Replace lost salts and minerals while staying hydrated with the best electrolyte drinks – as tested by our expert nutritionist.
Electrolyte drinks help replenish the naturally occurring salts and minerals that help balance our bodies’ fluids. These get depleted through exercise, most notably through sweating. The best electrolyte drinks often also contain carbohydrates and other nutrients to help you stay hydrated and to improve recovery.
But not all electrolyte drinks are created equal. It pays to consider the amount of the electrolytes potassium, chloride and particularly sodium in each drink, which help with preventing cramping, aiding muscle contraction and supporting hydration respectively.
If you’re not a heavy sweater, or need to reduce your intake of sodium for health reasons, you might want an electrolyte drink with lower sodium levels (say, less than 250mg per serving).
How we tested
Nutritionist Rob Hobson has tested eight of the best electrolyte drinks to help you find the right one to support your hydration and recovery needs. An award-winning, registered nutritionist and sports nutritionist with over 15 years of experience, Rob is a distinguished expert in the fields of nutrition, health, and sports.
During the testing process, Rob tested each electrolyte drink for taste, solubility and effectiveness in terms of their hydration and nutritional benefits. Check out his roundup, and full reviews, below.
Why you can trust Men’s Fitness
We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best.
Find out more about how we test
Best electrolyte drinks according to our nutritionist
Best for:
| Natural ingredients | Nuun Hydration Sport |
| Taste | Skratch Labs Hydration Sport Drink Mix |
| Long workouts | Gu Hydration Tablets |
| Everyday hydration | Ultima Replenisher Electrolyte Powder |
| Replenishing sodium | SIS Go Hydro |
| Sugar-free hydration | High 5 Zero |
| Low sodium hydration | Hux Hydration Tablets |
| Budget-friendly hydration | MyEndurance Hydr8 |
| On-the-go hydration | Powerbar 5 Electrolytes |
Nuun Hydration Sport
Best for natural ingredients
SQUIRREL_TEXT_12984153
| Serving size: | 1 tablet in 475ml water |
| Sodium per serving: | 300mg |
| Price per serving: | 65p |
| Flavours: | 13 flavours available (4 caffeinated) |
Taste: 4/5
Solubility: 5/5
Effectiveness: 4.5/5
OVERALL: 4.5/5
With a good range of flavours, and available with or without caffeine, these mini tubes from Nuun are ideal for hydrating on the go. I found they dissolved well in water and didn’t require any shaking. I also liked how they have the most natural ingredients list of any product I tested, including natural sweeteners and colouring.
- Read our full Nuun Hydration Sport review
Skratch Labs Hydration Sport Drink Mix
Best for taste
SQUIRREL_TEXT_12951031
| Serving size: | 1 scoop to bottle of water |
| Sodium per serving: | 800mg |
| Price per serving: | £1.39 |
| Flavours: | 8 available |
Taste: 4.5/5
Solubility: 4.5/5
Effectiveness: 4.5/5
OVERALL: 4.5/5
One of the best-tasting electrolyte drinks I had the pleasure of testing. Each serving contains a hefty 800mg of sodium, so it’s perfect for heavy, salty sweaters. I found this drink to not only be refreshing but also effective at increasing energy, making it beneficial as both an intra-workout and recovery drink. There are also an impressive eight flavours available, with each one providing a nice, hydrating option at the end of a tough workout.
- Read our full Skratch Labs Hydration Sport Drink Mix review
GU Hydration Tablets
Best for long workouts
SQUIRREL_TEXT_12984182
| Serving size: | 1 tablet in 750ml water |
| Sodium per serving: | 320mg |
| Price per serving: | 55p |
| Flavours: | Lemon and lime, three berries, orange, strawberry lemonade |
Taste: 4.5/5
Solubility: 5/5
Effectiveness: 4.5/5
OVERALL: 4.5/5
Ideal for larger bottles and longer sessions, GU tablets will see you through intense or prolonged training. I found the tablet combined well in water and didn’t require any additional shaking to combine. There’s a good amount of electrolytes in the mix, especially sodium, and I enjoyed the punchy flavours, but they may be a bit too intense for some people.
- Read our full GU Hydration Tablets review
Ultima Replenisher electrolyte powder
Best for everyday hydration
SQUIRREL_TEXT_12888833
| Serving size: | 1 tablet in 450ml water |
| Sodium per serving: | 55mg |
| Price per serving: | 77p |
| Flavours: | 9 available |
Taste: 3.5/5
Solubility: 5/5
Effectiveness: 3.5/5
OVERALL: 4/5
In powder rather than tablet form, this vitamin C-rich drink is ideal for everyday hydration and wellness. There’s a good mix of electrolytes and a range of nine moreish flavours to choose from (I loved the raspberry and pink lemonade flavours). However, as they are sugar-free, I found the favours to be milder than other options I tested, so these may not be popular with those who prefer a stronger, more flavoursome electrolyte.
- Read our full Ultima Replenisher review
SIS Go Hydro
Best for replenishing sodium
SQUIRREL_TEXT_12888331
| Serving size: | 1 tablet in 500ml water |
| Sodium per serving: | 870mg |
| Price per serving: | 40p |
| Flavours: | 13 available |
Taste: 5/5
Solubility: 5/5
Effectiveness: 5/5
OVERALL: 5/5
We all know Science In Sport is a brand driven by scientific data, so it knows a thing or two about optimal hydration. Its Go Hydro range has the highest sodium content per serving of any electrolyte drink I tested and it’s also one of the most reasonably priced. I tried the strawberry and lime flavour, which was light and refreshing with a slight tang. The tablets also dissolved quickly in water without the need for any additional shaking.
- Read our full SIS Go Hydro review
High 5 Zero
Best for sugar-free hydration
SQUIRREL_TEXT_12984206
| Serving size: | 1 tablet in 750ml water |
| Sodium per serving: | 250mg |
| Price per serving: | 40p |
| Flavours: | 9 available |
Taste: 4.5/5
Solubility: 5/5
Effectiveness: 5/5
OVERALL: 5/5
Another trusted player in the sports nutrition market, High 5 is the go-to brand for many endurance runners, including many members of the Men’s Fitness team. It’s a good choice if you’re training for extended periods as one tablet is enough for a 750ml water bottle. They may be free of sugar, but these tabs are full of flavour – I tried the citrus flavour, which offered a nice balance of sweetness and tanginess.
- Read our full High 5 Zero review
Hux Hydration Tablets
Best for low sodium hydration
| Serving size: | 2 tablets in 200ml water |
| Sodium per serving: | 116mg |
| Price per serving: | 70p |
| Flavours: | Lemon and elderflower, ginger and lemongrass, watermelon |
Taste: 5/5
Solubility: 4.5/5
Effectiveness: 4/5
OVERALL: 4.5/5
Hux tablets are a good low-sodium option and are more suited to general hydration and wellness than intense workout sessions. They have a good mix of electrolytes as well as a pleasantly sweet and tangy flavour. The tablets also dissolved quickly in water. I reckon you could dilute them further if you needed more fluid and they would still retain the flavour.
- Read our full Hux Hydration Tablets review
MyEndurance Hydr8
Best for budget-friendly hydration
SQUIRREL_TEXT_12951032
| Serving size: | 1 tablet in 400ml water |
| Sodium per serving: | 345mg |
| Price per serving: | 25p |
| Flavour: | Orange |
Mixability: 4/5
Effectiveness: 4.5/5
OVERALL: 4/5
Hydr8 tablets are packed with vitamins and minerals with good sodium levels to suit endurance athletes. They’re fortified with B vitamins too and work out to be the cheapest electrolyte drink per serving on test. The orange flavour is nice and tangy but a little on the sweet side. Also, I found the tablets didn’t mix quite as well as others I tested, meaning I had to shake to get the end residues to combine.
- Read our full MyEndurance Hydr8 review
Powerbar 5 Electrolytes
Best for on-the-go hydration
SQUIRREL_TEXT_12888837
| Serving size: | 1 tablet in 250ml water |
| Sodium per serving: | 250mg |
| Price per serving: | 33p |
| Flavours: | Raspberry and pomegranate, lemon tonic, blackcurrant, pink grapefruit, mango and passionfruit |
Taste: 3.5/5
Solubility: 4.5/5
Effectiveness: 4.5/5
OVERALL: 4/5
Powerbar’s hydration tabs have an intense yet refreshing flavour (I tested the pink grapefuit flavour) and a caffeine kick for a pre-workout pick-me-up. They’re sugar-free, too, and come in tiny tubes that we could just slip into a pocket – perfect for hydrating on the go. I also found that the tablets dissolved quickly, with no need for shaking.
- Read our full Powerbar 5 Electrolytes review
What are electrolyte drinks?
Electrolyte drinks, which usually come in a dilutable powder or tablet form, help to replenish the body’s electrolytes which are lost through sweat, such as sodium, potassium and chloride.
The role of electrolytes is to help regulate the body’s fluid balance, nerve function and muscle contraction while also assisting with the passage of nutrients in and out of cells – so it’s important to keep them topped up, especially if you’re exercising and sweating for a prolonged period of time.
When should I take electrolyte drinks?
The prime time to take electrolyte drinks is straight after exercise, to replenish the electrolytes you lost while sweating during your workout.
However, there are also times when drinking electrolyte drinks before or during your workout can be useful too. For example, if you’re about to begin a long race or gruelling training session, optimising your hydration beforehand can be beneficial. Likewise, electrolyte drinks can be helpful during exercise too – but only if you lose significant amounts of sweat or are training/competing for an extended period.
