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Electrolytes are having a second. In case you head to your native grocery retailer or vitamin store, you’ll discover rows of electrolyte-infused powders, tablets, and drinks that declare to rehydrate you shortly and successfully.
There’s one product, specifically, that many athletes are testing out: salt tablets. The tiny white tablets, which comprise a concentrated quantity of sodium chloride, have exploded in recognition on TikTok, with many individuals swearing the tablets have taken their athletic efficiency to the subsequent degree.
I referred to as up two sports activities dietitians who work with endurance athletes and requested them what they actually take into consideration salt tablets. They had been in settlement: the typical athlete shouldn’t trouble messing with them.
“Most individuals who train don’t want salt tablets; nevertheless, for endurance athletes and individuals who train in scorching environments or at very high-intensity ranges, salt tablets may very well be helpful,” says Allison Childress, a registered dietitian and affiliate professor within the Division of Dietary Sciences at Texas Tech College.
What’s the Hype with Salt Tablets?
Perspiring throughout vigorous train causes you to lose quite a lot of fluids and electrolytes, together with sodium, potassium, and calcium. In case you don’t substitute these misplaced electrolytes, you may grow to be dehydrated.
With out sufficient fluids in your physique, you may anticipate your muscle operate, athletic efficiency, and cognition to take a success. “You’re ultimately going to must decelerate or cease exercising,” says Jena Brown, a sports activities dietitian for endurance athletes and proprietor of the diet teaching service Victorem Efficiency Diet.
In case you drink an excessive amount of water or solely drink water, says Childress, throughout extended train—4 hours or extra (for instance, marathons or Ironman distance triathlons), you may wind up with a critical situation referred to as exercise-induced hyponatremia. This electrolyte imbalance happens when you have got too-low sodium ranges in your blood as the surplus water dilutes salt focus. This could set off cramping, fatigue, confusion, and low blood strain, in line with the Nationwide Kidney Basis.
“A number of athletes understand salt tablets as a security web that’ll defend them from hyponatremia,” says Childress. The attract is apparent: salt tablets, in principle, provide athletes a fast resolution after they’re on the go. However can a tiny tablet really preserve you quenched throughout and after prolonged exercises?
Figuring Out How Many Salt Tablets to Absorb a Day
Figuring out what number of salt tablets to take—and when to have them—is a fragile dance. Even when, say, you and your buddy are backpacking alongside the identical precise route, the quantity of electrolytes you must ingest could range, doubtlessly considerably, from the quantity your good friend requires, Brown says. Your rehydration wants largely rely upon how a lot you sweat (and the way a lot sodium is in your sweat) as a result of some folks expel extra salt than others.
The one solution to know, for positive, how a lot sodium chloride you want after a tricky day on the path is to conduct a sweat check to measure your sweat price and composition. “If an athlete is aware of how a lot sodium they lose, they will substitute it to the T,” Childress says.
Sodium focus, or the quantity of sodium in your sweat, varies extensively from individual to individual, says Childress, however, on common, folks lose about 1 gram or 1,000 milligrams (mg) of sodium per liter of sweat. So, should you sweat out a liter of fluids—and subsequently about 1,000 mg of sodium—you’d need to take a salt tablet that has 1,000 mg of sodium throughout (or proper after) your exercise to replenish the misplaced salt, Childress explains.
In case you’re on the lookout for a sweat check to find out salt loss, get in contact with a sports activities dietitian. They will measure how a lot fluid you lose throughout train and calculate your sweat electrolyte focus. That approach, you gained’t must guess what that you must ingest to remain hydrated. If you wish to determine how a lot sweat you lose, a sweat price check is useful; this entails weighing your self on a toilet scale earlier than and after an intense exercise. (Learn right here about the right way to do one at residence.)
Sure. It’s Potential to Take Too Many Salt Tablets
Right here’s the problem: most individuals wing it. As a result of they’re unlikely to know the way a lot sodium they lose of their sweat, they’ll pop just a few salt tablets, hoping to rehydrate. However taking too many (salt tablets usually are available in a 200- to 400-milligram dose) can wreak havoc in your physique. “The draw back is you may overdose on them fairly simply should you don’t know what you’re doing,” Childress says. When that occurs, you may develop hypernatremia, a situation the place there’s an excessive amount of sodium within the blood, which causes extreme thirst, nausea, confusion, muscle weak spot, and dizziness.
Hypernatremia and hyponatremia can appear and feel related—so some folks could develop weak spot and assume they’re dehydrated when, actually, their sodium ranges are approach too excessive. Then, they’ll take much more salt tablets and exacerbate the problem. In very excessive instances, this will trigger folks to break down or have a seizure.
You Don’t Want Salt Tablets—Hydrate This Approach As a substitute
Athletes must watch out about what number of salt tablets they take, Childress says. Not solely are salt tablets pointless for athletes, however they’re additionally doubtlessly harmful.
Nevertheless, should you’re nonetheless set on taking salt tablets, begin with a low dose, says Childress, and ensure you drink sufficient water with them. “You’re not going to have any hydration profit should you’re taking salt tablets and never ingesting fluid. They go collectively,” Brown says.
In case you don’t suppose salt tablets are definitely worth the hype, you may skip them altogether. Brown recommends ingesting 16 ounces of fluid per hour that you simply’re understanding. In case you’re a brilliant sweater, chances are you’ll need to up that to (at most) 1 liter per hour, she provides.
A simple solution to verify your hydration ranges is by evaluating your urine. In case your pee is darkish otherwise you’re going to the lavatory much less steadily than ordinary, you must improve your fluid consumption. Clear pee suggests you’re over-hydrated and will use some electrolytes, Brown says. The aim is in your pee to appear like mild lemonade, she says.
Go for a Salty Snack or a Piece of Fruit
For these exercising not less than three hours or in scorching situations, alternate between ingesting water and sports activities drinks to maintain your electrolytes in steadiness, Childress says. You too can munch on water-rich vegatables and fruits like watermelon, cantaloupe, celery, or broccoli.
To revive your sodium ranges, as a substitute of a salt tablet, throw in one thing extra satisfying, like a bag of pretzels or salted nuts, unfold cheese on just a few crackers, or seize some chips, she says.
In case you, like me, don’t preserve observe of your sweat or water consumption, then merely drink to thirst, suggests Childress. Lastly, if you wish to nail your hydration recreation, your greatest wager is to speak to a sports activities dietitian. She explains, “It’s actually definitely worth the time and money to satisfy with an expert who can run the sweat exams and design an individualized hydration technique.”
