For several years, electrolytes have been one of the hottest tickets in sports nutrition—billions in annual sales that are projected to at least double over the next decade.
And yet, until now, Legion didn’t offer an electrolyte supplement.
Why?
Because, as I’ve written and said many times, I didn’t think there was an honest evidence-based argument for why people should slurp tasty mineral water every day.
Basically, my position was, “Electrolyte powders are a scam. Save your money and just salt your food and drink water.”
I’ve changed my mind, however. Here’s my new position:
“Most people should save their money and just salt their food and drink water, but those who regularly do long (~45+ minute), sweaty workouts can probably benefit from taking an electrolyte supplement as well.”
Which, I believe, is enough to support selling an electrolyte product.
And so, I give you Hydrate, which reduces fatigue and supports energy, mood, and performance during long, sweaty workouts:
And why did I change my mind on electrolytes? Because money and reasons?
Not quite.
It was an extensive research review from Grant Tinsley, Ph.D., who’s a professor at Texas Tech University as well as the director of their Energy Balance & Body Composition Laboratory.
In his report, Dr. Tinsley synthesized the findings of dozens of studies, including a few recent ones I hadn’t seen, and highlighted a key mechanism that I had missed:
Although electrolytes don’t directly reduce fatigue or boost mood, energy, or performance, they—and sodium in particular—do help retain fluid and maintain sodium balance during longer, intense (and thus sweaty) workouts.
That is, they help prevent dehydration, and this helps maintain your endurance, mood, and energy.
Thus, you can think of supplements like Hydrate as a backup battery for your phone on an international flight or a roll of duct tape when your bumper is falling off or WD-40 for your internal meat machinery.
Or something.
Anyhow, if your workouts involve sacrificing significant amounts of sweat (wring-out-your-shirt wet) on the grimy altar of glistening gains, Hydrate is for you.
Otherwise—save your money, salt your food, drink water.
P.S. Another reason many people buy electrolyte supplements is they simply help them drink more water by making it delicious.
And there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, I suppose, assuming you don’t send your sodium intake into the stratosphere.
That’s one of the reasons Hydrate contains 575 mg of sodium per serving (adequate for replenishing) rather than the 1,000+ mg you’ll find in other electrolyte supplements (easy to overload).
