You’re Probably Wasting Money On Electrolyte Drinks, So Here’s What Works Just As Well

Genius marketing can convince you that you need something that you already have enough of. As awesome and essential as they are, you probably don’t need extra electrolytes, no matter how much your social media feed, gym buddies, and personalized ads are pressuring you to buy drinks and supplements.

Every time the weather gets hotter, electrolytes start dominating the discussion online. Recently, with so much extra focus on health, fitness, and aesthetics—from positive trends like proteinmaxxing and fibermaxxing to the toxicity of looksmaxxing and cosmeticorexia—electrolytes are being pushed even harder as the ultimate answer to maximum hydration.

Health trends come and go, hyped up by marketing-savvy companies and entrepreneurial influencers, convincing you to part ways with your hard-earned cash. It’s often hard to separate fact from fiction when you’re stuck in an echo chamber driving your fear of missing out. There are plenty of good products and pieces of health advice out there that can genuinely help you, but miracle shortcuts don’t exist. Anyone telling you otherwise is trying to sell you snake oil.

So, let’s get into why electrolytes are so important, how to adjust your diet to stay hydrated, how to tell if you are getting too little or too many electrolytes, and what my personal experience has been like.