Why Electrolytes Tablets and Not Go for Other Forms of Supplements?

You’ve seen the title of this post, and honestly, the answer can be summarised by one word: convenience. Other forms of electrolyte supplements, such as powders or ready-made drinks, are often a bit bulkier and they typically come with added sugars, which are not exactly the most pleasant thing if you are on a diet. Electrolyte pills, on the other hand, are easy, light, and widely available. You don’t even have to mix it up; just drop the pill in a glass of water and you’re ready to go.

Granted, pills are not exactly as glamorous as the latest isotonic drinks available on the market, nor do they benefit from the marketing that surrounds electrolyte powders. But they are simply convenient, are low in calories, don’t require any type of special preparation beforehand, and, perhaps most importantly, they are safe to take and come in precise dosing.

Measure Your Electrolytes

Electrolytes tablets contain just the right number of electrolytes necessary to continue with your daily tasks. Let’s take, for example, the pills produced by Re‑Lyte. Two pills amount to one serving, and in general, you could aim for one serving per day. What’s inside these two pills? Approximately 400 mg of Sodium, 600mg of Chloride, 200mg of Potassium citrate, 25mg of Magnesium malate and glycinate and 30mg of Calcium. Plus, of course, 150mcg of Iodine.

The benefit here is that you will always know exactly what quantity of electrolytes is present in each pill, and you can calculate your optimum dosage based on your activity level. Electrolyte pills are easy to take with you when travelling, they are cost-efficient, they don’t require too much space to store, and they are available in a wide variety of options, both offline and in local stores.

How Can They Help If I’m Not an Athlete?

Well, you don’t have to be. In fact, most of us aren’t (raises hand). We live in a hot and sometimes surprisingly arid country, which in itself is a perfect recipe for ample sweating. We humans, have adapted to living in some of the most climatically inhospitable places in the world, and that’s because we, for all intents and purposes, have developed probably one of the most efficient cooling solutions in the whole animal kingdom. We sweat; quite a lot in fact. But there’s a flaw in our “design”.

You see, even though this system is perfect for cooling us down, when we lose fluids, we also lose some of our body’s electrically-charged minerals. These minerals, for lack of better words, are what make you click. There is no heartbeat without sodium, and no marathons of Game of Thrones without calcium and magnesium. Your body requires these electrolytes for optimum functioning, and, when you sweat a lot, you lose them. But here’s the thing. It doesn’t take too much to make us sweat.

We Are Too Efficient

The human body typically starts sweating when the ambient temperature is no longer in what is called “the thermoneutral zone”.  Basically, whenever it’s hotter than 28°C outside, you can expect to start moderately sweating. Is it above 32 °C? You’ll positively get drenched. We are designed to operate inside a climate that allows us to regulate our body’s internal temperature without internal modifications. But as you can probably imagine, this is pretty much impossible in our day and age.

In Penrith, for example, in 2020, the maximum temperature recorded rose to a height of 48.9 degrees. It was because of the local bushfires, sure. But these bushfires are in part, a consequence of the changing climate. So, yes. A lot of Australians are faced with difficulties caused by the country’s climate, and a significant percentage of these people will also most likely be helped by electrolytes tablets. Because, if you think about it, exercise and intense physical exertion are not always required for dehydration.

A Boost When You’re Feeling a Bit Down

When you are feeling sluggish or you’re experiencing mental fog, on an exceedingly warm day, chances are that you are in fact, dehydrated and your body’s electrolyte levels are thrown out of whack. In intense heat, even minor activities, like walking or reading international politics, can make you feel drained, empty, and fatigued. Granted the politics part will have an effect even if you’re properly hydrated. Still, high-quality electrolytes tablets can help. Even drastically, in fact.

Since they are full of potassium, sodium and magnesium, electrolytes tablets can help with headaches, reduce muscle cramps, prevent bloating, and even help with heart palpitations. Plus, and this is one benefit that’s not talked about enough, electrolyte pills can be absolutely crucial when you’re feeling a bit under the weather or you’re recovering from minor stomach unpleasantness.

I Can Attest to This

A couple of years ago, during one of my travels in Croatia, I had the pleasure of trying out the most delicious neretvanski brudet, a kind of stew made of eels and frogs, flavoured with paprika, and accompanied by polenta. It sounds worse than it actually is. The taste was amazing. The next couple of hours exploring Split were spectacular. The night was a nightmare. That frog wanted to come out, and it wasn’t pretty. One thing helped, though, and that’s taking electrolyte pills, which luckily enough I always carry with me nowadays after an equally pleasant culinary experience in Bali.

Electrolytes can help tremendously in cases of food poisoning, as the number one risk when vomiting profusely is actually to get yourself severely dehydrated and to lose electrolytes, such as potassium, magnesium and sodium. It's one thing to feel nausea and throw up. But combine this with low blood pressure caused by electrolyte imbalances, and you actually have a recipe for disaster.

Electrolyte pills can restore the charged minerals you lose during episodes of acute illness, and they can also help you retain more water. How? Well, in the small intestine, there’s this protein called the sodium-glucose co-transporter, which has the role of getting sodium and glucose into your cells. Water alone, since it’s not rich in electrolytes, cannot kickstart this process efficiently. But electrolytes tablets do. And since water follows sodium via the osmosis process, this means that electrolyte pills make it easier for your cells to absorb water.