The 9 Best Electrolyte Drinks, Tablets and Powders, Selected by an Expert Panel

Finish a workout, down a glass of water – it's standard procedure. But if you’re exercising for over an hour, at a high intensity or in hot conditions (i.e. when sweat loss is at its highest), then taking on the correct amount of electrolytes to replace what your body has lost can help to combat dehydration and reduce fatigue.

For that, you’ll want the best electrolyte supplements. They typically come in three forms: tablets and powders that you dissolve in water, or ready-to-drink products like cans. To help you decide which is best for your needs, we enlisted a panel of expert nutritionists, who tested dozens of electrolyte products to recommend the best options.

Best Electrolyte Supplements

• Best Electrolyte Tablets: SiS Go Hydro Tablets
• Best Natural Tasting Tablets: Healthspan Elite Electrolyte Tablets
• Best High Sodium Sachets: Puresport Ultra Electrolytes
• Best Sugar-Free Sachets: Humantra Zero Sugar Electrolyte Drink
• Best for Control: NutritionX Hydra 10 Hydration Sports Drink

What Are Electrolytes?

Electrolytes are essential salts and minerals that your body needs to stay hydrated. Sodium, magnesium, potassium, calcium and chloride are all electrolytes – when you sweat, your body loses them, and they need replacing, either through your regular diet, or during extended or intensive exercise via supplements.

'Electrolytes are found in cells all over your body, including the skin, brain and muscles, and they perform crucial processes to keep us alive,' explains David Wiener, training and nutrition specialist at fitness app Freeletics.

Low electrolyte levels can have a sizeable impact on your performance and recovery. 'Physical symptoms include dehydration, muscle cramping and weakness, headaches, nausea and lightheadedness,' Wiener says. 'Electrolyte imbalance can also impair cognitive function, affecting your mood, focus, coordination and reaction time.'

When to Take Electrolyte Supplements

If you’re taking on a big challenge or event, then Dr Sinead Roberts, owner and performance nutritionist at Feed.Fuel.Performance, says it’s important to salt up on the go. 'Electrolytes are absolutely crucial during endurance and ultra-endurance exercise, when you can’t wait until afterwards for salt, you need it to keep going,' she explains.

However, if you’re spending less than an hour exercising moderately, you're probably getting enough electrolytes from your daily food intake and therefore don't need to be consuming additional powders or drinks. Sophie Holmes, a fitness and nutrition coach, says the best way to recover after most exercise is with 'a balanced meal and plain water'. She recommends taking the extra step of reaching for foods that are rich in electrolytes, such as kale, spinach, broccoli, avocados, almonds and beans.

In short, think of electrolytes as ‘a tool, not a baseline requirement’, says Men’s Health fitness director Andrew Tracey when explaining when you do and don’t need electrolyte drinks. ‘Long, sweaty sessions, hot weather, two-a-day training, heavy sweaters, low-carb diets or episodes of vomiting/diarrhoea? Electrolytes can be worth it. Desk days, light training, British winter? Save your money, drink water, salt your food.’

Read More: Why Science is Warning Against Drinking Electrolytes Every Day

What to Consider

Sodium Content

Unless you take a sweat test, it’s difficult to know exactly how much sweat you lose during exercise and how salty your sweat is. Everyone is different: some athletes will lose as little as 200mg of sodium per litre of sweat, whereas others are capable of losing 2,000mg.

Using an online, algorithm-based questionnaire, like this one by Precision Hydration, can be a handy alternative. It’ll ask you questions like ‘do you have salt marks on your kit after exercise?’ and also take into account factors like your weight, age, the type and length of exercise you’re doing, and the conditions you’ll encounter. In lieu of a lab test, asking these questions can help you to estimate how much sodium you’ll likely need to replace per hour.

Armed with that information, you can make a more informed choice about which electrolyte supplement you need. Most contain between 300-500mg per serving.

Read More: Could a Higher Salt Intake Benefit Performance?

Other Electrolytes

Though sodium should be the focus when taking on electrolytes, it isn’t the only mineral that needs replacing. Potassium, magnesium and calcium are also lost through sweat, which is why the best electrolyte supplements tend to contain them in their products too. But when it comes to keeping your body hydrated, sodium is what matters most.

Carbohydrates

Electrolytes and carbohydrates are the two things you’ll want to keep topped up during endurance exercise, so it makes sense that some electrolyte supplements also contain a hit of fast-acting carbs in their ingredients. Amounts will vary between products, so pay attention to the packaging.

Packaging

How you plan to use your electrolyte powder should factor into the style of supplement you choose and the packaging it comes in. Ready-to-drink cans are great for keeping in the fridge at home or having in your gym bag. For endurance events, you’ll want something that you can prepare pre-race or while you’re running and carry in a soft flask. If you like to travel light day-to-day, pre-measured powdered sachets that you can empty into a water bottle are also a good option.

Testing

As with all sports nutrition products, choosing an electrolyte supplement that has been third-party tested will give you the peace of mind that it has exactly what it says it has inside and nothing that it doesn’t. Look for products with either an Informed Choice or Informed Sport accreditation if you want the assurance that each batch has been tested and is free from banned substances.

How We Selected

For our 2026, 2025 and 2024 Sports Nutrition Awards, we enlisted a panel of leading sports nutritionists – Rob Hobson, Tai Ibitoye, Lee Amico and Dr Sinead Roberts – to help us test a range of market-leading electrolyte products, including tablets, powders and drinks. Our expert squad eliminated any supplements that didn’t contain all the necessary minerals for optimum hydration.

Those that did earn their stamp of approval were submitted to a panel of editors, food testers and fitness fiends, who judged the products on flavour, texture and ease of use. You'll find our winners with the Sports Nutrition Awards logo below. The rest of the products in this round-up have previously tested and featured by our team.

The Best Electrolyte Drinks, Tablets and Powders