DIY Electrolyte Mix?

[Mike Islander]

I just use the WHO simple ORS recipe. I work in my warehouse, which averages about 100 degrees and 70%+ humidity all summer. Works a peach and is dirt cheap.

1 liter water
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

 

[TimberRunner]

A couple of years ago mixed up a gallon bag of lmnt recipe. Still working on it, flavorless.

 

[5MilesBack]

Zero strawberry taste and not a hint of sweetness.

I used the raspberry flavoring from above and it has no taste or color in the water. I ended up using the entire bag for 100 servings and it's still colorless and tasteless in the mix. I definitely need some kind of decent flavoring that's not lemon-lime. All the other stuff in the mix without flavoring makes me want to puke. Of course even the flavored LMNT makes me want to puke. Maybe I should just add my new mix to my coffee twice a day.

I also added vitamin C powder, glucosamine, and L-glutamine to my mix. Maybe Tang would add enough flavor to it.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Anyone making your own electrolyte mix? (Lmnt, tailwind, liquid IV, drip drop…) the ingredient lists are pretty simple and it seems like you can buy pretty much all of the raw ingredients online.

I was thinking about doing:
Salt (any difference between himalayan vs sea vs iodized?)
potassium chloride
magnesium (malate, oxide, citrate?)
sugar
either citric acid or powdered lime

Here’s LMNT’s and Tailwind’s ingredient list for reference:
View attachment 745986
View attachment 745987

Anyone tried it?

The trend with these drinks seems to be to see who can put salt the other company. The liquid IV stuff is fairly pleasant to drink, somebody gave me a box of the LMNT and holy crap it like drinking salt water, apparently there are some that have even more salt/sodium in them.

 

[Jason Snyder]

The trend with these drinks seems to be to see who can put salt the other company. The liquid IV stuff is fairly pleasant to drink, somebody gave me a box of the LMNT and holy crap it like drinking salt water, apparently there are some that have even more salt/sodium in them.

Yeah it’s pretty salty. I think I’m going to cut the sodium in half. I used a LMNT packet for a whole liter and it was about right.

 

[5MilesBack]

Yep, I only put 250mg of salt in each serving of the stuff I made. And during elk hunts I'll normally use 3-4 servings a day. The LMNT IS saltwater.

 

[Ferrulewax]

I think it’s going to be heavily dependent on your activity level and how/how much you drink. I do a bottle of mix I sip on to supplement my water intake. If all of your intake is mix then less sodium is probably preferable. I would only do like 1 bottle of LMNT a day most likely.

 

[BA_Crosho]

I don't understand the math on those magnesium containers. It says 300g per container which is 300,000mg. Serving size has 420mg of magnesium, and shows 143 servings per container. That equals 60,060mg leaving the other 239,940mg of "something else" weight. BUT the container also says "Other ingredients: None". So if there is nothing else in the container than magnesium malate, shouldn't there be 714 servings?

It's 300g of magnesium malate, not magnesium. The element magnesium (Mg) has a mass of 24.3 g/mol. The compound malate is 4 carbon molecules, 4 hydrogen molecules, and 5 oxygen molecules, with a mass of 132 g/mol. Magnesium malate is the sum of the masses, 156.3 g/mol. So you need to consume 156.3 grams of magnesium malate to get 24.3 grams of magnesium. Scale that to the container size and that explains the discrepancy, plus a little rounding error.

 

[Alaska92]

Interesting thread. After reading through the aforementioned ingredients, my challenge to those willing, would include a study of human biological science from the correct sources. Sugar (of various sources), Sucralose, Maltodextrin and various other “condiments” will never be a good idea in an electrolyte supplement. A very short list of natural sweeteners are available, that do not have the repercussions of those listed. Absorption rate and volume into the cells via receptors, involves more science than most understand without study. Insulin resistance, which is what a majority of the western population has to some degree, will certainly play a factor. Chemistry experiments that are arbitrarily concocted are just that, arbitrary. Various high glycemic sweeteners will likely make you feel wonderful at a time when you don’t feel so wonderful and one will think that their given product is very helpful. Albeit, in reality, it will likely be acute with many ill effects on the back end with no true chronic help to cellular function. Sodium has been mentioned and is certainly a required mineral for correct cell function. The proper source of sodium is very important and needs to be researched and not acted upon “Willy Nilly”. Magnesium and potassium are also required for proper cell function, with the “correct” source and mix critical. At times, when chemistry projects are the topic, it can be prudent to leave it to the “correct” professionals. If one is deterred by expense, then not unlike congress, the overall budget likely needs to be scrutinized and priorities reevaluated.

 

[mt terry d]

My wife makes something called "Haymaker" which dates back to the 1800's
(you can find the recipe on Algore's innerweb)
All natural and tastes good.
Not to be confused with Haybag, made at the Phillipsburg MT brewery
Also natural and tastes even gooder