Ten years ago, electrolytes were largely the reserve of athletes and marathon runners (and people recovering from stomach bugs). But fast forward to today, and more and more of us are spiking our water with sweet and salty powders in a bid to boost our hydration. They’ve become a mainstay on “festival essentials” roundups, marketed as a silver bullet for hangovers. But that’s not all: wellness influencers on TikTok are swapping their morning coffees for electrolyte-infused water, with sachets from brands like Liquid IV and SULT becoming an increasingly common fixture in morning routine or ‘what’s in my bag’ videos.

The numbers speak for themselves: in 2022, global demand for “flavoured and functional water” was valued at $50.3 billion and is expected to balloon to $112.6 billion by 2030. But what actually are electrolytes? What are the benefits of taking them? And should we really be integrating them into our daily routines?

“Electrolytes are essential minerals in the blood that help with your body’s everyday function – such as sodium, potassium, chloride, bicarbonate, calcium, magnesium and phosphate,” explains doctor and marathon runner Dr Miranda Layton. “They help to regulate key functions like muscle contractions, heart rhythm, blood pressure, and hydration.” In other words, they’re essential for our bodies to work properly – and it’s a cause for concern if you’re losing too many.

“We lose electrolytes through sweat, urine and other fluids,” Dr Layton explains. Usually, we replace them naturally through the food and drink we consume, but sometimes our bodies can use a little extra help. Electrolytes, Dr Layton says, can be useful “in situations where you are losing large volumes of bodily fluids and, subsequently, salts” – for example, when doing intensive exercising (especially in hot weather or at high altitude) or if you’ve been having diarrhoea and/or vomiting. And while they’re not exactly a ‘miracle’ cure for hangovers, they can help if you’re dehydrated after a night of heavy drinking.

Outside of these circumstances, is there any benefit to taking electrolyte supplements every day? In short: no. “If you are eating a varied, balanced diet and are not sweating regularly for long periods of time, you probably don’t need to be taking electrolytes every day,” says Dr Layton. You probably don’t even need them if you regularly exercise. “Most regular exercisers are not working out for long enough or in warm enough conditions to warrant additional electrolytes over what they would obtain from their usual food intake,” adds Dr Stuart Galloway, Professor of Exercise Physiology and Sport Nutrition at the University of Stirling.

Plus, there are risks to overconsuming electrolytes. “The amounts of electrolytes in many commercial products are quite low, as they can impact palatability, and so these should not pose a risk,” Dr Galloway notes. But, as Dr Layton says, it’s not ideal to be taking electrolytes needlessly. “Most people will be getting sufficient electrolytes through the food they consume,” she stresses. “If you’re then adding supplements on top, especially without a clear reason, you could push your salt intake too high, which can lead to issues like high blood pressure or, in the short term, irregular heart rhythms.” She warns that “people with kidney disease, high blood pressure, or those who are pregnant” should be especially cautious and seek medical advice before using electrolyte supplements regularly.

The wellness industry is concerned with self-optimisation. Hydration is a crucial part of well-being, so electrolytes are largely perceived as a way of maximising that

Evidently, taking an electrolyte supplement is only necessary in very specific circumstances. But it’s easy to see why so many people have been led to believe that they ought to drink electrolytes daily. In recent years, interest in wellness has exploded, with many of us now conspicuously consuming products and services which promise to make us into ‘better’ versions of ourselves. Electrolytes are just the latest in a long line of such products. “The wellness industry is concerned with self-optimisation,” says Dr Stephanie Baker, reader in sociology at City, University of London. “Hydration is a crucial part of well-being, so electrolytes are largely perceived as a way of maximising that.” 

And electrolytes are not only touted as a means of staying hydrated – they’re also increasingly being marketed as having the power to make your skin glow, improve your cognitive function, and even combat low libido. But many of these claims can be misleading: for example, while it is true that hydration is key to maintaining your cognitive function and alleviating dry skin, electrolytes won’t do much to ‘improve’ these areas unless you’re dehydrated to begin with. Dr Layton is also extremely sceptical about one advert’s implication that taking electrolytes can make women ‘wetter’. “This is a huge reach,” she says. “Being well hydrated won't make you ‘wetter’ during sex. Being dehydrated can worsen vaginal dryness if you are prone to this – but drinking enough water throughout the day is usually sufficient for promoting good health down there.”

The electrolyte boom is also happening in tandem with our culture’s mounting obsession with hydration. “Hydration has been a hot topic in the wellness space for decades, but since 2022 there has been growing interest in the topic,” adds Dr Baker. Take the Stanley cups craze, where a 100-year-old US vacuum flask brand went viral on social media, prompting revenue to surge from $70 million in 2019 to over $750 million in 2023. Or the concordant growth of WaterTok, where TikTok creators fill said Stanleys with water mixed with zero-calorie, zero-sugar syrups and powders. While most electrolytes aren’t high in artificial ingredients like these sorts of products (which are only really popular in the US), it’s easy to see how they tap into this new taste for ‘elevated’ water.

The electrolytes trend arrived on the scene in almost exactly the same way as most other wellness trends: the industry manufactured an anxiety (“we’re all dehydrated!”), and is now selling the supposed ‘solution’ back to us (“buy electrolytes!”). But the electrolytes trend in particular speaks volumes about the state of our hyperconsumerist society: we’ve got to a stage where we’ve allowed ourselves to be convinced that a resource as simple and fundamental as water is no longer ‘good enough’. But plain old water has been good enough for millennia, just as it’s good enough for us now – and we’d all do well to remember that. The NHS recommends between six to eight glasses of fluid a day – tea, coffee, and sugar-free drinks all count too – so strive for that, instead of worrying about buying expensive tablets and powders. “If you’re in situations where you’re losing a lot of fluids, then yes, electrolytes can help,” Dr Layton surmises. “But more doesn’t always mean better – and it’s always worth questioning health claims that sound too good to be true.”