Are Sports Drinks Good for Electrolytes on Keto?
Quick answer: Not really. Sports drinks and flavour drops do contain electrolytes, but not much per glass, and the regular versions bring sugar you're trying to avoid. To get a day's worth of sodium from them you'd be drinking them all day, and peeing some of it back out as you go. Salting your food and a cup or two of broth do the job better and cheaper (video -dHjt_Bpruk).
On this page
- The myth: a sports drink covers your electrolytes
- Do the label arithmetic yourself
- Why keto makes the gap bigger
- Where a sports drink does earn its place
- What works better: salt, broth and greens
- What the research says
- KetoDick's take
- When to involve your doctor
- Key takeaways
- Related
The myth: a sports drink covers your electrolytes
The idea goes like this: you're tired or crampy on keto, someone says "electrolytes", and the only place most of us have ever heard that word is on a sports-drink bottle. So you buy a zero-sugar version or a squeeze bottle of flavour drops, have a glass a day, and figure you're covered.
KetoDick's point is that most people can't even name the electrolytes they're supposedly topping up (video -dHjt_Bpruk). There are four that matter here: sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium. Once you call them by name, it gets a lot easier to see where each one actually comes from (video lbRPlGZ3Rvw).
What holds up: sports drinks do contain some sodium and potassium. What doesn't: the idea that one glass, or even a few, gets you anywhere near a day's need.
Do the label arithmetic yourself
You don't need to take anyone's word for this. Grab the bottle or the drops and look at the back.
- Find the sodium in milligrams per serving.
- Pick a daily figure. The U.S. reference bodies put the sodium "adequate intake" at 1,500 mg a day and say to cut back if you're above 2,300 mg (NASEM 2019). KetoDick aims higher, around 5,000 mg (video -dHjt_Bpruk). More on that gap below.
- Divide the daily figure by the per-serving number. That's how many servings it would take.
When he ran this kind of check, his conclusion was that you'd end up drinking almost all of your fluids as electrolyte drinks to hit a recommended daily amount (video lbRPlGZ3Rvw). For the flavour drops, he put it more bluntly: you'd have to drink them continuously to meet your goal (from the video -dHjt_Bpruk).
And remember the water you're drinking them in. Every trip to the bathroom passes some of the salt you just took in (video RGfWR5jQNDQ). More on that in Can You Drink Too Much Water on Keto?.
Why keto makes the gap bigger
On a regular diet you don't think about salt because it's hiding in everything: bread, chips, pretzels, mashed potatoes, sauces. KetoDick's explanation is that when processed food and starches leave your plate, most of that salt leaves with them (video -dHjt_Bpruk).
Then two more things stack up, as he tells it. In ketosis your body hangs on to less salt, and people on keto tend to drink more water, so more of it gets flushed (video -dHjt_Bpruk). The full mechanism is in Why Do I Pee So Much on Keto?.
So you start with less salt coming in and more going out. A glass of flavoured water a day doesn't close that.
Where a sports drink does earn its place
He isn't against them entirely. In the 2017 video he says there's some use in a pediatric electrolyte drink or a zero-sugar sports drink when you have cramps or low energy right now and want relief fast (video lbRPlGZ3Rvw). In the 2018 video he notes that electrolytes act quickly: a drink in the morning should have you feeling better before lunch (video -dHjt_Bpruk).
So the honest version is: a sports drink can be a rescue, not a plan. If you reach for one every afternoon, that's a sign your daily salt is short.
What works better: salt, broth and greens
The boring answers win here, and they're cheap.
- Salt your food properly. He says most people can get their sodium this way (video lbRPlGZ3Rvw).
- Broth or bouillon. In 2018 he described his own routine: a chicken bouillon cube in a cup of hot water three times a day, each cup with about a quarter teaspoon of potassium-chloride salt added. By his numbers that comes to roughly 3,300 mg of sodium and 1,800 mg of potassium a day (video -dHjt_Bpruk). His beginners' video suggests salted broth once or twice a day (video UygKGoP_BtA). See Broth for Keto Flu.
- Light salt for potassium. Light salt is part sodium chloride, part potassium chloride (video lbRPlGZ3Rvw). More in Light Salt and Potassium Chloride.
- Leafy greens for magnesium and calcium. That's his preferred source for those two (video lbRPlGZ3Rvw). See Magnesium on Keto.
Pink Himalayan salt doesn't get his vote; for the same sodium it takes the biggest pile (video -dHjt_Bpruk). That's covered in Is Pink Himalayan Salt Better?.
What the research says
The reference bodies set sodium lower than KetoDick does. The National Academies give 1,500 mg a day as adequate and 2,300 mg as the level above which to reduce (NASEM 2019). The American Heart Association says no more than 2,300 mg, with 1,500 as an "optimal goal" for most adults, and notes that 1,500 may not apply to people who lose a lot of sodium in sweat (AHA).
His higher figure lines up with a different strand. The PURE study, about 102,000 people in 17 countries, found that sodium intakes of 3 to 6 g a day were associated with fewer deaths and cardiovascular events than intakes above or below that range (O'Donnell 2014). That's an observational result, and sodium was estimated from one morning urine sample, which is part of why it's debated. See The PURE Study and Sodium, Explained.
On potassium, the National Academies set an adequate intake of 2,600 mg a day for women and 3,400 mg for men (NASEM 2019). He quotes 4,700 mg as the RDA (video -dHjt_Bpruk), which is higher than the current figure. A large trial in rural China found a potassium-enriched salt substitute lowered stroke, major cardiovascular events and death (Neal 2021), and the WHO suggests those substitutes except for people at risk of high potassium (WHO).
None of the sources behind this page measured sports drinks on keto. The case against them as a daily plan is the label arithmetic, not a trial.
KetoDick's take
He's said it in more than one video: sports drinks and flavour drops contain less than people think, and relying on them overstates their benefit (videos lbRPlGZ3Rvw, -dHjt_Bpruk). If you're tired doing ordinary things on keto, walking, chores, chasing kids, his first guess is electrolytes, not keto itself (video -dHjt_Bpruk). That's the subject of Why Am I So Tired on Keto?.
Where he and the reference bodies part ways is the sodium target. He aims for about 5,000 mg; the National Academies and the AHA say 2,300 mg is the line to stay under. Both are stated here so you can take the question to your doctor with the numbers in hand.
When to involve your doctor
He's specific about this. Talk to your doctor before taking potassium or magnesium pills, or making big changes to your salt, especially with any kidney or heart history (video lbRPlGZ3Rvw). He says the old 3,500 mg limit probably doesn't apply to you unless you're on blood pressure medication or your doctor has given you a sodium warning (video -dHjt_Bpruk). If either is true, his 5,000 mg figure is not for you to adopt on your own. He also points out that many people with pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes have some kidney impairment they may not know about (video lbRPlGZ3Rvw).
If your hands or feet start swelling, he reads that as too much salt (video lbRPlGZ3Rvw).
Key takeaways
- Sports drinks and flavour drops contain electrolytes, but not much per serving; one glass a day doesn't cover you.
- Do the label arithmetic: daily target divided by milligrams per serving.
- Keto removes the hidden salt in starches and processed food, so the gap is real.
- Use a sports drink as a quick rescue for cramps, not as your plan.
- Salt your food, add broth, use light salt, eat your greens.
- Sodium targets differ: 1,500 to 2,300 mg from the reference bodies, about 5,000 mg from KetoDick. Check yours with your doctor if you have kidney, heart or blood pressure issues.