I struggled for many years with a feeling of dehydration. Adverts for products like Gatorade, Powerade, Lucozade, Staminade (seems to be a bit of a pattern here) all did a very good job of convincing me that I must be sweating out my electrolytes and these magically formulated drinks are the answer. The 2006 film Idicoracy actually depicts a future where sports drinks have replaced water to the detriment of all plant life but they do have the catchy slogan "It's got what you need".

Salt has been vilified for a very long time, mainly thanks to some very poor research around hypertension. A recent canadian study actually suggests on average we need more salt in out diet, the current USDA recommendations of even lower salt levels could actually prove fatal to even healthy individuals. Things get even more complicated when we find out not all 'salt' is created equal, just as not all 'sodium' is created equal. I will however try and simplify thing.

'Salt', normally refers to common table salt, or 'sodium chloride'.
'Sodium' in most literature include all sources of sodium in the diet. While 'sodium chloride' is quite good for your health and the ingredient most people pay attention too, common food additives like MSG (mono sodium glutamate) can make up a significant increase in overall dietary sodium. Hot tip, try and avoid MSG at all costs. I could easily write an entire thesis on the health risks of MSG, but suffice to say if a food requires 'flavor enhancer' it probably wasn't very good food to start with.
'Electrolytes' is the broad term that covers 'sodium' 'potassium' and 'magnesium' salts, all essential for a healthy diet.

Sports drinks contain electrolytes so whats the problem?

Sports drinks certainly do contain varying levels of electrolytes, but its often minuscule amounts. They are predominantly sugar and flavoring. Yes I am aware of 'sugar free' sports drinks, but that in itself is another minefield of cancer causing chemicals we will save for another time. considering they are basically lightly salted cordial, the price is ridiculous, but being unhealthy was never cheap.

This brings me to my 'Keto water' and 'Diet Salt"
Don't let the label fool you, there is nothing 'diet' about this salt at all. is a label leftover from decades of incorrect medical advice and dodgy marketing. In reality is just a 50/50 mix of 'Sodium chloride' and 'Potassium chloride' The same product is available under different names around the world.
A ketogenic diet requires higher than normal amounts of electrolytes than the average diet, I have however converted some of my regular vegan friends to this magical drink. So I make my own electrolyte drink, A small amount of diet right salt goes in every time I fill up my drink bottle.

I don't actually measure the amount of 'diet right salt' I add to my water, rather I eyeball an amount in my hand and add it in, then I rely on my taste buds. With things such as MSG completely absent from my diet your taste buds become a pretty reliable indicator. Being on a Keto diet, I do also add generous amounts of 'diet right salt' to my food. Current research suggests 6500mg of both Sodium chloride and Potassium chloride to be well within the 'healthy' range per day. My most recent trip to the doctor also confirms my blood pressure to be 'perfect.'

A quick note on my water bottle, made by Brita, it has a replaceable carbon filter in it that does a good job of removing chlorine and other nasties when I only have common tap water available but it still lets the dissolved salt through.
You may be wondering at this point what about that other important electrolyte magnesium. I find I get enough from dietary sources, I do eat a lot of baby spinach and have tried magnesium supplements but they seem unnecessary.

Drinking salted water is certainly not for everyone, and even adding 'diet right' to food often results in complaints of 'it just doesn't taste right' by a lot of people the first few times. But a small amount of perseverance and dehydration woes are a thing of the past. In fact i can no longer drink my water straight and carry spare 'salt' in the glove box of my car just in case.