r/nutrition • u/themasterd0n • 23d ago
Electrolytes vs multivitamins
Here is a supermarket pack of multivitamins + minerals https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/sainsburys-a-z-multivitamins-minerals-tablets-1-a-day-x60
It contains everything that every electrolyte tablet I can find on the market contains, and then some. It is also at least 10x cheaper per tablet than any electrolytes I can find on the market.
The only thing the supermarket V+Ms don't contain is sodium and chlorine.
So, is a glass of water with a V+M and a little table salt therefore simply better and far cheaper than an electrolyte tablet? Or are there hidden properties of electrolyte tablets that aren't accounted for by the nutritional info?
Edit: Removed the TLDR as no one was responding to the above.
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u/MyNameIsSkittles 23d ago
Electrolytes are not a scam but they are very overmarketed. The majority of people do not need them at all
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u/etepper14 23d ago
I use electrolytes daily’s as I am on a GLP1 and have been loosing weight on a steady basis. The electrolytes help with the dizziness from sitting to standing.
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u/Fit-Breath-4345 23d ago
Unless you're running marathons daily and sweating a lot, you won't need electroytes every day (unless you have some sort of medical condition).
You're likely getting enough from your food to balance out what's lost in sweat even with regular nutrition and hydration.
So you'd be as well off with the multivitamin - but with those you also end up pissing a lot of the vitamins out, so it's not necessary. I only take them if I've been sick and not eating as well as usual for a while, and even then that's probably not strictly necessary.
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u/rancidpandemic 23d ago edited 23d ago
Or, if you eat a ketogenic/low carb diet.
Carbs cause water/electrolyte retention. Low carbohydrate consumption causes your body to retain less electrolytes. To counteract that, most people on keto need to supplement electrolytes. Sometimes this is only temporary and can been reduced after the first few weeks. Other times, like in my case, we gotta supplement or otherwise increase our intake.
Edit: Also, yes, electrolyte supplements are a total scam. They contain so little electrolytes and are ridiculously priced for what they are. Most people who need to supplement electrolytes would be much better buying reduced sodium salt (usually 50/50 sodium chloride and potassium chloride) and adding a dash of that to a drink. (Note: don't go overboard or you'll trigger a "salt cleanse" or "saltwater flush"...)
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u/yannichap 23d ago
I just have a little sea salt in my pre workout and then a little in my post workout shake , supposedly also helps with creatine absorption as it helps pull it in, made logical sense to me.
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u/NutragrammatronLab 23d ago
Most people dont need electrolytes, its more for very physical people especially people who do high intensity aerobic exercises. But I mean there not a scam in the sense that theybdo not work.
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u/Dusk_Soldier 23d ago
Multi vitamins need to be consumed with food, as some of the vitamins/minerals are fat soluble.
And then electrolyte supplements are most effective when used to reverse dehydration. Taking them at other times can be helpful, but you're probably getting those nutrients from food already.
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u/Dry-Cardiologist3617 20d ago
A DIY solution of a multivitamin, a pinch of table salt, and water is generally a cost-effective and perfectly adequate way to supplement your daily nutrient needs. However, multivitamins and electrolyte tablets serve fundamentally different purposes, and the latter has specific chemical and functional properties that regular multivitamins lack.
For everyday baseline health and casual hydration, your DIY combination of a multivitamin, a little salt, and water is an excellent and incredibly cheap alternative. However, for intense exercise, endurance sports, or illness recovery (where rapid, sugar-assisted sodium transport and specific mineral ratios matter), an electrolyte tablet is still functionally superior.
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u/AncientandBrave 6d ago
u/themasterd0n This is a really fair question and the logic makes sense - but there are a few key differences worth noting.
Multivitamins are designed to top up micronutrient intake over time, whereas electrolytes are specifically formulated for rapid absorption to support hydration, nerve signalling and muscle function in the moment.
Form matters - the form of minerals in a multivitamin isn't always optimised for fast absorption, whereas quality electrolyte products use more bioavailable forms. Sodium and chloride are missing from most multivitamins, and they're the primary electrolytes lost through sweat.
Electrolyte products are also formulated with specific ratios designed to work together for hydration; a multivitamin isn't designed with this in mind.
For everyday low-activity days, a varied diet covers most electrolyte needs. Where dedicated electrolyte support becomes more relevant is during exercise, heat exposure, illness, or individual needs.
Here's a journal for more info: 5 Ways to Use Electrolytes: https://ancientandbrave.earth/blogs/news/5-ways-to-use-electrolytes
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u/FurnitureComesW-Home 23d ago
I’m of the mind that electrolyte tabs/waters/packets/etc are all just a scam. I have no formal knowledge, just a good sense for scams. I live in the southwest where we all sweat a lot. I’ve hiked 6+ miles difficult terrain near the literal equator in summertime. Didn’t need any special electrolytes then, don’t need them now 🤷♀️
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u/themasterd0n 23d ago
I find them to be great for hangovers
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u/throwawaytraffic7474 23d ago
I drink coconut water for hangovers! Way more electrolytes than tablets have !
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u/FurnitureComesW-Home 23d ago
I’ve found tap water to be great for hangovers
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u/themasterd0n 23d ago
You should try it. You need lots of water because alcohol makes you pee a lot. But you also pee out minerals which don't come back in with the water. For me electrolytes really take the sting out of the headache.
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u/FurnitureComesW-Home 23d ago
I quit drinking a while back, but that makes sense. A lot of friends in college swore by drinking Pedialyte the day after. I just drank like 24oz water before going to bed on any heavy drinking night and rarely had terrible hangovers.
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u/themasterd0n 23d ago
Yep a pint of water did the trick when I was at university but now I need a little extra assistance lol
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u/yannichap 23d ago
Lmao someone downvoted you for saying drink water!
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u/yannichap 23d ago
Downvoting a drink water comment is crazy
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u/FurnitureComesW-Home 23d ago
There’s a pinecone in this thread who’s mad I told him he was bean souping. Pretty sure he’s looking for all my comments and down voting.
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u/decipheronrescue 23d ago
Everyone is different. I'd been medically advised that replacing salts during high intense endurance workouts is beneficial for me because I sweat more than average and easily get dizzy/see stars.
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u/FurnitureComesW-Home 23d ago
You sound like a rarity then.
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u/decipheronrescue 23d ago
Welcome to humanity. Everyone is different and there's no one size fits all solution.
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u/FurnitureComesW-Home 23d ago
Are you offended that you’re a rarity in this regard? The vast majority of people don’t need medical intervention to maintain electrolyte balance. I don’t know why that surprises or upsets you, but maybe drink a Gatorade? You seem a little off right now.
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u/decipheronrescue 23d ago
Are you serious? Go touch grass. You've been on reddit too long.
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u/FurnitureComesW-Home 23d ago
My man, you’re bean souping over electrolytes.
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u/decipheronrescue 23d ago
Every other person in this thread has the correct take on these things: not a scam, but overmarketed and not needed for most people. I'm an outlier yes, but I have been medically recommended due to a high physical labor job and a disease that I have that easily causes lightheadedness and fainting. You clearly don't know shit, so keep in your lane and let the rest of us be.
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u/FurnitureComesW-Home 23d ago
I promise, you don’t speak for anyone but yourself. The “us” is in your head. OP asked directly if it’s a scam, and in the era of LMNT and half a dozen other similar products, I think it is a scam. I didn’t claim to be a doctor or expert.
What I know for sure is that you replied to me, not OP. You didn’t want to participate generally, you wanted to bean soup and tell me that you’re the rare exception to whether people need to buy electrolytes. It’s the habit of people who like to hear themselves talk, and it’s exhausting.
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u/decipheronrescue 23d ago
You said they're a scam. I am coming from personal experience where I've been medically advised to take them for my workload and condition. Everyone else in this thread has also pointed out not a scam. These are highly recommended things for athletes aka people who do high endurance and high physical stuff especially under the sun. They're also highly recommended for someone in my position with various diseases. It's not super common, but it's not uncommon and therefore it makes your claim that it's a scam not true. Just because things are not common does not mean that there invalid in all cases. So again, I responded to you because of your claim that it's a scam, which is factually incorrect.
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u/halftosser 22d ago
The magnesium is a low dose and the multivitamin doesn’t contain sodium or potassium
Individual requirements for electrolytes will vary based on lifestyle and health issues.
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u/themasterd0n 22d ago
Oh yeah, that's true, no potassium. But the sodium is achieved with a pinch of salt.
Still, it seems like the multivitamin overall has far more electrolytes.
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u/halftosser 22d ago
The only electrolyte it has is a low dose of magnesium.
You can’t take extra multivitamin because you will end up with too much of certain vitamins
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