…I learned ages about using sodium citrate powder for electrolytes - cheap as chips and can barely taste it. I add ~1/4 teaspoon of this to any bidons of plain water…
For an overseas cycling trip, I’m wary of carrying unlabelled bags of white powder in my flight luggage, so I was looking for an off-the-shelf branded electrolyte powder sachet or effervescent tablet that I could use just for the trip, which was unflavoured and with no artificial sweeteners, ie. just the salts, and in some convenient single-dose packaging that avoids any faffing.
I assumed there’d be a bunch of such products but my online searching at UK retailers so far has drawn a blank…
I’m sure I’m being a bit dim. Could anyone point me to a product that fits the bill?
Thanks. Their effervescent tabs seem to have sucralose in them (shame!), but the packets of powder are sweetener-free and look like they’d do the job. Cheers.
I just found these a couple of weeks ago. I’ve used a couple of flavors, and none are particularly sweet. The “Raw unflavored” are just that, no flavors or sweetener. Mixed in a big (28oz?) bottle one packet leaves the water slightly salty, but not unpleasant. I don’t have enough use yet to recommend for or against their electrolyte performance.
I use them and can confirm they are not sweet. If anything there’s a bit if sourness/tang to them. Cheap per serve too. Wiggle is UK based so delivery should be easy.
Thanks. There’s no ingredients listed for them on the new website, but all are flavoured and so almost certainly contain sweeteners (and I can see that only one of them doesn’t have caffeine), so not suitable for my use.
NB Wiggle’s new website is a catastrophe - the near-useless search function means their sales must be plummeting. What a shambles!
fwiw I brought mixed carb/ electrolyte mix (and whey protein) with me on flights to Belgium for Flanders, and am thinking the same for Raid Alpine. I’ve actually brought protein on flights in a shaker (unmixed).
I use Bulk Powders for Electrolyte Powder - unflavoured. It’s €10 for 100g (also available in 500g and kg bags), and currently 45% with a €35 spend on their Irish site - I assume that mirrors a similar deal on their UK site.
High5 Zero neutral flavour still contain sorbitol, why the hell can’t a sports drink manufacturer make an electrolyte tab with plain old sugar and no sweeteners?
Yeah, I’d noticed the use of sorbitol as a bulking agent.
At home my electrolyte of choice is sodium citrate powder, paying £10 for a 500g tub. Used at a rate of ~1/4 teaspoon per bottle gives ~200 servings at 5p each, with the added benefit that the water still tastes like water.
Why sell people something simple and inexpensive like that, when you can convince them to shell out 10-30x that amount? Same thing with the use of regular table sugar for energy drinks…
NB I received the tube of High5 tabs and they taste too acidic for my liking (& teeth). I may shift to plan B and just take some cafe sachets of table salt (& sugar) on my trip!
60g of table sugar and 1/4tsp of salt per fuel bottle, same salt just 15g sugar for a hydration bottle, is working just fine for me.
Crazy thing if someone marketed an electrolyte tab made with real sugar/maltdextrin and a bit of natural flavouring I’d pay for it. I just can’t stomach the taste of saccahrin, acesulfame, sorbitol, sucralose, stevia etc.
I may shift to plan B and just take some cafe sachets of table salt (& sugar) on my trip!
That’s exactly what I did on my last trip, I took my empty bottles to breakfast at the hotel and added sugar from the sachets at coffee station and a pinch of salt from cellars on the table.
I think others have mentioned similar, but I always have unlabeled (but portioned) bags of drink mix in my luggage and have never had an issue. I’ve had it in both checked and carry-on luggage and been through security well over 100 times without issue, both in the US and EU/ UK (through LHR multiple times a year).
Yeah, we just launched FuelRodz about six weeks ago, and it was basically born out of a hatred of baggies of powder on the go and everything that came alone with it. Similarly, I had a “Surely this must exist” moment, but it didn’t.
FuelRodz aren’t just electrolytes though; by design, it’s comprehensive carbs + electrolytes. Effervescence, sucrose, maltodextrin, and electrolytes. We’ve looked into the self-dissolving electrolyte tablets and may do something in that space eventually (it’s far down the roadmap) but we’re focusing on fully launching the nutrition powder alternative right now as that’s what we feel most strongly about.
Yes, I think that’s exactly what I’ll do too.