Author Topic: Electrolyte tablets  (Read 2155 times)

Electrolyte tablets
« on: 17 April, 2019, 05:50:42 pm »
Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but...

I've just noticed that on tubes of electrolyte tablets it says "Maximum 3 tablets in 24 hours" and I'm puzzled why. Surely if you're riding all day and trying to keep fluids and electrolytes topped up you'd need more than three given that they say "One tablet in a 500ml water bottle".

I have sports drink powder which also contains electrolytes yet they have no such warning about maximum dosage.

Could someone enlighten me...?

You're only as successful as your last 1200...

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: Electrolyte tablets
« Reply #1 on: 17 April, 2019, 06:05:50 pm »
You should probably not exceed 6g sodium chloride and a similar amount of potassium chloride in 24 hours UNLESS you are exerting and sweating round the clock.

Purveyors of supplements are naturally cautious as it's far easier to OD on their wares than to eat 10 bananas.

Re: Electrolyte tablets
« Reply #2 on: 17 April, 2019, 06:33:38 pm »
You should probably not exceed 6g sodium chloride and a similar amount of potassium chloride in 24 hours UNLESS you are exerting and sweating round the clock.

Well, I do sweat when cycling/walking/exercising - a Lot! In the gym I'll do, for example, an hour on the cross-trainer and have to keep changing t-shirts every 20 or 30 minutes because they are soaked through. I find that if I don't add an electrolyte tablet to my drink bottle then I almost invariably get cramp when I go for my (half hour) post-workout swim.

Any clues as to how to figure out much sodium/potassium chloride to take when on a long-distance ride if, say, I'm exerting myself for 12-ish hours out of 24?
You're only as successful as your last 1200...

Phil W


hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: Electrolyte tablets
« Reply #4 on: 17 April, 2019, 07:14:20 pm »
You should probably not exceed 6g sodium chloride and a similar amount of potassium chloride in 24 hours UNLESS you are exerting and sweating round the clock.

Any clues as to how to figure out much sodium/potassium chloride to take when on a long-distance ride if, say, I'm exerting myself for 12-ish hours out of 24?

Clues yes, definite advice is another matter!

If your urine output is normal in quantity, your other water losses will be mostly sweat and a bit in the breath.

Most of your EXTRA drinking will be through sweat. You will know how many bottles you are drinking.

There is more salt in untrained athletes's sweat than in trained folk. I can't remember how much salt there is in sweat so will look this up...

Re: Electrolyte tablets
« Reply #5 on: 17 April, 2019, 08:09:28 pm »
The latest Trainer Road Podcast I listened to discussed ‘sweat tests’ to determine mineral loss. This is an American show, so I don’t know if it can be done in the U.K. but it CAN be done at least. I found it interesting as I am a heavy sweater and I leave ‘tide marks’ on my clothes just like their head coach Chad Timmerman. Until he had a sweat test, he struggled with cramp. He even had an 18 hour long episode where he wished he could have cut off his own legs it was so excruciating. Once his issue was addressed from the tests and he knew how to ‘salt up’ he has never had cramp since.

The same show also discussed ‘pee tests’. The colour charts are a waste of time, but the tabs you actually pee on are quite accurate.

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: Electrolyte tablets
« Reply #6 on: 17 April, 2019, 08:58:36 pm »
I also made tide marks. Wiki states 0.9g Na per litre sweat, which is around 2¼ g so about half a teaspoon of salt per litre should be OK if you're not eating salt.

Re: Electrolyte tablets
« Reply #7 on: 17 April, 2019, 10:19:22 pm »
You could try

https://www.precisionhydration.com/pages/why-personalise-your-hydration-strategy

Two years ago (i.e. before LEL) I contacted Precision Hydration to get a sweat test done. I never heard back from them though :(


Clues yes, definite advice is another matter!

That's why I only asked for clues  ;D I don't expect specific advice.

And, if I die in a bizarre sweat-related incident, I promise I will not sue.

There is more salt in untrained athletes's sweat than in trained folk.

That's interesting. Do you have a source for that?
You're only as successful as your last 1200...

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: Electrolyte tablets
« Reply #8 on: 18 April, 2019, 12:13:08 am »
Clues yes, definite advice is another matter!
That's why I only asked for clues  ;D I don't expect specific advice.
And, if I die in a bizarre sweat-related incident, I promise I will not sue.
There is more salt in untrained athletes's sweat than in trained folk.
That's interesting. Do you have a source for that?

Unfortunately, this is something I remember from a Sports Medicine lecture and I have No Clue as to its provenance or veracity... sorry!

Re: Electrolyte tablets
« Reply #9 on: 21 April, 2019, 08:07:22 pm »
There is more salt in untrained athletes's sweat than in trained folk.

That's interesting. Do you have a source for that?
I'd guess it's a matter of sweating a lot regularly rather than athleticism as such.
I've heard the same about moving to a hot climate - that after a while, you acclimatise and sweat out less salts than you did to start with.

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: Electrolyte tablets
« Reply #10 on: 21 April, 2019, 08:15:47 pm »
In my experience, this happens, at least to all of my immediate family. On initially moving to a much hotter region, tide marks on clothes and salt cravings. After adaption, not so much of either.
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...