Your body needs electrolytes. Should you take a supplement?

Are electrolytes on your mind? Thanks to a recent boom in products like Liquid I.V. and LMNT, in 2023, electrolyte mixes made $36.56 billion, according to research — and projections for 2024 have the market growing more than 10% to $40.32 billion. Then there are the influencers promoting them, like the TikTok nutritionists who claim that adding electrolytes to your water every morning is a “nonnegotiable” for the “laundry list of health benefits,” or the wellness bros promising electrolytes improve mental clarity and focus. With all of these signals, entering the electrolyte supplement game may be tempting. But do you really need them to function optimally? The answer is complicated.

What are electrolytes? What are electrolyte powders?

First of all: It’s important to distinguish between “electrolytes” and the “electrolyte supplements” (typically powders you dissolve in your drink) that are currently popular.

Electrolyte powders contain different electrolytes, which are substances that have a natural positive or negative electrical charge when dissolved in water. These electrolytes are “important compounds that serve many key functions in our body,” North Carolina-based dietitian Christine Byrne tells Yahoo Life.

Electrolytes help us regulate our blood pressure and heart function, keep bodily fluids in balance (i.e., keeping us hydrated) and support muscle and nerve function, Byrne says.

The main electrolytes that serve these functions are sodium, potassium, magnesium, chloride and calcium, as well as phosphate and bicarbonate. Your body produces bicarbonate, Byrne says, but you get all other electrolytes from food, drinks and supplements.

That’s where electrolyte powders come in. Typically, electrolyte powders contain three main ingredients: sodium, magnesium and potassium. They also may contain sugar or sugar substitutes, along with flavorings or added vitamins.

Why are electrolytes so important? What happens if I don’t get enough?

Your body needs electrolytes — there’s no way to maintain hydration and proper function without them, says dietitian Alex Larson.

When you drink fluids that contain both water and electrolytes, they pass through your digestive system and into your bloodstream, helping to hydrate your cells effectively, ramping up water’s absorption rate.

If you're low on electrolytes, you may have muscle cramping or feel fatigued or dizzy. In more severe cases, you can experience headaches, confusion, irregular heartbeat or nausea.

If you lose too many electrolytes (such as through sweating) or drink excessive amounts of plain water without replenishing them, it can dilute the sodium in your blood, leading to a condition known as hyponatremia, which can result in serious health problems, such as seizures, if not addressed.

Conversely, too much sodium (an important electrolyte that is one of the main three components of most electrolyte powders on the market) can make you feel bloated or swollen. This is especially important for people with kidney or heart issues, who may struggle to regulate sodium levels effectively, putting them at increased risk for conditions like hypertension, heart disease and kidney failure. Overdoing it on the electrolyte potassium, meanwhile, can cause hyperkalemia and heart arrhythmias and confusion.

Should I be supplementing electrolytes?

Electrolytes are vital — but that does not mean we all need to supplement them with powders. While Larson notes that “everybody experiences fluid and electrolyte losses through daily bodily processes such as breathing, digestion and perspiration,” she says that “most people replenish them through the fluids they drink and the food they eat without much thought.”

Foods that have higher amounts of electrolytes include:

• Bananas (potassium)

• Watermelon (potassium, magnesium)

• Spinach (magnesium, potassium)

• Avocados (potassium, magnesium)

• Coconut water (potassium, sodium)

• Sweet potatoes (potassium, magnesium)

• Yogurt (calcium, potassium)

• Oranges (potassium, magnesium)

• Almonds (magnesium)

• Pickles (sodium)

• Chia seeds (magnesium, calcium, potassium)

However, there are times when you may want to add an electrolyte powder to your water for a boost.

“Electrolyte replacement requirements vary greatly based on how much one sweats and for how long,” says dietitian Sterling Weaver. For example, a marathon runner training four hours a day may lose up to six liters of fluid through sweat as well as 6,000 mg of sodium — meaning they may want a quick way to replace those electrolytes, stat.

Larson says that a good rule of thumb is to consider an electrolyte packet if you are working out longer than 90 minutes, but there are other factors to consider as well. If you are exercising in a hot room (like, say, for a heated vinyasa yoga class) or outside in the sun, you will be sweating more in a shorter amount of time and therefore could benefit from extra electrolytes.

In general, it can be helpful to have an electrolyte packet handy if you are spending excessive time sweating, whether or not you are exercising. A long day at a hot theme park, for example, may lead you to losing more fluid than you may even realize, despite the fact that you’re not exerting much energy.

What makes electrolyte powders unique?

The idea of getting extra electrolytes is hardly new. Popular sports drink Gatorade, for example, was developed in 1965 as a way for student-athletes to replenish electrolytes. Powerade hit the market in 1988 as Coca-Cola’s entry into this new market.

On its surface, Gatorade and electrolyte powders aren’t all that different from one another — they both purport to replace your electrolytes lost to sweat. But electrolyte powders tend to have a lot more electrolytes than sports drinks like Gatorade. For example, a packet of strawberry flavored Liquid I.V. contains 530 mg of sodium and 380 mg of potassium, whereas Gatorade has around 160 mg of sodium and 50 mg of potassium per 12-ounce serving.

While electrolyte powders vary, they may include vitamins that Gatorade doesn’t: Liquid I.V., for example, contains vitamins B3, B5, B6, B12, and vitamin C. (LMNT, however, sticks to just electrolytes.)

One reason that Gatorade may have fallen out of favor with some people is its higher sugar content. Though some electrolyte powders do contain sugar (Liquid I.V.’s original flavors contain about 11 grams of sugar per serving; LMNT contains no sugar at all) the original variety of Gatorade has 21 grams per 12-ounce serving, which is about as much as half a can of soda.

The bottom line

No, you don’t need to add an electrolyte packet to your water if you’re, say, sitting behind your desk at work. Instead, focus on drinking water and getting electrolytes through your food sources — eating a varied diet that includes fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds can help you get all your hydrating electrolytes.

Instead, aim to save your electrolyte packets for when you’re doing excessive sweating, be it a long beach day in the sun or a half-marathon. In those cases, your body will love absorbing the extra electrolytes — and you’ll stay happy and hydrated.