Where can I buy food grade chemicals to make up my electrolyte? (US)

*GG*

senior member
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Concord, NH
Looking to make up my own E-lyte sollution

Here is a link: (that gives how much of certain minerals are in the mixture, but not all of them)

http://www.bodybio.com/storeproduct348.aspx

Chloride, phosphate, sulfate and citric acid are also in the mixture, are these all preservatives?

The label seems to suggest that sodium benzoate and bicarbonate are the preservatives?

Thoughts? @heapsreal et al

GG
 

PennyIA

Senior Member
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Iowa
I was told that mixing in sea salt with lemonaide would be a good start... but did look into what it might take to try Dr Ben Lynch's recipe for 'MTHFRade'. http://mthfr.net/mthfrade-is-the-mthfr-drink-formula-have-yours-yet/2012/01/19/http://mthfr.net/mthfrade-is-the-mthfr-drink-formula-have-yours-yet/2012/01/19/ He's got links for each of the things he includes. I would recommend it even if you aren't or haven't tested positive for MTHFR issues as the ingrediants seem to be well tolerated most of the time. But like anything, adjusting to your tolerance is something that each individual usually needs to do.
 

Calathea

Senior Member
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1,261
I just kid up ordinary salt and low-sodium salt to give me sodium and potassium. I've tried making fancier versions, with Vit C, acetyl l-carnitine, d-ribose and magnesium and such, buy it doesn't dissolve in cold water well, leaves residue, tastes odd, and if you use d-ribose and a water bottle, causes a mould problem. I don't get on with d-ribose anyway.

Bear in mind that original rehydration drinks were for people with diarrhoea, who need the extra sugar. Then that became the norm for electrolyte drinks, and practically everything commercial has sugar in it by the bucketload, so that's what was being sold. Most people do not need the extra sugar. You need to be seriously low on calories, e.g. due to severe diarrhoea, before you are short of the calories the sugar in an electrolyte drink. Plus people with ME tend to react badly to sugar. Nuun, which just has a bit of sweetener and a nice balance of electrolytes, is a very popular electrolyte drink over on the DINET board for people with POTS. I keep some tubes of it around, in my handbag and so forth, so I can have it when I'm out and it's not convenient to put salt in a water bottle. The cola-flavoured one with a small dose of caffeine in it can be quite useful for attacks of breathlessness. The rest of the time, it's salt and reduced sodium salt in water.

People with ME often find that their weight is a problem one way or the other. I tend to run overweight, so I don't need extra calories. If you tend to run underweight, or you sometimes need a drink with calories due to skipping a meal, look into what drinks naturally have a good balance of electrolytes. Tomato juice is one, although it's quite acidic, which is a problem for some people. Milk is another, as I discovered when my partner commented that it really perks him up when he's tired and headachy. (So is soya milk, which is useful for me as I can't drink dairy.) I wonder if there's a list somewhere of drinks that have a nice electrolyte balance? For all I know there could be some high-water-content foods as well.

Oh, and as for the other supps, I take them in tablet/capsule form, which means I know exactly how much I'm getting per day, rather than just refilling my water bottle with a half-teaspoon scoop of mixture every time I refill it with water and then drinking varying amounts of that. It's much easier to tweak what I'm taking (magnesium in malate form doesn't come powdered that I've noticed) and how much of it, and it's just easier all round. I remember that despite having an anti-dessicant pouch in the Vitamin C powder, it still dried out and got stuck together, and you only need a small amount of that at once. Oh, and never EVER try to eat magnesium powder from the spoon if you're in a hurry. You end up with a chemically burned oesophagus and spending a week on medicine that tastes like a combination of aniseed, bicarbonate of soda, and soap.
 

ahimsa

ahimsa_pdx on twitter
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Chloride, phosphate, sulfate and citric acid are also in the mixture, are these all preservatives?

The chloride is probably from table salt (sodium chloride, NaCl) and/or potassium chloride (KCl, the ingredient found in most salt substitutes). You can buy powdered potassium chloride online (e.g., NOW brand) at amazon and other places.

Most online recipes for electrolyte solutions have at least three basic ingredients - table salt, potassium chloride, and water.

Some recipes include glucose/dextrose (easy to digest) or table sugar (a harder to digest blend of sucrose/fructose). The glucose or sucrose helps move the sodium into the blood stream more efficiently. It seems to be a necessary component for those suffering from dehydration caused by diarrhea. But for most POTS/NMH patients the sugar is probably not necessary.

I have seen a few recipes that add other minerals, like magnesium or calcium, but not very often. I don't know much them.

I'm sure you could find sources for magnesium salts (magnesium citrate, magnesium oxide, etc.) online without too much trouble.
 

Calathea

Senior Member
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Out of curiosity, is there any reason to buy potassium chloride as a supplement from a health food shop when you could just get it from a supermarket as a salt substitute? It's far cheaper and easier to get hold of that way, and as far as I am aware, it is exactly the same stuff.
 

ahimsa

ahimsa_pdx on twitter
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Out of curiosity, is there any reason to buy potassium chloride as a supplement from a health food shop when you could just get it from a supermarket as a salt substitute? It's far cheaper and easier to get hold of that way, and as far as I am aware, it is exactly the same stuff.
I think it is all the same. But the bottle that I got online was cheaper per ounce than the bottles for sale in my grocery store. (brands like Morton, No-Salt, etc.) Shipping might have been an issue except that this was an addition to an order I was going to place anyway, so no extra cost.

The only other difference that I can think of is that when packaged as a salt substitute it may contain preservatives or anti-caking agents. And maybe the screw top is a bit more convenient if the shaker top has no way to insert a measuring spoon (I didn't see a large enough opening on the one in the grocery store).

But I agree with you. It makes sense to pick whichever option is cheapest (prices are all over the map, things go on sale) and most convenient.
 

Calathea

Senior Member
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1,261
And anti-caking agents are a good thing, in my view, though perhaps some people have reasons for avoiding them. I've had to throw out half a tub of Vitamin C powder due to its getting stuck in a sticky lump.

I don't think you can buy powdered potassium as a supplement in the UK, so of course it's much cheaper for us to get it from the supermarket as a low-sodium salt than to import it from iHerb or what have you. If it's cheaper by the tub as a supplement in the US, fair enough. Every container of salt I've bought from a supermarket has had a variety of openings in the top, including one you can just pour from. I mix up more than one type of salt, so I put it into a separate tub and use a measuring spoon with that.
 

maddietod

Senior Member
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2,902
I had some Electro Mix, and on the back it says:

100 mg calcium (carbonate)
120mg magnesium (hydrate, carbonate)
2mg manganese (gluconate)
20mcg chromium (aspartate)
408mg potassium(bicarbonate, carbonate)
stevia

I bought NuSalt and Coral Calcium powder from Amazon and mixed them to get the right ratio of mgs**. I take 1t in 4c water and add a few drops of stevia to cut the salt taste. I take a magnesium pill with it, and also a Thorne Pic-Min for the manganese and chromium.

**My notes say to put 1/4tsp calcium in a 1Tbs measure, and add Nu Salt to fill to level. This makes 3 doses. You might want to check my math if you go this route.
 

ahimsa

ahimsa_pdx on twitter
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I salt my food heavily.
I think that works for most folks and it's fairly easy. It just wasn't something that worked for me.

I tried increasing my sodium with extra salt on food when I first started treating my OI. But when I tried to build up to an amount of sodium that made a difference for me (e.g., one clinical review included a recommendation for POTS patients of 10-20 grams of salt per day, which I think is 1.75 - 3.5 teaspoons) then I just couldn't stand the taste.

That's when I switched to salt tablets (with meals) and electrolyte drinks. I'm so much happier to eat my food without the extra salty taste. I only enjoy salt on a few things.

I probably have weird taste buds or something. For example, I was the only kid in my neighborhood who hated soft drinks (esp. Coke, but also Sprite, Mt Dew, etc.) and Fritos. :meh: So when I don't drink sodas it's not that I'm showing restraint or trying to be healthy. I just hate the taste of carbonated drinks other than the occasional ginger ale.
 
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