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Electrolytes are having a second. Should 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, particularly, that many athletes are testing out: salt capsules. The tiny white tablets, which comprise a concentrated quantity of sodium chloride, have exploded in recognition on TikTok, with many individuals swearing the capsules have taken their athletic efficiency to the subsequent degree.
I known as up two sports activities dietitians who work with endurance athletes and requested them what they actually take into consideration salt capsules. They have been in settlement: the common athlete shouldn’t hassle messing with them.
“Most individuals who train don’t want salt capsules; nonetheless, for endurance athletes and individuals who train in sizzling environments or at very high-intensity ranges, salt tablets might 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 Drugs?
Perspiring throughout vigorous train causes you to lose plenty of fluids and electrolytes, together with sodium, potassium, and calcium. Should you don’t substitute these misplaced electrolytes, you’ll be able to turn into dehydrated.
With out sufficient fluids in your physique, you’ll be able to count on your muscle perform, athletic efficiency, and cognition to take successful. “You’re finally going to should decelerate or cease exercising,” says Jena Brown, a sports activities dietitian for endurance athletes and proprietor of the vitamin teaching service Victorem Efficiency Diet.
Should 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’ll be able to wind up with a critical situation known 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 will set off cramping, fatigue, confusion, and low blood stress, in accordance with the Nationwide Kidney Basis.
“Lots of athletes understand salt tablets as a security internet that’ll defend them from hyponatremia,” says Childress. The attract is clear: salt capsules, in idea, provide athletes a fast resolution once they’re on the go. However can a tiny capsule really hold you quenched throughout and after prolonged exercises?
Figuring Out How Many Salt Drugs to Soak up a Day
Figuring out what number of salt capsules to take—and when to have them—is a fragile dance. Even when, say, you and your buddy are backpacking alongside the identical actual route, the quantity of electrolytes you must ingest could range, probably considerably, from the quantity your buddy requires, Brown says. Your rehydration wants largely rely on 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 troublesome day on the path is to conduct a sweat check to measure your sweat fee 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 broadly 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, in case you sweat out a liter of fluids—and subsequently about 1,000 mg of sodium—you’d wish to take a salt capsule that has 1,000 mg of sodium throughout (or proper after) your exercise to replenish the misplaced salt, Childress explains.
Should you’re searching for a sweat check to find out salt loss, get in contact with a sports activities dietitian. They’ll measure how a lot fluid you lose throughout train and calculate your sweat electrolyte focus. That means, you received’t should guess what it’s good to ingest to remain hydrated. If you wish to determine how a lot sweat you lose, a sweat fee check is useful; this entails weighing your self on a rest room scale earlier than and after an intense exercise. (Learn right here about easy methods to do one at house.)
Sure. It Is Potential to Take Too Many Salt Drugs.
Right here’s the difficulty: 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 a couple of salt capsules, hoping to rehydrate. However taking too many (salt capsules usually are available a 200- to 400-milligram dose) can wreak havoc in your physique. “The draw back is you’ll be able to overdose on them fairly simply in case you don’t know what you’re doing,” Childress says. When that occurs, you’ll be able to 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 look and feel related—so some folks could develop weak spot and assume they’re dehydrated when, in fact, their sodium ranges are means too excessive. Then, they’ll take much more salt capsules and exacerbate the difficulty. In very excessive instances, this may trigger folks to break down or have a seizure.
You Don’t Want Salt Drugs—Hydrate This Means As an alternative
Athletes should watch out about what number of salt tablets they take, Childress says. Not solely are salt capsules pointless for athletes, however they’re additionally probably harmful.
Nevertheless, in case you’re nonetheless set on taking salt capsules, begin with a low dose, says Childress, and ensure you drink sufficient water with them. “You’re not going to have any hydration profit in case you’re taking salt capsules and never ingesting fluid. They go collectively,” Brown says.
Should you don’t assume salt capsules are well worth the hype, you’ll be able to skip them altogether. Brown recommends ingesting 16 ounces of fluid per hour that you simply’re figuring out. Should you’re a brilliant sweater, it’s possible you’ll wish to up that to (at most) 1 liter per hour, she provides.
A straightforward solution to examine your hydration ranges is by evaluating your urine. In case your pee is darkish otherwise you’re going to the lavatory much less incessantly than standard, you must improve your fluid consumption. Clear pee suggests you’re over-hydrated and will use some electrolytes, Brown says. The purpose is on your pee to appear to be gentle lemonade, she says.
Go for a Salty Snack or a Piece of Fruit
For these exercising no less than three hours or in sizzling situations, alternate between ingesting water and sports activities drinks to maintain your electrolytes in stability, Childress says. You may as well munch on water-rich vegatables and fruits like watermelon, cantaloupe, celery, or broccoli.
To revive your sodium ranges, as a substitute of a salt capsule, throw in one thing extra satisfying, like a bag of pretzels or salted nuts, unfold cheese on a couple of crackers, or seize some chips, she says.
Should you, like me, don’t hold monitor of your sweat or water consumption, then merely drink to thirst, suggests Childress. Lastly, if you wish to nail your hydration recreation, your finest guess is to speak to a sports activities dietitian. She explains, “It’s actually well worth the time and cash to fulfill with an expert who can run the sweat checks and design an individualized hydration technique.”
