Calling Folks Who Drink Salty Water!

[Batik]

I know we're a minority, most people hate it. So what's your formula? I've tried messing around with powdered magnesium citrate and such, but they don't dissolve well and are easier to take in tablet form. But I do add potassium, since that's easy to find in powdered form (potassium chloride is sold as salt substitute, or mixed with sodium chloride as low-sodium salt) and surprisingly hard to find in a useful dosage in tablet form. This is what I've been taking for years:

About three parts table salt to one part low-sodium salt, depending on the ratio of sodium to potassium in the low-sodium salt. This gives me a mix which is mostly sodium and a bit of potassium.

1/2 tsp of the mix to a 800ml/27oz water bottle.

This is about 50% of what I drink during the day. The rest is tea (usually decaf), herbal tea and a couple of Nuun drinks. I aim for 3 litres a day total, on my cardiologist's instructions.

[nomdeguerre0850]

I put one teaspoon of sea salt into a one liter bottle of water and keep it in the refrigerator. This equates to about 0.9% sodium chloride, which is isotonic. Although the salt does not dissolve immediately, it will after it sets a while. Then I only need to do a quick shake. This is also about 50% of what I drink in a day.

I also get a liter of IV 0.9% sodium chloride every day. Adding a banana or two has managed to keep my electrolytes in balance.

My neurologist suggested coconut water, but it's expensive, trendy, and I have my doubts it would be any better than what I am currently doing.

And you're right, it does take some getting use to, but I've been drinking salt water for a couple years now, so regular water tastes funny to me.

[Batik]

Goodness, you have it even saltier than I do! How much fluid do you drink in a day? I know what you mean about ordinary water tasting odd by now.

I suspect the only benefit with coconut water is the potassium, and you can easily get that by using a bit of low-sodium salt or salt substitute in your salty water. Of course, that means you get a bit less sodium, it's a balancing thing.

What percentage salt do you get with Nuun, any idea? When I'm drinking it, I use 3/4 tablet to 300ml water. Come to that, how do you work out the percentage? I'm curious to know what mine is.

[Becia]

I just shake the salt shaker over my water and lemon, and drink like that. I have no clue how much I'm getting from it, but it's there. I also get IV saline every other day, so that helps that intake. I'm on potassium supplements, but hoping I can either get that switched to a different brand or maintain with bananas, etc.. The pills I currently take are very hard for me to swallow and burn when they come up.

[stephsurf]

Nuun tablets have seriously changed my symptoms for the better. One tablet is enough for 500ml of water and has the exact electrolyte balance for it to effectively be absorbed by your body. They also have other good stuff added too such as vitamins and the potassium etc that has been mentioned here without the bad stuff such as sugar and colourants which make Gatorade a no no. They also come in a variety of flavours which is excellent considering I have completley given up fizzy drinks and the like - it allows me to have a choice of flavours again! They probably take a bit of getting used to but since they have become my norm I don't crave for anything else. I probably use about 2-4 a day, 2 straight away in the morning to get my equilibrium back after a night without drinking and then spaced evenly throughout the day after that depending on if I have any flares etc.

[Becia]

Allergic to them, or I would.

[Batik]

Stephsurf - they do have colourants, but Nuun are quite nice. I wouldn't want to live on them, they're nice for the odd drink, especially if I'm craving something sweet.

Another question for people who drink salty water and have also tried commercial electrolyte drinks: how do you find they compare? As I said, mine has sodium and potassium, which are the main ones. I take other minerals in tablet form, as well as getting them through my diet. I'm not sure if Nuun has a slight edge, it may just be that it's more fun having a flavoured drink. When it's an emergency, of course, it doesn't seem to make a difference, I'll just take whatever I can. Today I was exhausted while out at the optician's, and it helped so much to have an electrolyte drink, another glass of water, and a snack (Sesame Snaps). I like the fact that the tube of tablets and the snack doesn't take up much space in my bag, and I carry a seriously tiny bag.