How Our Electrolytes Stack Up

The Need for Electrolytes

Electrolytes are a popular supplement these days, and for good reason. Not only are our soils more mineral and nutrient-depleted than they ever have been, but our water is often devoid of good minerals and often contaminated with toxins. Many have turned to reverse-osmosis water or distilled water to clean out their water from unwanted microscopic pollutants, but this leaves the water essentially dead, in a form the body does not recognize and can’t use to effectively hydrate. Water void of all or most minerals will actually pull minerals away from key jobs in our body to balance the empty water with minerals in a process called osmosis, which can leave us depleted.

Plus things like sweating and stress burn up our minerals as well. Add in a fear of salt that has been applied to all salt, not just the refined salt (like iodized salt) that most are used to using, and we start to see an issue arising. On top of that, there are also people guzzling water by the cup to meet a gallon a day due to popular fitness challenges and misinformed ideas that may actually be depleting them further of electrolytes, and now we have a crisis developing.

Electrolytes are key to hydration, ensuring that there is a proper flow of water and nutrients into the cell and waste flowing out of the cells, helping with muscle contraction, and more. We know we need them, but the question now becomes, which one do we choose in a market saturated with colorful and trendy powders and flavor options?

So, we come to the crux of this blogpost; how does our Clean Electrolytes stack up against the competition, and why should you give them a shot? Well, we are so glad you asked! Let’s explore further. First we will start out with the competition.

Popular Sports Drinks

There are several popular sports drinks brands on the market, often consumed on the field. Most are brightly colored with artificial colorings, which can cause nervous system excitement for some. Usually they are highly sweetened with sugar (sometimes artificial, sometimes real sugar – though stripped of all its minerals). The minerals are often isolated minerals put together in a lab, like potassium chloride, and hand selected in an amount of about 4-6 minerals. Trace minerals are often completely missing. Minerals are a delicate balancing act, where the ratios of each mineral often corresponds to another and taking too high of one mineral can deplete the opposing mineral over time (like too much calcium without magnesium will drive magnesium down in the long run).

Sometimes sports drinks contain added ingredients that the average person would have never even imagined would be in there. Prior to 2013, a leading sports drink brand was using brominated vegetable oil as an emulsifier in certain citrus drinks to keep the flavoring evenly suspended in the liquid concoction. Bromide exists in many things these days, as it has flame retardant properties (like in furniture for example) and can deplete our body’s stores of iodine over time. Iodine is a precious trace mineral that most have a hard time getting enough of in the modern world.

Salt-Based Electrolytes

Salt-based electrolytes have become big in health circles, especially the Paleo and Keto world. I think salt is key to a functioning body and the body does need a certain amount to function properly. Our cells’ fluid is regulated by a balance of sodium and potassium. The key is that you want unrefined sea salt with the trace minerals still intact. Excess salt can pose a higher health hazard when it has been stripped down to sodium chloride, removing the trace minerals that are usually included and leaving a foreign substance to be processed by the body. The issue with salt-based electrolytes is not everyone may need all that excess sodium, and often times even these electrolytes still have flavorings and citric acid. Citric acid can come from gmo-corn, so you need to know your sources.

If you sweat a lot in your workouts or in the sauna, including some extra salt in your diet can be beneficial to replace the sodium you have lost. However, you can increase the salt you put on your food to help make up the difference.

Popular Flavored Electrolyte Mixes

There are plenty of other flavored electrolyte powder and stick packs on the market. These often contain isolated minerals mixed together and are lacking trace minerals, and rarely come from a whole food source. Sometimes coconut water powder is used, which is a step up. Citric acid and malic acid is often used to give the electrolytes a sour, fruity flavor, and natural flavorings are often used with a sweetener. For some, those may be fine. I know for me, a lot of these mixes make my stomach sick, so it makes these type of electrolytes hard to consume.

Clean Electrolytes from Goat Whey

What sets Clean Electrolytes apart from the rest of the products on the market is that all the electrolytes are coming from a whole-food source: goat whey. (Goat whey is rich in minerals, but also has some protein that gets separated out into its own product in our Clean Whey Protein.) Traditionally whey is the mineral rich, liquid that is left after making cheese.

Goat milk is one of the easiest to digest foods and has been termed the “universal milk” in that many animals and humans can thrive on its nutrition! It is more alkalizing, contains smaller fat and protein molecules, and is less-allergenic than cow milk. Goat milk and goat whey are also high in potassium, which shows in the end result of our Clean Electrolytes. An average serving is over 680 mg of potassium! While your body couldn’t handle that amount of potassium if taken in the isolated potassium chloride form, it can easily use potassium coming from a whole food that the body better recognizes. If you aren’t eating enough fruits and veggies, your diet is lacking in potassium. While you could always add more salt to your diet on foods or in your drinks, eating enough potassium when you are on the go all the time can be difficult.

Clean Electrolytes isn’t flavored or sweetened. There are no preservatives added, no citric or malic acids added, or anything else that would be irritating to a sensitive stomach. The other upside is it is rich in trace minerals too! It contains the macro minerals and electrolytes of calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium, and chloride, but also contains the trace minerals boron, copper, iron, iodine, manganese, silicon, strontium, zinc, and a few more!