DIY electrolytes vs a proper electrolyte drink

DIY electrolytes vs a proper electrolyte drink

The short answer is: yes, you can make your own electrolyte drink with water and salt, and the pink or grey ones might make it feel a bit more fancy. But whatever colour the salt is, it's still mostly sodium – potassium and magnesium barely make an appearance.

OQO’s Energy Plus gives you sodium, potassium and magnesium in declared amounts, in a chilled sparkling can that tastes of fruit rather than the seaside. It also contains 200mg of caffeine from a natural source, making it a powerhouse morning or afternoon tipple. 

Consider your electrolyte balance bish, bashed, boshed. 

Can you just add salt to water?

Yes, salt and water make a basic electrolyte drink, but salt is mostly sodium chloride, with only trace amounts of potassium and magnesium.

Over the years, table salt has gotten a bad rap, gaining the reputation of being the underdog in the salt world, while Himalayan and Celtic sea salt gets the artisan treatment: better colours, better backstories, better jars. So it's fair to ask whether the upgrade makes for a better homemade electrolyte drink.

Here's the honest version:

  • They're still mostly sodium chloride. Himalayan salt is typically around 98% sodium chloride, and Celtic sea salt is similar, just greyer and damper. The colour comes from trace minerals.

  • The trace minerals really are “trace”. At a quarter teaspoon per glass, the potassium and magnesium in pink or grey salt are typically a few milligrams at most. A can of OQO’s Energy Plus has 69mg of potassium and 57mg of magnesium.

  • Your spoon is not a scale. Coarse sea salt and fine table salt weigh different amounts per teaspoon, so a “quarter teaspoon” of one isn't a quarter teaspoon of another. And a pinch is not a unit of measurement. Ask three people for a pinch and you'll get three different pinches.

  • The NHS limit applies to all salt. A quarter teaspoon of fine salt is roughly 1.5g, about a quarter of the 6g a day the NHS recommends adults stay under, whatever colour it is, and that's before lunch, which probably also contains salt.

  • It still tastes like salt water. A more expensive salt doesn't change that. It just means the salt water costs more.

Fair play to DIY: it's cheap, it's in the cupboard, and it involves no packaging. Word to the wise: if you're unwell with vomiting or diarrhoea, or you have a condition where salt intake matters, such as high blood pressure, we would advise that you speak to your pharmacist or GP before mixing your own.

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What does a proper electrolyte drink get right that DIY doesn't?

A formulated electrolyte drink provides set, declared amounts of sodium, potassium and magnesium in every serving. Mostly, it takes the guesswork out …

DIY salt water (table, Himalayan or Celtic sea salt)

  • Sodium: Depends on your pinch and your grain size

  • Potassium: Trace amounts

  • Magnesium: Trace amounts

  • Same taste every time: Rarely

  • Taste: Salty

  • Calories: 0

  • Take it anywhere: Glass, spoon, good memory

  • Extras: None

OQO’s Energy Plus (per 250ml can)

  • Sodium: 89mgl

  • Potassium: 69mg

  • Magnesium: 57mg (15% NRV)

  • Same taste every time: Yes

  • Taste: Mango, peach, or cherry-led fruit flavours, sparkling

  • Calories: 10 kcal or less

  • Take it anywhere: Ring pull

  • Extras: B vitamins, plus 200mg natural caffeine from coffee bean extract 

OQO’s Energy Plus formulation earns its place on a label!

Alongside electrolytes, each can of Energy Plus is loaded with vitamins B1, B3, B5, B6 and B12, providing you with 50% of your NRV in one can of OQO’s Energy Plus range - now that’s something you can cheers to! Vitamins B3, B5, B6 and B12 contribute to a normal energy-yielding metabolism and support the reduction of tiredness and fatigue, which is handy, because the afternoon dip tends to arrive right on schedule (check out our 3pm crash blog for the full story).

Why do sodium, potassium and the ratios matter?

Electrolytes are minerals that carry an electrical charge when dissolved in the body's fluids, and they work as a team, which only functions if the numbers add up. Sodium, potassium and magnesium are the three most people think of when the word electrolytes comes up, and our formulated drink delivers all three, in amounts you can check right on the can. 

Sodium

Where is mostly sits

In the fluid around your cells

What it’s involved in

Helps set how water is distributed either side of a cell wall, and helps nerve and muscle cells send electrical signals. It's also the electrolyte you lose most of in sweat.

Potassium

Where is mostly sits

Inside your cells

What it’s involved in

Sodium's partner. The balance between the two across the cell wall is what lets nerve and muscle cells switch on and reset.

Magnesium

Where is mostly sits

Mostly in bone and inside cells

What it’s involved in

Involved in how cells use ATP, the energy source the sodium potassium pump runs on. It also contributes to your electrolyte balance

The OQOLife Lowdown

DIY makes sense if you:

  • want something caffeine-free, especially in the evening

  • enjoy a bit of kitchen chemistry (and owning a very photogenic salt jar)

  • are happy with the taste and the guesswork

  • Your body can take it

OQO’s Energy Plus makes sense if you:

  • want your electrolytes and your energy in one, easy to grab, chilled can

  • want a precise, lab-verified electrolyte ratio -  not an eyeballed pinch. 

  • want something that tastes good enough to actually finish

  • need it to travel with you

Your OQOLife.

Whichever you choose, it's the same job: a low calorie electrolyte energy drink that fits into the day. 

Pick your flavour:

  • Original: mango and lemon, mellow and easy to reach for.

  • Blue Raspberry Peach: juicy peach with a berry edge.

  • Fruit Punch: the one that snaps you back into the room.

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