those tablets look interesting. I get my goodies at Decathlon, especially the powder I always use is Aptonia ISO+ which contains all the stuff that helps when doing long rides, and in hot weather since I sweat quite abit this has helped me tremendously!
Example: 1-water bottle with powder, 1-water bottle without (just water), and 2-3 small pick me up snacks, will do me for a 100k ride.
Now mind you, this is ONLY when I have reached optimum weight, and endurance training!
Any money that goes towards my cycling is well worth it in my opinion.
But then again, one should use what ever works best for them…

Glad to see you are doing great:-)

Managed to grab myself a bidon thrown away by one of the Lotto Soudal riders on TDF in 2018 and what pro performance enhancing concoction was in it?

Plain old unadulterated water.

I run 1.5 miles then eat a steak. I’m lazycorrectiontry to run

What about potassium or magnesium? Which is best, potassium chloride or potassium citrate?

Wonder if Aldi in the US carries those, can anyone confirm? I’m a big fan of the Scratch Labs powder, it has a mellow taste and is made from actual fruit for the flavoring. But it is pricey at $1USD/serving.

As far as electrolytes go sodium and potassium are the important ones, the zero tabs taste nice, but the sodium and potassium levels in those are way too low to be of any use, they’re just playing it safe with very low levels as there’s a lot of confusion about salt, id just get the Aldi ones for the taste and the vit C, then add some salt substitute (Lo salt) as it contains both sodium and potassium, you’re gonna want about half a teaspoon per 500ml bison.

cream of tartar powder is potassium,so perhaps just add half a teaspoon of that to your biden.

Just add Himalayan Pink Salt or Celtic sea salt to your drink

A lot lighter than using a sports drink, although I have watch my sodium intake due to high blood PSI.

for the recreational cyclists (like 99% of the audience here are) there is no need for tablets have a water with honey, salt and lemon, or a tea or anything else none of us is professional who is training 40h/week on the bike 😉

Bring Aldi to Japan!!!! (My Mum raves about it but I told her to be wary of overly cheap meat!)

I am really struggling with constipation. It has been three weeks since I’ve had a bowel movement. What can I do? Should I be concerned? I am going to try putting salt in my water. I have been dehydrated and excessively thirsty. Thanks.

I do use those expensive tablets for my Low Carb eating plan. And get them half price as I buy 8 tubes. But that sounds like a nice bargain. I may try that Yes! cool. Thanks for the video.

I use the Nuun hydration products myself over here in The States; they’ve been very good, even on days when I just work out and not ride. (I WISH I could find them for around a dollar here, LOL!)

Since I’m a big guy myself, I sweat like a stuck pig and constantly battle with keeping hydrated. Nuun seems to do the trick, but I wouldn’t mind finding a more natural solution, as one of your other posters pointed out here in the comments.

Great content, sir! Very informative as always!

Thanks for sharing! I would imagine the Aldi products fits the needs of the vast majority of recreational cyclists and look to have a strong place in the market. The extra potassium and magnesium of the more expensive products may be beneficial, and fractionally more rapidly adsorbed by the body from solution than say a banana (potassium) and oaty flapjack (magnesium)… but that’s splitting hairs for most of us and who doesn’t enjoy ‘proper food’?! A pinch of table salt is an even cheaper alternative with an even narrower electrolyte profile… and some keen athletes will buy individual electrolytes in bulk and concoct their own balance, and even base it on their sweat composition, sweat rate, etc. But the Aldi product is good news for the customer as it’s extra competition for the market driving future improvement and value cheers Leonard!

Ever wonder why your sweat tastes salty? It’s the key component! If you start with salt but on the go you still need to drop it in

I’ve been using the Aldi ones for a few years now and just as good as the more expensive ones imo. Only thing is I haven’t been able to get any for the past couple of months as they seem to be on the list of panic buying/hoarding items so are now constantly out of stock (they were only 75p in March 2020). Strangely enough ebay is full of listings of this exact product at vastly increased prices!

I used to use the Wiggle ones until I started to make my own. A piece of lime, dash of salt and a splash of whatever juice I have laying around. I cycle around 80 km’s a day in 30 plus degree weather this time of year and it does the trick. I prefer the more natural route but a £1 does seem reasonable.

How funny! I just came in the room after making my electrolyte water, and saw you uploaded this video! I absolutely love my orange flavor electrolyte powder. That’s how it comes here, and they sell them in single packs. The one I get is 5 baht per pack, which is approx 15 cents (U.S.). I usually buy 10 packs at a time, because I do drink these two to three times a day.

First!!!!!!! You’ll need more than fancy tablets to beat me!!! ������

I ran my 4th or 5th Grandmas Marathon this year. I cramped in my left leg this year at mile 20 or 21. My leg was stiff when I finished at 4:06. Might this help?

could i take electrolytes caps and hammer gel at the same Time?

I keep kosher which limits options a little, but less than you might think. Primarily it means no chews aside from Sport Beans but watermelon sport beans are my jam. Because I often use run-walk intervals, having two sport beans each walk interval until the bag is gone is a good option for me. Lately I have been alternating that with a gel, so at 4 miles I will have a gel, then at 8 sport beans and so on, alternating. I like Nuun, but the Nuun endurance gets boring. I think a bag of pretzels late in a run would be nice but haven’t tried it yet.

I do believe eating as much high fat, high nutritional meat, is a major key to long term health. I have tried every diet one can think of. I eventually figured out, mostly all meat and fruit, butter lettuce for my 1 vegetable….along with butter and occasional melted cheese/ cheese sauces, with foods….does everything right for the body. When I tried vegetarian(included eggs, cheese and butter) and vegan, my body clearly told me meat is required after trying those for 4-6 weeks. I also tried the carnivore diet for 6 weeks. How I did it, I ate meat fat and meat broth with all meals, I rotated my meats often, rotating through every meat there is as far as I know. I take extremely solid high quality suppliments from Shaklee..especially the electrolyte supplement….which is extremely important with the carnivore diet…anyway all Shaklee products are non gmo, and go through many raw materials tests…..to make their product as pure and natural as possible…no other supplement company that I know of, does that. My body made it very clear to me, for the best long term health, fruits are required as well. Most everyone eats differently in terms of their meat, or plant food intake, but I do believe 100%, everyone should avoid grains…especially wheat…as my brother proved that is the main culprit for weight gain, as he has lost 50-60 lbs over the past 2-3 mths, and tested the grains as he was losing weight, and very quickly put back 8 lbs before quickly removing them again. Anyway, any extreme diet is wrong, our bodies and DNA codes have changed a ton, since people would eat mostly meat back in the day. The people in the world living the longest healthiest lives, eat a solid combination of meat, and fruits/some veggies, and in some cases, simple easy to digest grains, from the way they cook that. Anyway, just wanted to share that with everyone…if your eating carnivore, your destroying your long term health, its just a matter of when. Don’t do it. Peace, healing, and higher good to all of you.

I’ve tried everything. “Real” food, baby food, Tailwind, peanut butter protein balls, water, sports drink everything. But come 40km, I’m sick and puke and then its downhill from there. Even after taking an anti-nausea pill, I’m puking an hour later. Then I quit and pull out of the race. Back at camp I feel 100% fine an hour or two later. After this weekend’s hundo attempt (bailed due to nausea and who knows what), I downed 2 liters of fizzy pop, 3 chocolate milks, and some other drinks. So am I drinking too little in the run? I don’t fkin know anymore. I’m way fit enough, don’t have a single ache in my body, but my stomach/nutrition lets me down every time.

You are a wonderful and relatable personality in the running world. Enjoy all your videos and Kim is adorable too! Best!

have you ever tried KRAMPKRUSHERS?
what do you think
is it a good product?

I use my hunger to get through the miles and usually snack on a small amount of dried meat. I try to simulate ancient hunter gatherers.

Bananas! I have really only run distances up to 11 miles, and I’m training for my first half, but I’ve been running for years. I have so far found that a banana 15-30 minutes before the run will get me through anything! It gets me through all kinds of mileage so far. Go bananas ����I realize 11 miles is kind of a wimpy sounding number compared to the rest of these comments. But it works for me

I just got into running over the summer and all of your videos have really helped keep me entertained / interested throughout my journey. Seeing this, I’m really glad I got into running after you learned about lighting and haircuts.

Tailwind and honey stinger waffles (honey, cinnamon, and salted caramel) are my go to sources for anything 4+ hrs. Training for my first 50k next April and this is working so far.

Can you please make an updated video on your nutrition tips?

I recommend everyone tries the My Spring Energy brand. Just started testing their products on some training runs and they have been pretty good so far. They are like a real food gel. Natural and delicious.

Good breakdown Marathons I stick to liquid hydration as pushing hard, ultras I take a gel every 15km (my stomach hates these) and a gu every 10km, then try to eat as much ‘real’ food like granola bars, nuts, and bananas to keep the stomach happy. I’ll usually have by 2 front bottles full of electrolyte mix and my camelpack full of water. Biggest mistake for me: not eating when im feeling great, but waiting until i bonk, which is too late.

A few things from experience:
try try and try what works for YOU
don’t try anything new on race day
don’t take for granted that what has worked before will work in the future… frustrating but it’s like that
nutrition for a 30k trail run is very different from a 100k obviously more simple on a 30k
your body (well mine at least) will crave more salty flavors and real foods later into a race. You may not stand anymore that sweet gel or bar at km50 that tastes awesome at km25, but might start fantasizing about a burger
not all sugars are equal focus on slower release complex sugars. I found that some of the cheaper extremely sweet bars were not only nauseating but also giving me an instant short rush followed by a longer way more problematic bonk. Honey stinger and GU gels are good for that they don’t make you crash.
understand your electrolyte balance and be able to manage it. I now choose to carry clear water and chew electrolytes. That allows me to balance my salt intake. You absolutely don’t want to feel dehydrated despite drinking in the middle of a section and only have water mixed with Nuun tablets or other electrolytes with you that will just dehydrate you more
don’t ditch the fats and the treats: jerky, ham, cheese… oh those feel good in later parts of races
but understand well what is a potential laxative, what can upset your gut, etc
Bottomline… it’s freaking hard to understand what works for you for what and at what stage… Trial and error and don’t judge by others’ experience everyone is different Tailwind is a disaster for me for instance, I have running mates who swear by it.

Microwaved potatoes, gels, baby food in easy carry tubes, crackers and cliff bars.  I find cargo panted swim suits has the pockets I need with a UD vest for my pedialyte and water mix.

Thanks for the info, running my first ultra this weekend. I hope they have pizza at the water stops. Haha

Cool. I was carrying a mandarine and a couple little natural fruit roll up type things on longer runs. I’m moving towards honey packets now tho.

Couple of doughnuts and a strong coffee before an ultramarathon is all I ever need. A few toffees and some beef jerky along the way to keep me going helps as well!

And a pizza afterwards is compulsory 😉

Half marathons/ longer runs i use a 80/20 water to gatorade mix before the run and during i use either clif shot blocs or a gu packet every 40 minutes or 4 to 5 miles.

Before a recent 10k two tablespoons of butter, nothing else except coffee and water. I ran well.

My first 50K earlier this year went well with Tailwind, a couple of Hammer Gels, and few pieces of fruit like salted watermelon, orange slices, and pieces of bananas. Oh, and a couple of salted plaint chips too. It worked out pretty well.:)

i dont know if its just me but im finding i like apple sauce and fruit bars

You need sodium and potassium for it to be an electrolyte replacement tab. Without those it sounds like they are a vitamin c tablet

i vary nutrition based on if im training for a race or if im just doing a casual long run, for the casual ill bring real food like dates, but for training and race day i just do sport drinks cause ive found its easier to maintain pace while drinking

I use Himalayan pink salt from dollar tree. I also get a bottled water with electrolytes in it.

I’m a Tailwind, Gu and Nuun guy, though have been considering some of the Hammer products

thumbs down for the “doctor line”. They don’t have any basic notion on nutrition (if not to say on health issue prevention) in the first place.

I use plain tap water and for a bit of flavor I use a squirt of MEO water flavoring. If I plan an all day ride in hot weather I will add a pinch of salt. The science has proven that these electrolyte drinks do not do anything for cramps so if you’re drinking that stuff for that you’re wasting your time and money.

I recently did a 24 hour obstical course race and used about 20 scoops of tailwind and when I was hungry I’d have a pop tart and late in the night 1 bowl of Roman noodles. I tried slim Jim’s mid race and I vomited 3 miles later.

I love Redmond’s!!! I always salt my water and put a liquid magnesium in it also! A great book that readly helps understanding the importance of salt is The Salt Fix. In addition to your recommendations on salt intake I also take extra salt right before exercise:) Thanks for this reminder!

As recently got started training for 100km race, I am trying with GU gels and also electrolytes from Nunn.

Last time I went out, maybe the weather was more hot than expected and lose more electrolytes and had for my first time ever some cramps in the right leg, that´s why I am giving a try on Nunn.

During these months in the summer will see how it goes with my choices of gel, bar and electrolytes so I can apply later on into the race day, hopefully I can still eat the same and also some real food in the aid stations.

Thanks for the tips.

I’m a type one diabetic, when I was 18 yrs old I spent a week at tbe hospital with DKA (DIABETES KETOACIDOSIS) and I remembered what I was fed in the hospital as breakfast a piece of angel cake, some fat free milk, apple juice, 1 “egg”, margarine and a slice of toast? �� and I was there because I almost went into a diabetic coma for high blood sugar levels. And they were feeding this to me, I even asked the doctor because it seemed weird to me, he checked and he said yes, that’s the diet for diabetics. Maybe don’t eat the cake yet save it for later.

I want to become a nutritionist but idk now after watching this, it seems like a hard work, fighting against so much power! ��

This was WONDERFUL! I only wish it was “required viewing” for everyone! Thanks!

You know I believe that people from the AHA ADA and USDA need to be imprisoned for what they have done.
The day of reckoning cant come soon enough for me.

I absolutely Love that, Caitlin is allowing this presenter to tell her story and only involves herself when she has something relevant to add. Thank you, Caitlin.

I only do short distances (4 miles or less) but it’s at a very fast pace for me so I don’t think I need nutrition on the runs.

I agree 110% Dr. Joslin treated his own mother with a ketogenic diet and Harvard never even put it on the front page!! What a joke these people are!!!

Seen incredible achievements by participants using High5 Zero at Cyprus Ultra Marathon.

Nothing like an athlete/nutritionist living and sharing this enlighted experience, doesnt get more real than this.

Just finished 1lb of slow-roasted pork belly with crispy crackling. I am SO happy to have found this way of eating, I have a better body now at 50 than I did at 18, flat stomach, defined muscles as if I spend all day in the gym, yet all I do is keep active each day. Carnivore rocks!

Eat enough!!!!!!! YES
I traumatized my metabolism with food and starvation diets and cheat days

Read the Science on Bile Acid Production, IGF1 and Heme Iron as it relates to eating meat and the possible negative implications.

This is a very good conversation, not hypy. It seemed though, that most carbs Michelle mentioned were on the lousy side, simple carbs not whole food, plant based. I tried carnivore 2 years ago for 5 weeks, had my blood tested at that point and was horrified at the LDL level so I quit immediately. The long term effects of a carnivore diet are unknown. Many amateur nutritionists insist that high LDL being bad is a myth as a guy who has always been fit and 59, I don’t want to be the fit guy who has a heart attack. I went to a vegan diet to see how effective it is for recovery and energy levels as I still compete in CrossFit comps, triathlons and Spartan races and my performance has definitely been enhanced and I’ve not missed meat at all. Many people like Michelle swear to get many benefits from the carnivore diet and no one is in a position to dispute that but I choose to not go in that direction as the long term effects are too unknown at this point.

This was a great interview. Thank you for sharing your story. So glad you survived, gained strength from it and are thriving today to be an example for others and ambassador for change and improvement. ����������

Another confirmation of how broke our society / medical community is today. Forcing those trying to help go along with bogus dangerous and blatantly wrong information is criminal. SAD…

How refreshing to meet an RD who gets it!! It’s an educational path I was on myself but didn’t because of the limitations and misinformation!

I’ve been using the tropical ones from Aldi for a few months now. At a fraction of the price they are just as good. Highly recommend for anyone.

You’ve just invoked silent assassin from Wiggle to come to your door

Thanks Michelle! Loved listening to her story and the sad truth of dieticians in psych.

So true they want us to stay sick,and take pills �� instead of healing our body with the right foods

We humans evolved from vegetarian primates, this is generally agreed upon as settled science but there is mounting evidence that due to drastic environmental changes we became part-time carcass scavengers out of necessity then ultimately left our plant grazing digestive systems behind to become full blown meat eating hunters.
We have changed quite a bit to adapt to our environment but we have both a plant AND meat eating history as a species. As such, we possess biological traits of both the carnivore and herbivore. 
We are resilient. Given enough time we can adapt to anything. The question is not whether we can eat meat or plants but which of the two are we currently adapted to efficiently digesting at this point in our evolutionary journey?
The answer is simple. We are structurally and chemically more adapted to efficiently digest meat than plants for our nutrients at this time.

Great interview! Thank you for introducing us to such a variety of people and different perspectives of carnivore.

Bought some zero tablets. 2.50 in B and M. Never tried them, next outing I will….Bet you I won’t gain Watts ��

Great video.. One caveat, The amount of protein must be watched if you are diabetic. I am a 72 year old type two diabetic and 3x heart bypass person and have never had better health markers in my life than since the switch from 20 total carbs per day ( which was very good for health) to 99% carnivore.

Columbia, SC love your podcast, Been doing Carnivore keto two months, lost 19 lbs. Love the red man saw you recommended I have some.. thank you!

Hi Catlin
I don’t know if you remember me I spoke to you about 3 weeks ago about a stall on diet could not loose any weight on carnivore.., I am now 7 weeks in and lost 26lb…,, 22 of which in last 3 weeks.., I don’t know why it took so long to drop but hey just keeping you in the loop thanks for your videos they have kept me going lol

The B vits in the Aldi brand will more than make up for the lack of in the Zero brand. B vits help with many things in the body like metabolizing foods and fats into energy.

How much is a tbsp of the coarse salt compared to the fine version of the Redmond salt? Thank you��

Cheaper than my Ribena drink per ride = £1.50 £1.80, rip off!! My issue is I’m using sugary cereal bars & think idd certainly loose weight quickly if I cut out refined sugars whilst out cycling.
Water, mixed with 2/5ths fruit juice & add some salt to the water -> per the comment section..

If you are doing a lot of working out or sweating you will need more salt. If you drink coffee you will again need more salt because it causes you to urinate out salt.

For me i know when i need more salt if I have a hunger feeling similar to that carb hunger you get when not on carnivore or keto.

Hi Leonardo.I would use the cheaper one.It contains leucine,,leucine is an amino acid.Ciao from semi lock down Italy

Costco also has pink salt which tastes pretty good: https://www.amazon.ca/Kirkland-Himalayan-Pink-Adjustable-Grinder/dp/B00JNEC1LK/ref=asc_df_B00JNEC1LK/?tag=bingshopdesk-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=&hvpos=&hvnetw=o&hvrand=&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584482460738282&psc=1

if I am tired I need more sun, more liver or more salt. Those always fix it.