From the Desk of Carolyn Dean MD ND
The Real Reason Plain Water Isn’t Enough This Summer
What Viral Electrolyte Sachets Get Half Right—and the Mineral They Leave Out
While so many people are finally talking about packaged electrolytes over social media, almost no one is talking about the one crucial element they keep leaving out of the packet.
Electrolyte powders, hydration sticks, salt tablets, and flavored sachets are booming in popularity. Likewise, social media is full of people adding these electrolyte packets to their water bottles, and the “salt mom” hydration movement has popularized the idea that simply drinking more plain water isn’t always enough—especially when temperatures climb and sweat starts pouring.
If you’re spending hours gardening, hiking, cycling, playing tennis, chasing children around the beach, or training for your next race, replacing the fluids you lose is essential. However, heavy sweating doesn’t just mean you’re losing saltwater.
The current electrolyte conversation is incomplete.
In Total Body ReSet for Athletes, I discuss how many commercial electrolyte drinks focus almost entirely on sodium. Some add potassium. Most include sugar as the tasty delivery vehicle. Yet one of the body’s most important electrolytes is rarely on the ingredient list at all. You guessed it…
That mineral is magnesium.
When people tell me they’re still experiencing muscle cramps, fatigue, heart flutters, or sluggish recovery despite faithfully drinking electrolyte mixes every day, I suspect they’re replacing only part of what sweating has actually taken away. That’s exactly why magnesium for hydration deserves far more attention.
The Sweat Story Behind the Electrolyte Boom
The popularity of electrolyte sachets didn’t appear out of nowhere.
People began noticing that drinking large amounts of plain water after strenuous activity didn’t always leave them feeling refreshed. In fact, many still felt tired, lightheaded, or dehydrated despite carrying a water bottle everywhere they went.
That realization was an important step forward.
Water is essential. However, once you’re sweating heavily, hydration becomes about more than fluid alone. Sweat carries electrolytes with it, and replacing those minerals helps support normal muscle function, healthy nerve signaling, and fluid balance.
Where I believe many hydration products fall short is in what minerals they prioritize.
Considering how important magnesium is to muscle function, recovery, energy production, and overall magnesium for hydration, that’s a significant gap.
Sweat Is More Than Salt Water
One of the biggest misconceptions I encounter is the idea that sweat is basically salty water.
It isn’t.
Sweat contains a complex mixture of electrolytes, including sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. While sodium understandably receives much of the attention because it’s lost in relatively large amounts, magnesium leaves the body through sweat as well.
Over time, those losses add up.
In Total Body ReSet for Athletes, I describe athletes whose sweat-soaked shirts become stiff enough to “stand up like boards” after drying. It’s a vivid reminder that sweat contains far more than water.
Unfortunately, magnesium often escapes attention for another reason.
It’s typically not included on a standard blood electrolyte panel.
Even athletes who undergo routine testing may never learn that their magnesium stores are running low because conventional electrolyte tests focus primarily on sodium and potassium.
As a result, someone can faithfully replace sodium after every workout while continuing to lose magnesium week after week.
A Lesson From the Desert
One of the stories I share in Total Body ReSet for Athletes has stayed with me for years because it illustrates how important mineral balance really is.
An Air Force nurse described seeing soldiers deployed in the Middle East develop kidney stones at unexpectedly high rates.
These soldiers worked in extreme heat. Their drinking water and military meals supplied generous amounts of sodium to compensate for heavy sweating. Yet magnesium and potassium weren’t being replaced at the same rate.
According to the account, this imbalance contributed to calcium becoming more likely to form calcium oxalate kidney stones.
The lesson extends well beyond military deployments.
Many people today assume that replacing sodium alone restores electrolyte balance. However, our bodies don’t use minerals in isolation. Instead, they function as an interconnected team, with each mineral influencing the others.
Replacing one while consistently overlooking another doesn’t necessarily restore balance. Sometimes it simply shifts the imbalance in a different direction.
When More Electrolytes Aren’t Necessarily Better
Another example from Total Body ReSet for Athletes highlights why simply adding more electrolytes isn’t always the answer.
I referred to a well-known case involving a Florida high school football team practicing and competing in intense summer heat.
Several players experienced muscle cramping, and calcium supplements were provided before a game in an effort to help.
During the second half, eleven players reportedly collapsed with symptoms including disorientation, slurred speech, and seizures. Their diets leading up to the game consisted largely of fast food, refined carbohydrates, and soft drinks—foods that offered very little magnesium.
Combined with heavy sweating and additional calcium, the players’ already-low magnesium status appears to have been pushed over the edge.
This case isn’t meant to suggest that calcium is harmful or that anyone should fear electrolyte replacement.
Instead, it’s a reminder that minerals are partners, not competitors.
Focusing on only one or two while overlooking the rest may leave important nutritional gaps unaddressed.
The Mineral Doing the Recovery Work
Lactic Acid, Recovery, and Cramping
Hydration isn’t just about getting through today’s workout. It’s also about how you feel tomorrow.
After strenuous exercise, muscles naturally produce lactic acid and other metabolic byproducts that contribute to fatigue and soreness.
Magnesium participates in numerous enzyme systems involved in energy production and normal muscle recovery.
Research discussed in Total Body ReSet for Athletes also suggests that regular exercise can increase magnesium requirements by approximately 10 to 20 percent because of additional losses through sweat and urine.
If those extra demands aren’t replaced, people may begin noticing symptoms such as:
- Muscle cramps
- Slower recovery after exercise
- Persistent fatigue
- Muscle tightness
- Occasional heart palpitations
- Reduced exercise performance
Many people describe these simply as signs they “need more electrolytes.”
Often they’re right.
The question is whether they’re replacing all the electrolytes their bodies need—or only the ones most commonly advertised. Ultimately, magnesium for hydration may be one of the missing pieces.
A Smarter Sweat-Season Mineral Strategy
One of the reasons I developed ReMyte was to provide a broader mineral foundation than magnesium alone.
ReMyte contains twelve stabilized ionic minerals designed to help replenish the minerals lost through daily living, exercise, and perspiration. Rather than focusing on a single electrolyte, it supports the wider network of minerals that cells rely on for normal hydration, muscle function, and energy production.
During periods of intense training or heavy sweating, you’ll also want additional magnesium support. ReMag provides picometer-sized magnesium designed for efficient absorption and no laxative effect, so you can take enough to make a difference.
Rather than waiting until you’re completely depleted after a workout, I generally encourage a steadier approach. Sip mineral-rich water throughout the day, particularly before, during, and after prolonged activity.
Supporting hydration consistently is often easier on the body than trying to replace everything all at once after exercise.
Think of it as building a strong nutritional foundation instead of constantly trying to catch up.
Hydration Is About More Than Water
It’s encouraging to see so many people paying attention to hydration. The popularity of electrolyte sachets reflects a growing understanding that our bodies need more than plain water during hot summer months.
That’s progress.
However, as I’ve said, I believe the next step in that conversation is recognizing that hydration isn’t simply about replacing sodium.
At the same time, you can’t forget about sodium entirely. I do have a small amount of stabilized sodium ions in ReMyte, but I am also a fan of sea salt and use it in my hydration recipe.
I recommend taking your weight in pounds, dividing that number in half, and drinking that amount of water in ounces. For example, if you weigh 140 pounds, you would drink 70 ounces of water each day.
In each quart or liter of water, add ¼ teaspoon of colorful sea salt. Then, add your ReMag and ReMyte.
Your muscles rely on magnesium to contract and relax normally. Likewise, your nervous system depends on it for healthy signaling. Your heart, your energy production, and hundreds of enzyme systems throughout your body all require adequate magnesium to function as they were designed.
When you sweat, you lose more than water.
You lose minerals.
Replacing those minerals thoughtfully—not just the most heavily marketed ones—can help support healthy hydration, normal muscle function, and recovery throughout the summer.
Because the goal isn’t simply to drink more.
It’s to replace what your body has actually used.
Support your summer hydration with a complete mineral approach. ReMyte helps replenish the broad spectrum of minerals lost through daily activity and sweating, while ReMag provides additional magnesium support for periods of increased physical demand. Together, they complement—not replace—the healthy hydration habits your body depends on every day. If you’re serious about magnesium for hydration, thinking beyond sodium is an important next step.
This content is for educational purposes only and discusses nutritional and lifestyle support for normal structure and function of the body. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure disease. Consult a qualified healthcare professional for personal medical guidance.
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Magnesium: The Missing Link to Total Health
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