9 Healthiest Electrolyte Powders—and 2 To Skip

In the "olden days" (aka the 20th century), if you wanted an electrolyte replacement beverage after a tough exercise session, your options were primarily neon-colored bottled drinks—or perhaps a glass of orange juice or chocolate milk. These days, it's possible to create a rehydrating drink with an easy, lower-sugar fix: electrolyte powders. These mixable sleeves of flavor and minerals dissolve in water. They are simple to pack in a purse or a pocket and come in multiple low-sugar flavors and various ingredient formulations. This way, you can choose whichever one suits your health needs.

But how do you choose which electrolyte powder is healthiest? We've got you covered with the following list of nine powders that are good for wellness, plus two to avoid.

How We Chose the Healthiest Electrolyte Powders

• Lower sugar content: Sure, carbohydrates are involved in exercise recovery, but there's no need for excessive sugar in an electrolyte powder.
• Ample mineral content: Electrolyte minerals include sodium, potassium, magnesium, chloride, and phosphorus. We looked for products that include a mix of these nutrients you may lose through sweat or other bodily fluids.
• Nothing artificial: Why bother with artificial ingredients if you don't need to? The choices on our list are made without fake colors or additives.

The 9 Best Electrolyte Powders

Best: LMNT

Eight tasty flavors and zero sugar? There's a lot to like about LMNT salt replacement powders, which contain 10 calories each and come in flavors such as watermelon, grapefruit, raspberry, and chocolate caramel. Just note that these provide 1,000 milligrams of sodium, which may be too much for some people, like those who need a low-sodium diet for cardiovascular health.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

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Best: Cure Hydration

Berry Pomegranate is the best-selling flavor of this all-natural, third-party tested mix. Still, you can also check out its starter pack, which features other possibilities like watermelon, kiwi strawberry, and tropical punch. And, bonus! The only sugar here is from coconut water powder, no refined sugars, and it's also sweetened with organic stevia extract and monk fruit extract. No matter which flavor you choose, you'll mix up an electrolyte drink that supplies approximately 10% of your daily sodium needs and 6-8% of your daily potassium.

Best: Moon Juice Mini Dew

It may not actually come from the moon, but Moon Juice Mini Dew is an out-of-this-world powder because of its unique formulation. It supplies minerals for both hydration and brain function. In addition to the usual electrolytes such as magnesium, sodium, and potassium, it contains brain-boosting nutrients such as selenium (64% DV), copper (43% DV), and boron.

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Best: Sports Research Hydrate Electrolytes

The name says it all! Sports Research Hydrate electrolyte powder is based on research that shows that 2:1 is the "golden ratio" of sodium to potassium for optimal physical functioning. Meanwhile, this powdered mix packs plenty of other nutrients for good health. Vitamin C, B vitamins, biotin, and others are all represented in its 5-calorie, zero-sugar packs.

Best: Clean Simple Eats Hydrate Drink Mix

The electrolyte powders from Clean Simple Eats are notable for a feature you won't find in most electrolyte drinks: a hint of fiber. But that's not all these sticks and zip-top packets include. Plenty of sodium, magnesium, and branched-chain amino acids also join the mix. You can subscribe and save via the brand's website if you find a flavor you like.

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Best: Thorne Catalyte

Thorne Catalyte electrolyte powder is specially formulated to promote athletic performance, endurance, and recovery. Pop a canister in your gym bag for a scoopable dose that includes multiple electrolytes. It's also an excellent source of several energizing B vitamins.

Best: Ultima Replenisher

Talk about variety! Stevia-sweetened Ultima Replenisher electrolyte powders come in a dozen flavors, from peach bellini mocktini to grape to cherry passionfruit. Each serving has zero calories and six electrolytes and is also packed with 110% of your daily value of vitamin C and 10% of your daily recommended zinc.

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Best: ONLY Hydration

ONLY Hydration sticks are just 15 calories each. They are sweetened with sugar, goji berries (a fruit naturally high in antioxidants), and monk fruit, resulting in only 3 grams of sugar per serving. Yuzu citrus, white peach, Asian pear, and lychee are the four flavor options.

Each stick contains a total of 1,270 milligrams of electrolytes— including sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus—which ONLY claims total four times the amount as leading sports drinks.

Best: NativePath Native Hydrate

Nativepath fruit-flavored electrolyte powder is a hydration beverage and multivitamin rolled into one. It has 29 vitamins and minerals, essential amino acids, and branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs)—all without artificial ingredients. Pop a scoop into water, juice, or a smoothie to meet multiple nutrition needs in a single glass.

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2 Electrolyte Powders to Skip

Worst: Goodonya

Goodonya's organic ingredients are a great feature, but this one is lacking if you're looking for a powder to supply your electrolyte needs. It supplies only 1% of the daily recommendation of sodium, 15% of your daily magnesium, and 0% of potassium (with no other electrolytes). And since it's on the higher-calorie side of powdered mixes, at 30 calories per serving, we say skip it.

Worst: Gatorlyte Rapid Rehydration

Like its bottled drinks, Gatorade Gatorlyte Rapid Rehydration packets are high in sugar. Although each 15-gram sleeve contains helpful levels of sodium, magnesium, and chloride for electrolyte replacement, it also has 10 grams of added sugar. The artificial color red 40 is another (literal) red flag. Some studies have found this substance to be contaminated with benzidine or other carcinogens.