You get electrolytes from food, drinks, and supplements, and most people can maintain healthy levels through a balanced diet alone. Electrolytes are minerals that carry an electrical charge in your body, and the five that matter most are sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and chloride. Each plays a distinct role in keeping your muscles contracting, your nerves firing, and your fluid levels balanced. Here’s how to make sure you’re getting enough.
What Electrolytes Actually Do
Sodium controls how much water your body holds onto and helps regulate the electrical signals between cells. Potassium works in direct partnership with sodium: a pump on every cell membrane swaps sodium out and pulls potassium in, which is what allows nerves to send signals and muscles to contract. If either mineral is too high or too low, that pump doesn’t work properly.
Calcium does more than build bones. It’s essential for muscle contraction, nerve impulse transmission, and blood clotting. Magnesium handles the other side of that equation: it helps muscles relax after contracting and plays a central role in energy production. Chloride, the least talked-about electrolyte, pairs with sodium in your extracellular fluid and helps maintain acid-base balance.
Foods High in Electrolytes
Whole foods are the most reliable and balanced source of electrolytes. Unlike supplements or drinks, food delivers these minerals alongside fiber, vitamins, and other nutrients that improve absorption.
Potassium
Most adults need at least 1,600 to 2,000 mg of potassium per day, and many people fall short. The richest food sources per serving:
- Mung beans: 938 mg per cup
- Baked potato: 583 mg per half potato
- Banana: 519 mg per medium fruit
- Raw baby spinach: 454 mg per cup
- Dried apricots: 453 mg per 30 grams (about 5 pieces)
- Cooked salmon: 380 mg per 100 grams
- Whole milk: 377 mg per cup
Beans, potatoes, and leafy greens outperform bananas, which get outsized credit as a potassium source. A single cup of mung beans delivers nearly twice the potassium of a banana. Butternut squash, sweet potatoes, chickpeas, chicken, and canned tuna all contribute meaningful amounts too.
Sodium and Chloride
Most people get more sodium than they need from processed and restaurant foods. The safe minimum intake is around 500 mg per day, and health guidelines recommend staying below 2,400 mg. Sodium and chloride travel together as table salt, so your chloride needs are generally covered whenever your sodium intake is adequate. If you eat mostly whole, unprocessed foods and exercise heavily, you may actually need to add a pinch of salt to meals or your water rather than restrict it.
Calcium and Magnesium
Dairy products, sardines, fortified plant milks, and leafy greens like kale and bok choy are your best calcium sources. For magnesium, reach for pumpkin seeds, almonds, dark chocolate, black beans, and avocados. Magnesium is also abundant in whole grains, but processing strips most of it away, which is one reason deficiency is common in people who eat a heavily refined diet.
Electrolyte Drinks: When They Help
For everyday hydration, plain water and a balanced diet are sufficient. Electrolyte drinks become useful in specific situations: prolonged exercise, heavy sweating, illness with vomiting or diarrhea, or extended time in heat.
During exercise, sweat carries a significant amount of sodium out of your body. In one study of recreational athletes cycling in 86°F heat, total sodium lost through sweat ranged from about 660 mg during low-intensity exercise to over 1,500 mg during moderate-intensity exercise over 90 minutes. That’s a substantial amount, and water alone won’t replace it. Potassium losses through sweat are much smaller by comparison.
Commercial sports drinks like Gatorade contain sodium and potassium but also a lot of sugar. Newer electrolyte powders and tablets (brands like LMNT, Nuun, or Liquid IV) offer higher mineral content with less or no sugar. For most people doing casual exercise under an hour, water is fine. Once you’re past 60 to 90 minutes of sustained effort, or you’re a heavy sweater, adding electrolytes to your water makes a noticeable difference in how you feel and perform.
How to Make Your Own Electrolyte Drink
A simple and inexpensive option is mixing your own. Combine about 1/4 teaspoon of table salt (roughly 575 mg sodium), a splash of 100% orange juice or a squeeze of lemon for potassium and flavor, and a small amount of honey or sugar if you want faster absorption, into 16 to 20 ounces of water. This approximates what you’d lose in an hour of moderate sweating without the additives found in commercial products.
Coconut water is another natural option, delivering around 400 to 600 mg of potassium per cup with some sodium, though its sodium content is low enough that you may want to add a pinch of salt if you’re using it for workout recovery.
Signs You’re Running Low
Mild electrolyte imbalances often show up as symptoms people attribute to other causes. Muscle cramps, especially in the calves or feet, are a classic sign of low potassium, magnesium, or sodium. Fatigue that doesn’t improve with sleep, brain fog, headaches, and irritability can all point to insufficient electrolytes, particularly after sweating, drinking large amounts of plain water, or eating a very low-sodium diet.
More noticeable symptoms include heart palpitations (often linked to low potassium or magnesium), muscle weakness, dizziness when standing, and nausea. These overlap with dehydration because dehydration and electrolyte depletion usually happen together. If you’re drinking plenty of water and still feel off, the missing piece is often minerals, not more fluid. In fact, drinking excessive plain water without replacing sodium can dilute your blood sodium levels further, making things worse.
Risks of Getting Too Much
More is not always better. Excess sodium raises blood pressure and increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. What matters even more than raw sodium intake is the ratio of sodium to potassium in your diet. People with the highest sodium-to-potassium ratios show greater markers of inflammation and vascular damage. This means that increasing your potassium intake (through vegetables, beans, and fruit) can partially offset the effects of a higher-sodium diet.
Too much potassium from supplements can be dangerous for people with kidney problems, since the kidneys are responsible for clearing excess potassium from the blood. This is rarely a concern from food alone, because your body regulates absorption from whole foods more gradually than from concentrated supplements. If you have kidney disease or take medications that affect potassium levels, supplementing without guidance carries real risk.
Practical Approach for Most People
For the average person, the strategy is straightforward: eat a variety of whole foods, salt your food to taste, and save electrolyte drinks for situations involving heavy or prolonged sweating. A diet that includes beans or lentils a few times per week, a daily serving of leafy greens, some dairy or fortified alternatives, and a handful of nuts or seeds will cover your bases without any supplements.
If you exercise regularly, work outdoors, follow a low-carb or keto diet (which causes your kidneys to flush more sodium), or fast intermittently, your electrolyte needs increase. In those cases, adding salt to meals, using an electrolyte powder in your water bottle, or keeping a bag of dried apricots on hand can make a measurable difference in energy, recovery, and how you feel day to day.