Ask Lemmy

I am going to second making your own. Most electrolyte solutions are only sodium chloride, potassium chloride and sugar.

Morton's makes a thing that is literally this without the sugar. It's called "lite salt". https://www.mortonsalt.com/article/morton-lite-salt-mixture-nutritional-facts/

Any "lite salt" should do the trick. You will also need a multivitamin/multimineral as well but if you are just looking for an "electrolyte" replacement drink... It's just lite salt, water and sugar. If you want to get fancy you can add magnesium and calcium.

Is it salty? Yes. It's salt. Electrolytes are salts.

How do I make it not salty? Add sugar.

Why are the things like propel bitter? Fake sugar + salt tastes bitter to some people. Most Gatorade/propel blends also need to be low cal so they use fake sugars. Gatorade originally had like 60grams of sugar in a bottle. That doesn't sell well anymore. You, however can go nuts and use as much sugar as you like.

Is there electrolytes that don't taste salty? No. They are salt.

What other options do I have? Pills. But if you aren't eating you might not absorb them well.

Edit: after reading some other posts I am going to add the following.

Gatorade is potassium and sodium salt + sugars, artificial sweetener and flavors. You can check the nutritional facts. It only provides sodium and potassium... No calcium or magnesium. Gatorade is literally "lite salt" plus sugar, flavorings, artificial sugar and water.

Monk fruit, stevia and the like all have bitter aftertastes.

Personally my favorite artificial sweetener is erythritol. Incidentally it is the only artificial sweetener that doesn't cause an insulin response. Monster zero energy drinks are sweetened with it for a flavor profile.

Brawndo of course.

Just get Pedialyte or Liquid IV packets. They work wonders for me.

For the Pedialyte, pour a third of the bottle into about a liter and you'll get more out of it.

For Liquid IV, a half packet into a liter of water is probably enough to not be overwhelmed by flavor. But you can use more or less depending on your taste.

Honestly, not a drink: the Pedialyte freezer pops.

Coconut water, definitely. I like the kind with turmeric and ginger in it.

If someone is very dehydrated though, you want oral rehydration solution, which everyone with a kitchen should know how to make:

• 1 liter (quart) of clean water
• 70 grams (6 tablespoons) of white sugar¹
• 3 grams (½ teaspoon) of table salt

If you have them, also add some other electrolytes (or have the dehydrated person eat a banana, which contains potassium bicarbonate):

• 2½ grams (¼ teaspoon) of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda)
• 2½ grams (¼ teaspoon) of potassium chloride (sodium-free "salt substitute")

¹ This is what the official recipes say, but it's probably okay to cut it in half if the dehydrated person doesn't also need the calories.

I read your previous post. This sounds like hell. I'm sorry you're going through this awful shit.

L-Glutamine can actually help treat H. Pylori over a six week period. It's pretty inexpensive, and it would be a good test while you wait. Take 5 grams twice daily mixed into whatever liquids you can manage to get into your system.

If it doesn't help the problem, then there's at least a reasonably good chance that H. Pylori isn't the culprit. I hope that you obtain relief very soon.

Pocari Sweat. It's a Japanese drink but you can find it in the US. Awesome flavor and it should have a good balance but check it out.

I have myself cucumber water everyday, it's fantastic but I don't know if it will help you specifically : blend cucumbah in some wotah, add enough wotah that it becomes nicely fluid, deep jungle green, then filter it. Or don't, if you want fibah. Pinch of salt, squeeze of lemon, good to go.

I'm on a keto diet, and I NEED the electrolytes. I found this recipe and it's been helping me so far. https://www.ketofitnessclub.com/blogs/drinks/electrolyte-drink

I'd be interested in anyone's takes on that recipe, hopefully I'm not poisoning my liver or something...

Edit: I just read your previous post, so you probably shouldn't try this recipe as it uses apple cider vinegar which I believe would aggravate your ulcer.

I stick to electrolyte water the most. I know sugar can help with absorbing electrolytes but I don't like sugar much.

I like the BodyArmor water the best, followed by probably Smart Water and Essentia. They're all fairly similar; I'm splitting hairs with taste. I'll buy whatever is the cheapest or on a sale.

Could take a supplement. Most are useless but some do serve a use in the right circumstances. I take magnesium for leg cramps for example. Could do a mix of Calcium, magnesium, potassium, with just water. Throw to the back of the throat, no taste at all. A multi vitamin might do the trick too, like one-a- day. But you will need to research them.

One potential issue with this solution is most suppliments suggest being taken with a meal. If you are able, milk is an electrolyte source as qell, so that might serve the meal requirement.

Good luck, I've had ulcers most of my life, surgery 3 times for them, they suck, a lot

Nuun isn’t so bad.

But your sense of taste may be altered by not eating. You may have to just accept that keeping the electrolytes up means choking down a nasty substance. Think of it as your medicine.

Pokari Sweat.

I survived on that stuff when I did a one week Kebdo training camp in Japan. It's fantastic!

I buy boulder salt and add it to water with mio-type flavorings. Boulder Salt Electrolyte Powder and Hydration Pack | Oral Rehydration | Natural Alkaline Salt for Energy and Stamina | No Sugar | 8oz Bag | 113 Servings https://a.co/d/eNwrtPS

I see your posts around quite a bit. Sorry to hear you're going thru this.

~~Gatorade used to be made with pickle juice.~~ I like to cut the brine from lacto-fermented pickles into water, 1 part brine to 3 parts water. Plus there's natural probiotic yeasts in there and extracts from the vegetables. Lots of salt, but that's probably not the top of your concerns right now.

Take care!

Pickle juice for the win...

I've done the same thing. And to keep my electrolytes up - bouillon cubes. One in the morning one in the afternoon.

I prefer the beef bouillon myself.

If I can't get bullion cubes then I just make a cup of salt water, using the "low salt" half potassium half sodium salts. And I just chug that down as fast as I can.

If you have bone broth, adding salt to that in the form of a bouillon cube is just complementary

BodyArmor sports drinks.

Now, admittedly I was born and raised in Florida, but Gatorade yellow, orange, and red have simply never been improved upon.

Before work every day, I go to the Dollar Tree next door to buy drinks for the day. I've been buying the various random flavored waters, and whatever other drinks are sugar and caffeine free. Found this stuff called Reward, in a square bottle talking about electrolytes and whatnot, back of the bottle making it seem like they're claiming to be some knock-off Pedialyte. They claim to have a bunch of flavors, but I've only ever seen strawberry kiwi. Tastes a lot better than I expected. Kinda over-sweetened, if anything.

There's this like knockoff Pedialyte brand called electrolit I really like some of the lighter flavors of. Coconut, think there's a cucumber lime etc. There's a cucumber lime Gatorade that seems to very im availability depending on where you live that I really like too.

Gatorade Lemon Ice.

Pretty sure they don’t make it anymore. Unless it was discontinued and then recontinued.

I last bought it ~25 years ago…