Electrolytes and Mineral Salts: A Complete Guide to Sports Hydration

You’ve probably heard about them in sports drink ads, but do you really know what they do? Electrolytes are electrically charged minerals that regulate hydration, blood pH, and above all, muscle and nerve function.

But before explaining them in full detail, let’s start with the basics: what happens in our body when we begin physical activity or vigorous exercise?

What is hydration?

Hydration is an essential process to maintain fluid balance in the body and ensure proper physiological function during exercise. One of its main roles is dissipating body heat: when you move, your muscles generate heat and your body temperature rises.

To prevent overheating, the body activates regulatory mechanisms such as sweating, which allows heat to be released through evaporation. However, this process also involves the loss of water and electrolytes, making proper hydration key to maintaining performance and preventing physiological imbalances.

If this replacement is not done properly, symptoms such as fatigue, decreased performance, muscle cramps, or even more serious conditions like hyponatremia may occur.

Traditionally, it was said that a loss of 2% of body weight due to dehydration impaired performance. However, recent research in real competition settings suggests this threshold may be more flexible, reaching up to 3.5–4% in elite athletes.

Factors that influence your sweat rate

❌ Be careful! Avoid the practice of “wrapping yourself in plastic” to sweat more. You’ll only collapse your cooling system and risk heat stroke.

What are electrolytes and why are they so important?

When we talk about sports nutrition, we usually focus on macronutrients (proteins, carbohydrates, and fats). However, electrolytes (mineral salts) are just as critical for performance.

👉 The main electrolytes are: Sodium Potassium Chloride Magnesium Calcium.

They stand out for their essential functions:

✔️ Regulate hydration. ✔️ Enable muscle contraction. ✔️ Maintain nervous system balance.

Sodium is the primary electrolyte we lose. Hyponatremia occurs when blood sodium concentration drops below 135 mmol/L.

Some studies have examined sweat composition under different conditions (sauna or exercise) to establish ranges. Based on this, we can say that for every liter of sweat we may lose:

• Sodium: 413 – 1091 mg
• Potassium: 121 – 225 mg
• Calcium: 13 – 67 mg
• Magnesium: 4 – 34 mg
• Chloride: 533 – 1495 mg

Warning symptoms if loss is high:

• Headache and vomiting.
• Swelling (edema) in hands and feet.
• Confusion and extreme fatigue.
• In severe cases (<120 mmol/L), risk of coma or death.

⚠️ Warning! Hyponatremia symptoms can be confused with dehydration. If you try to treat it by drinking more water without salts (hypotonic drinks), you will worsen the situation due to dilution.

Recommendations to help prevent it (Hew-Butler et al., 2017):

How to assess hydration level?

You don’t need a lab. You can use the urine color test:

How to calculate sweat rate?

Sweat rate is simply the amount of sweat produced and lost per hour of activity. There is a simple method proposed by Lopez (2012).

Steps to follow:

1. Weight before training (kg).
2. Weight after training (kg).
3. Weight difference in grams (1 kg = 1000 g).
4. Add the fluid consumed during training (in ml).
5. Divide the total by the hours of activity.

👉Example: If you lost 1.1 kg and drank 500 ml in 1 hour, your rate is 1600 ml/h.

Recommended composition of electrolyte or mineral drinks

General recommendations focus on meeting carbohydrate and sodium requirements. In fact, EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) states that carbohydrate-electrolyte drinks should contain between 460 mg/L – 1150 mg/L of sodium.

Regarding the other electrolytes (chloride, calcium, and magnesium), amounts should aim to replace sweat losses. Some authors (Brouns, 1991) suggest:

Evolytes: why is its formula adapted for endurance athletes?

Sports nutrition experts agree that athletes in long-duration, high-intensity events can benefit from hydration and nutrition protocols that ensure adequate intake of water, salts, and carbohydrates.

To achieve this, athletes can find various products on the market designed for this purpose. The most common are:

• Carbohydrate and electrolyte drinks.
• Carbohydrate gels.
• Energy bars.

With a good strategy that includes these products, it is possible to meet requirements and maintain performance

Evolytes by SportSeries is a dietary supplement that provides mineral salts in appropriate amounts for optimal replenishment, designed to meet recommendations and requirements defined by official bodies and specialists. Each serving of Evolytes provides:

When and how to take Evolytes?

It is an ideal product to consume during exercise.

👉 Important: it allows you to complement electrolyte intake from gels, bars, and other recovery drinks.

Who can benefit from taking Evolytes?

✅ Buy Evolytes capsules without caffeine / with caffeine.

✅ Buy Evolytes powder.

Conclusions

If your training lasts more than 60–90 minutes, water alone is not enough.

Through sweat, you lose sodium (mainly), potassium, chloride, calcium, and magnesium (along with other minerals in smaller amounts), so it is important that recovery drinks contain these electrolytes in amounts aligned with those lost.

A hydration strategy that includes electrolytes not only prevents cramps and hyponatremia but also maintains performance and improves your mental state during critical moments of the event.

Do you already know your sweat rate? Start measuring it and adjust your Evolytes intake to cross the finish line in the best condition.

Sources

1. American College of Sports Medicine (2007). Exercise and fluid replacement.
2. Brouns (1991). Heat – sweat – dehydration – rehydration: a praxis oriented approach.
3. Hew-Butler (2017). Exercise-Associated-Hyponatremia: 2017 update.
4. Hopkins & Woods (2006). The optimum composition for endurance sports drinks.
5. Duvillard et al. (2004). Fluids and hydration in prolonged endurance performance.
6. Latzka (1999). Water and electrolyte requirements for exercise.
7. Lopez (2012). Exercise and hydration: individualizing fluid replacement guidelines.
8. McDermott et al. (2017). National Athletic Trainers’ Association Position Stand: Fluid replacement for the physically active.
9. Mettler & Mannhart (2017). Hydration, drinking and exercise performance.
10. Shirreffs & Sawka (2011). Fluid and electrolyte needs for training, competition and recovery.
11. AIS: Sports Drinks (carbohydrate-electrolyte drinks)
12. http://ec.europa.eu/food/safety/labelling_nutrition/claims/register/public/?event=search

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