Straight off the labels. Green marks the best figure in a column and red the worst. For salt, both extremes are marked, because too little is as much of a problem as too much. Click a heading to re-order the list.
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How to read these numbers
What electrolytes actually are. They are minerals that dissolve in your body's water and carry a small electrical charge, mainly sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium. They decide how much of the water you drink your body holds on to, and they keep your muscles and nerves working properly. You lose them in sweat along with the water, which is why drinking more plain water sometimes does not fix the problem.
Adding the total up is not the point. If you add the sodium and potassium together, the eight powders here run from about 305 mg a glass to about 1,210 mg. The biggest total is not the best one. Re-Lyte reaches 1,210 mg with mostly salt, and Dr. Berg reaches a similar figure with almost no salt at all. Ultima has the smallest total and barely any sodium in it. None of those three balances suits an ordinary day.
Two things have to be right at once. The total needs to be in a sensible range, and the split between the two minerals needs to be sensible too. A powder can pass one test and fail the other, and most of these do.
The rule of thumb we used
For everyday drinking, look for roughly 300 to 600 mg of sodium with about half as much potassium, which is the two-to-one balance most dietitians point to. Only two of the eight land inside that on both counts: our winner at 510 and 300, and DripDrop at 330 and 185. If you are sweating for hours, ignore this and go higher.
All figures are per serving, made up as the label tells you to. Prices are what you pay on a repeat delivery, and where a brand gives a discount for ordering more than one pack we have used that. retail means we could only confirm the ordinary shelf price, so the real figure may be a little lower. Figures for Live It Up are from the Lemon Lime label.
What these figures actually mean
Sodium. This is salt. Everyday powders mostly land between about 300 and 600 mg a glass, and that suits most people. You only need more if you are sweating for hours. The recommended limit is 2,300 mg a day from everything you eat and drink. Our winner uses 22% of that in a glass, and LMNT uses 43%.
Potassium. The other mineral you lose in real quantity when you sweat, and the one that works alongside the salt. Some powders also add magnesium and calcium, which are not in this table.
Sugar. Sugar helps your body take water in faster, which is why the sweet ones feel as though they work quickly. That is deliberate in a rehydration product. But if you drink one every day, the 7, 9 and 11 grams here add up.
Calories. Mostly a proxy for sugar. Four of the eight have none at all, and our winner has ten. From 30 upwards there is real sugar in the packet.
Cost per glass. What one glass costs you at the repeat-delivery price. Anything under a dollar is good value if the minerals stack up.
