If you walk into any gym or class this summer, you’ll probably spot them, little sachets of colourful powders, fizzy tablets dissolving in water bottles and influencers insisting they can’t survive a workout without their daily electrolyte hit. It seems to be everywhere!

So it’s a fair question, and one quite a few of you have asked me recently:

When it’s hot and you’re sweating buckets, do you actually need electrolytes… or is it just clever marketing?

The honest answer is… it depends.

Let’s cut through the BS!

First of all… what actually are electrolytes?

Nothing mysterious! Electrolytes are minerals, mainly sodium (salt), along with potassium, magnesium and calcium that help your muscles contract and your nerves send signals, so your body maintains the right balance of fluids. Every time you sweat, you lose some of them.

The mineral you lose the most is sodium, and how much you lose varies hugely from person to person. Some people barely lose any, while others finish a workout with white salt marks on their clothes.

For most workouts, water is all you need

Here’s the part the adverts don’t shout about.

If you’re exercising for around an hour or less, have eaten normally during the day and you’re reasonably healthy, plain water is usually enough.

Your body is remarkably clever. Your kidneys constantly regulate your fluid and mineral balance, and a normal healthy diet already provides far more electrolytes than most of us realise.

A 45-minute strength session, pilates class, bootcamp or brisk walk in warm weather simply isn’t enough to leave the average person dangerously low in electrolytes.

So before spending £3/£4 on a fancy hydration drink, ask yourself…

Do I actually need this?

When electrolytes genuinely earn their place

This is where they stop being marketing and become genuinely useful.

Electrolytes can help if you’re:

• Exercising continuously for longer than 90 minutes.

• Training or competing in very hot and humid conditions.

• Sweating heavily (especially if you notice white salt stains on your clothes or skin).

• Taking part in endurance events like marathons, long bike rides or triathlons.

• Recovering after prolonged sweating or significant fluid loss, such as after sickness bug.

If that’s you, replacing both water and sodium can help maintain hydration and support performance. And no… you don’t necessarily need an expensive branded drink.

A normal meal with a little salt, or a simple electrolyte drink, will usually do the job perfectly well. I sometimes put half a teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of sugar in my water and that is just as good (and cheaper) as a branded drink.

What about muscle cramps?

For years we blamed muscle cramps on low electrolytes. Interestingly, the latest research suggests it’s not that simple. Fatigue, muscle overload, lack of conditioning and exercising harder than your muscles are used to all appear to play a much bigger role. So if your calf cramps halfway through bootcamp, don’t automatically assume you need electrolytes. It may simply be your muscles telling you they’ve had enough!

Can you have too many electrolytes?

Yes… and this is the bit the marketing rarely mentions, but is important to know.

For healthy people, having the occasional electrolyte drink isn’t harmful. But if you’re drinking them every day after relatively short workouts, you’re probably consuming minerals your body doesn’t actually need.

Many electrolyte products are high in sodium and some sports drinks are also packed with sugar. More isn’t better, your body simply works to get rid of what it doesn’t need. If you have high blood pressure, kidney disease or certain heart conditions, regularly consuming extra sodium without medical advice isn’t recommended. Like most things in nutrition, balance is key (boring, but true!)

So what’s my advice?

Keep it simple.

Drink regularly throughout the day.

Drink water before, during and after most exercise sessions.

Eat a healthy, balanced diet.

Save electrolyte drinks for the long, hot or particularly sweaty sessions where they’re genuinely beneficial.

Most of the time, your body is perfectly capable of looking after itself.

Finally…

The average recreational exerciser loses far more water than electrolytes during a typical 45–60 minute workout.

Current sports nutrition research suggests that for most people, replacing the water is far more important than replacing the electrolytes.

So unless you’re exercising for a prolonged period, sweating heavily or training in extreme heat, your body is likely getting everything it needs from a bottle of water and your next meal

Hope that helps