Runners often think it’s necessary to turn to sports drinks, salt tablets, or electrolyte powders and beverages to get the electrolytes we need before, during, or after exercise.
Electrolyte supplements are heavily marketed and certainly convenient for athletes, but they’re not the only way to get the electrolytes you need to optimize your hydration, replace the electrolytes lost in sweat, and balance your electrolytes for health and performance.
There are plenty of foods with natural electrolytes that you can consume as part of a healthy diet.
Natural sources of electrolytes can be a great way to replace the electrolytes lost in sweat without introducing processed chemicals or needing to buy specific sports beverages or electrolyte powders.
In this article, we will discuss the best sources of natural electrolytes and how to get electrolytes so that you can enjoy dietary sources to either augment or replace your electrolyte drinks.
We will cover:
- What Are Electrolytes?
- What Electrolytes Do Runners Need?
- How Much Of Each Electrolyte Do Runners Need?
- Benefits of Electrolytes for Runners
- Do Electrolytes Give You Energy?
- Natural Electrolytes for Runners
- Foods High In Electrolytes
Let’s get started!
What Are Electrolytes?
Everyone has heard of electrolytes, yet many runners aren’t sure entirely what they are.
Electrolytes are minerals that have either lost or gained electrons, so they carry an electrical charge. Thus, electrolytes are considered ions.
Electrolytes are found in body tissues, as well as fluids like blood, urine, and sweat.
What Electrolytes Do Runners Need?
Although there are a few additional electrolytes, according to the National Institutes of Health, the primary electrolytes runners should be concerned with are sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, chloride, and phosphorus.
There are natural food and drink sources of each of these micronutrients, so it’s definitely possible to consume only natural electrolytes and still meet your needs as a runner.
How Much Of Each Electrolyte Do Runners Need?
According to the American College of Sports Medicine’s (ACSM) position stand on Exercise and Fluid Replacement, the electrolyte needs of runners depend on your sweat rate and specific sweat concentration.
However, it can be safely assumed that most runners will need at least slightly more electrolytes than the general population.
Although specific recommendations for athlete’s aren’t made, the following provides the recommendations for each electrolyte for general health:
- Potassium: The recommended intake is 3,400 milligrams (mg) for adult males and 2,600 mg for adult females per day.
- Sodium: Given the association of sodium and hypertension, rather than a recommended minimum, there’s a recommended maximum of 1,500 mg of sodium per day (ideally), with a firm maximum of 2,300 mg.
- Calcium: The recommended intake is 1,000 mg for all adults aged 19–50 and males aged 51–70, while females aged 51 or over and males aged 71 and over should strive for 1,200 mg per day.
- Magnesium: The recommended intake is 400 mg for males aged 19–30 and 420 mg for males aged 31 and over. It is 310 mg for females aged 19–30 and 320 mg for females aged 31 and over.
- Phosphorus: The recommended intake is 700 mg for adults over the age of 18.
- Chloride: Because nearly all dietary sources of chloride come from table salt (sodium chloride), the recommended intake for chloride is the same as sodium.
Benefits of Electrolytes for Runners
Electrolytes play several important roles in the body, which is why replacing electrolytes lost in sweat is so important.
Functions of electrolytes include:
- Maintaining optimal fluid/hydration levels
- Maintaining ideal pH levels in the blood, urine, and body
- Increasing the uptake up nutrients into cells
- Shuttling waste products out of cells
- Supporting protein and carbohydrate synthesis
- Conducting nerve impulses
- Initiating muscle contraction and relaxation
- Maintaining heart contractions
- Supporting a variety of brain functions
Do Electrolytes Give You Energy?
One of the more common questions runners have about electrolytes are, “Do electrolytes give you energy?”
Looking at the list of various physiological roles of electrolytes would certainly leave one thinking that electrolytes give you energy, but electrolytes don’t directly provide energy nor generate energy.
Electrolytes do not contain calories because they are ions (minerals with a charge) and not macronutrients like carbohydrates, proteins, or fats.
Therefore, while electrolytes themselves do not contain calories nor do they generate energy, they can indirectly help you feel more alert, energized, coordinated, and physically strong.
Electrolytes increase the absorption of water, aiding in proper hydration.
Dehydration is associated with fatigue, poor exercise performance, and sluggishness, so by helping prevent dehydration, electrolytes indirectly support energy levels.
Electrolytes also support nerve impulses and muscle contractions, and then help shuttle nutrients—and actual energy-containing fuel—into your cells.
In these ways, making sure your electrolyte levels are balanced and adequate can help maintain your energy levels.
Additionally, consuming natural electrolytes in foods and drinks will provide you with energy because these foods contain calories and usable nutrients for energy generation.
Natural Electrolytes for Runners
If you’re keen on how to get electrolytes through natural sources, the good news is that there are many foods with electrolytes, and even natural beverages other than electrolyte powders or sports drinks.
Most food groups provide at least one type of electrolyte, though certain foods are higher in electrolytes than others.
For example of some foods with electrolytes, fruits like bananas, prunes, papaya, and dried apricots are high in potassium. Avocados are one of the foods highest in potassium.
Dairy products like yogurt, milk, and cheese are particularly rich in calcium, but they also contain other electrolytes like magnesium, phosphorus, and sodium.
Certain nuts and seeds are high in magnesium. For example, Brazil nuts are a great source of magnesium.
Other nuts, such as cashews, provide phosphorus. Sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds are rich natural sources of magnesium and phosphorus.
Legumes, such as soy, beans, lentils, and peanuts, are also good sources of natural electrolytes such as magnesium, potassium, and phosphorus.
Vegetables are among the best natural sources of electrolytes.
For example, leafy green vegetables like spinach, beet greens, kale, and collard greens are some of the foods highest in electrolytes like calcium, potassium, and magnesium.
Other vegetables, such as potatoes and sweet potatoes, are also good dietary sources of electrolytes like potassium and magnesium.
Broccoli is an excellent natural source of electrolyte like calcium, magnesium, and potassium.
Although not necessarily “natural” sources, there are other foods high in electrolytes because they are fortified with minerals.
For example, many breakfast cereals contain tons of minerals like calcium, potassium, and magnesium. Many alternative milks, orange juice, and tofu are fortified with calcium.
Salty foods like pickles, sauerkraut, and kimchi are high in sodium and chloride, as are drinks such as tomato juice and vegetable juice.
Foods High In Electrolytes
Foods and drinks high in each type of electrolyte can be seen below:
Foods High In Sodium
- Pickles, smoked salmon, sauerkraut, salted nuts and seeds, salted nut butters, meat, eggs, milk, cheese, yogurt, kelp and seaweed and tomato juice
Foods High In Potassium
- Vegetables such as kale, spinach, Swiss chard, bok choy, beets, broccoli, water chestnuts, mushrooms, potatoes, and sweet potatoes
- Fruits such as bananas, cantaloupe, avocado, honeydew, oranges and other citrus fruits, apricots, grapefruit, dried apricots, and dates
- Beans such as white beans, pinto beans, lima beans, adzuki beans and navy beans
- Dairy products such as milk and yogurt
- Fish such as tuna, halibut, salmon, cod, trout, rockfish
- Molasses, white and brown rice, coconut water, carrot juice and tomato juice
Foods High In Magnesium
- Dark leafy green vegetables like spinach
- Squash and pumpkin seeds, as well as hemp seeds
- Beans such as lima beans, navy beans
- Tuna
- Brown rice, quinoa, and other whole grains
- Brazil nuts, almonds, cashews, peanut butter
- Dark chocolate
- Avocado and bananas
- Greek yogurt and milk
- Tofu
Foods High In Calcium
- Collard greens, spinach, turnip greens, okra, broccoli
- Milk, yogurt, cheese
- Fortified soy milk and tofu
- Sardines and trout
- Black-eyed peas
- Fortified breakfast cereals
- Almonds
Foods High In Phosphorus
- Chicken, turkey, pork, fish, tofu, organic meats
- Sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds
- Dairy products like yogurt, milk, and cheese
- Beans and lentils
- Bran cereals
- Nuts
As can be seen, consuming a well-balanced diet with foods from all the major food groups (whole grains, vegetables, fruits, seeds and nuts, legumes, dairy, meat and fish, and healthy fats) can help provide all the natural electrolytes you need for optimal health and athletic performance.
You can even make your own drinks with natural electrolytes to replace sports drinks.
For example, coconut water is one of the best natural sources of potassium, and there are now coconut waters designed for athletes with added electrolytes.
After your workout, you can enjoy an electrolyte-packed smoothie, by blending bananas, yogurt, berries, spinach, coconut water, or a juice such as carrot juice or prune juice.
It’s important to remember that your electrolyte needs will increase the more you sweat and exercise, so it can still be a good idea to consider electrolyte drinks during exercise to maintain your levels and prevent dehydration.
And, if you don’t want to buy traditional sports drinks, you can also try pickle juice. It may sound weird, but some runners swear by it!
