No and yes.

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-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
Team ZOOT
ZOOT, QR, Garmin, HED Wheels, Zealios, FormSwim, Precision Hydration, Rudy Project

Salt isn't the only electrolyte. You have potassium, magnesium, phosphorous, just to name a few. Personally, I'm with you on salt (sodium) being one of the most important when it comes to racing, but I think other electrolytes play an important role in performing at the top of your game in endurance events. When I sweat a lot on a race, I'll supplement with endurolyte capsules as well as salt tablets, just to make sure I get enough sodium. Different people have different needs though.

More germaine to the issue is the nebulous research behind sodium and electrolyte depletion to performance. Add the potential GI distress that excess sodium consumption can cause and the newer evidence that our bodies are extremely proficient at self regulating blood sodium levels, so on and so on...

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-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
Team ZOOT
ZOOT, QR, Garmin, HED Wheels, Zealios, FormSwim, Precision Hydration, Rudy Project

I use coconut water and dehydrated coconut water if I need it to be a powder for the other electrolytes and baking soda for carbonate.. that covers all of em besides salt

P.T. Barnum would have loved you;)

Hugh

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Genetics load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger.

What does that mean????!!?!!! (! Just google what you need and look at nutrition of coconut water and baking soda is sodium carbonate a salt of two essential electrolytes add salt & carbs bam energy drink

That was a beautiful set of posts.

You're no chemist, are you ;)

What's wrong with his post?

Tim Noakes has posted extensively on this forum about this.

Yet the brainwashing is so complete that every few days you get people on here talking complete bollocks about salt intake.

Most People in America and Europe have so much salt in their system their bodies are desperately trying to excrete it - then they think because their sweat is salty they need to replenish the salt their body has just managed to get rid of.

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...t_reply;so=ASC;mh=25

no, you dont need to, cause the sports drinks, gels, and bars they have on the course all have them

Aren't "electrolyte capsules" basically salt with added marketing?

I don't buy capsules, but when I've kept track of potassium intake I've fallen short of the 3600-4700 mg/day recommendation. There are lots of things that have potassium, but they are generally very bulky things and I can't or wouldn't want to eat the equivalent of 5 cups of potatoes,beans, or 19 bananas. I don't micro-manage my nutrients, but I do add potassium salt (available cheaply as salt substitute at any grocery store) to my water bottle, and I seem to cramp less or not at all.

dehydrated coconut water...????
just seems like when you run this as an algebra statement the water cancels out the dehydrated and you're left with just coconut.
dehydrated water, we're in Steven Wright territory here.

No.

For IMNZ my whole squad of around 10 people used salt sachets in those little white packets from KFC and they worked fine.

Thanks for linking that discussion. Those folks discussing will fever happen again here.

Are you 100% in agreement with Dr noakes on the topic of hydration and performance?

I think his issue is with the way people assume "salt" is particularly sodium chloride, or whatever else you might sprinkle on your fries. But these are actually just a very particular set of salts. When people are talking about electrolytes in a sports science context, they are only talking about salts. There are loads of different salts. A salt is an ionic compound which results from the neutralization of an acid and a base. So part of what he is saying is correct, in that "salt" isn't the only electrolyte, because there are electrolytes which are not salts (like acids, bases, some organic solutions). But potassium, magnesium and phosphorous-based ionic compounds* are all "salts". So, actually, what he said was a little bit bonkers.

*I'm assuming that when he named those chemicals, he didn't mean the actual free elements, because trying to consume raw magnesium would be quite tragic and also quite spectacular. As long as it wasn't your own mouth.

To answer the title question, no. All of the electrolytes you need are salts. Just probably not the one you were thinking about. ;-)

This probably comes across as very pedantic, so sorry about that but you did ask!!

lol. Leave it to the slowtwitch forums to argue over the definition of "salt."

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Zen and the Art of Triathlon. Strava Workout Log
Interviews with Chris McCormack, Helle Frederikson, Angela Naeth, and many more.
http://www.zentriathlon.com

While your asking and looking, take a gander at: TheRightStuff-USA.com. Has proven to work well with heavy sweaters and athletes prone to cramps. It has been used in all types of sports, including triathlon.

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Mike Greer

Cramps are not a sodium or electrolyte issue.

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-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
Team ZOOT
ZOOT, QR, Garmin, HED Wheels, Zealios, FormSwim, Precision Hydration, Rudy Project

for performance in an acute time frame, no. Just 'Na'. So says my buddy at GSSI who got his PhD on this topic.

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36 kona qualifiers 2006-'23 - 3 Kona Podiums - 4 OA IM AG wins - 5 IM AG wins - 18 70.3 AG wins
I ka nana no a 'ike -- by observing, one learns | Kulia i ka nu'u -- strive for excellence
Garmin Glycogen Use App | Garmin Fat Use App

In my personal experience I've not found electrolytes to make any noticeable (objectively or subjectively) positive impact to my performance. But I have found that trying to intentionally add electrolyte intake has caused GI discomfort and a significant increase in thirst. Even living/racing in Texas, I find that I do best not paying any attention to this topic and just relying on the electrolytes I get in real food and other fuel sources.

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-Andrew

I've observed that if I'm craving salty foods, then eat salt. If not, don't worry about it too much.

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Zen and the Art of Triathlon. Strava Workout Log
Interviews with Chris McCormack, Helle Frederikson, Angela Naeth, and many more.
http://www.zentriathlon.com

Nope. Stop giving out medical advice.