Should Cyclists Add Electrolyte Tablets To Their Water Bottle?
Jul 20, 2023Sodium is the major electrolytes that we lose through sweat. It plays a key role in regulating fluid balance in the body.
Sweat is hypotonic to plasma. Which means that the sodium content of the sweat we lose is less than that in the blood, particuarly as trained athletes. So as we sweat, the concentration of sodium within the body actually increases.
Unless we consume enough fluid to offset a large proportion of our fluid loses, then we are not going to get anywhere even close to diluting the sodium within our plasma (the liquid component of blood), so there is little requirement for sodium.
Thanks to some very clever modelling from Mccubbin., (2022) we now know that to maintain the sodium concentration within the body, we only need to look to supplement with sodium when we are exercising for longer than 4hrs, when we have a sweat rate beyond 1.8 litres per hour, and we are looking to replace beyond 70% of the fluid lose. Otherwise, we can just season to taste.
- Coach Ben
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