Here’s everything you’ll ever need to know about products if you’re on the hunt to add this to your fuel mix. Sodium Citrate Product List No affiliation, just sharing because I think a few nerds here care. 
Thanks Doc H. I really appreciate the time and effort put into this.
Hugh
You’re very welcome.
that sodium by volume (mg/tsp) is pure gold. Thank you!
Thanks! I have been gathering ingredients for your drink recipe to try out on the trainer this winter, I didn’t want to change anything for my nutrition until after cross season is over. I have been reading your posts about eating/drinking on the bike and so much rings true for me that it finally made me decide to take the leap and do something different.
Rich
I have been making my own drinks for 2 years now and it has worked really well. I made it to match gatorade endurance bottle offered on IM courses
My recipe:
24oz water
2/3 tsp sodium citrate(620mg)
1/4 cup sugar (180cal) (48carbs)
1/8 tsp Potassium (280mg)
1 tblspoon Lemon / Lime juice
Now if someone could get me started on how to make my own gels
I’m not in tune, is this basically a sodium supplement or what is the specific draw?
Yep. Just sits better on your gut that table salt. Can intake more of it at higher concentrations without risk of osmolarity issues or chlorine ion accumulation.
Sodium citrate is the primary “fancy” ingredient in most/all of the best hydration mixes.
(ICYMI: Sodium alginate is fancy and not useful. Sodium citrate is fancy and useful.)
Pardon the reshare of some canned text I have at my fingertips: Using sodium citrate in place of table salt allows your gut to tolerate more sodium consumption during training. Sodium citrate has 3 sodium molecules for every 1 citrate molecule. Sodium chloride has 1 sodium molecule for every 1 chloride molecule. That means that for the same amount of sodium consumption, there will be a greater number of molecules ingested, if using table salt, rather than sodium citrate. Osmolarity is the number of molecules per unit volume of solution. Our gastrointestinal tracts are sensitive to very high osmolarity solutions. During normal daily living, consumption of very high osmolar solutions (lots of molecules per liter) causes a laxative effect 20-60 minutes after consumption. During exercise, it causes gut cramping, THEN a laxative effect. My personal experience with this can be described as “not fun!”
Sodium citrate has 3 sodium molecules for every 1 citrate molecule.
So these products are all trisodium citrate? That looks to be the type that it is easiest to source where I live (“Citras” by Texturas Ferran Adrià ).
Correct.
Thanks a ton Dr Alex…we’ve discussed some of this before, and manufacturers unwilling to disclose serving sizes, etc. 
This list is super helpful.
Side note: I just read the book Running the Dream by Matt Fitz… are you the Dr Alex Harrison in that book?
I’m not sure, but I kind of doubt it. I’ve not met him. I’ve occasionally been confused for Dr. Alex Hutchinson who also writes about endurance sports (much more prolifically than I have.)
If all these products are “100% pure”, I can understand the variation in density (mg/vol) but not the variation in mg/g. Trisodium citrate, by definition needs to be 3 sodium atoms (molecular mass 23) and 1 citrate (molecular mass 189). They should all be (233)/(233+189)*(1000mg/g) = 267mg/g
So what is the rest in these products if they are claiming 100% purity? Does it hold water?
In general, I would be careful with these products. Ingesting anything off-brand, especially purchased from Amazon, adds unnecessary risk.
- Amazon has become alibaba. Some of their legitimate stock is mixed with illegitimate stock.
- Even legitimate supplements are barely regulated in the US, many not meeting safe levels of contaminants in 3rd party tests.
- Off brand supplements have zero risk exposure if they don’t meet safe levels of byproducts and contaminants, so sky is the limit. As long as it doesn’t make you acutely sick in the near term, it’s good enough.
Even though such supplements are very easy to produce, they are difficult to make to a pharmaceutical grade. If contaminants are “just” 0.1% by weight, it can have serious consequences in the long term depending on what that 0.1% is composed of. The solvents, reactants, side products, and equipment can introduce some nasty chemicals.
Find a reputable brand with a legal presence in a relevant country, and purchase it from a vendor that doesn’t mix their stock from multiple indepenent “suppliers.” Bonus points if the label tell you its made by a pharma company, like Ajinomoto-produced BCAA or AlzChem-produced creatine.
My suspicion is that they do hold water. My other suspicion is exactly what you’re saying.
Some of the companies that have variations in mg/g make me a little iffy. You’re right.
I *think *I limited my “would Alex buy it” section of that G sheet, accordingly. If you have specific suggestions on further limiting my choices in that link, I’m all ears.
Is sodium citrate regulated by FDA? It is a food additive AFAIK. If you happen to be expert here, I’m an eager learner.
My suspicion is that they do hold water. My other suspicion is exactly what you’re saying.
When and if you wonder a good source of info is the Merck Index. Sodium citrate like many salts will be hydrates with bound water. In one very common source it is dihydrate meaning it contains 2 bound water molecules. The pure salt is 26.7% sodium, but the dihydrate is 23.5% (both trisodium citrate). So it is not a purity thing it is a hydration state thing in this case.
Hi, can one use wtaer with high level of sodium instead of a product like PFH1500?
PFH 1500 is 1500mg/L of sodium
Spakling St yorre water is 1700mg/L
As a sodium preload it could be a good alternative and maybe a good source of electrolytes during the race?
Hi, can one use wtaer with high level of sodium instead of a product like PFH1500?
PFH 1500 is 1500mg/L of sodium
Spakling St yorre water is 1700mg/L
I am not familiar with these waters, but 1500 mg/l is 1.5g/ liter sodium or 0.15% sodium per liter…sodium chloride (salt) is 39.3% sodium therefore 0.38g salt per 100 ml water or 3.8g salt per liter water.
Not sure I would buy salt water, but sea water which is very salty is about 35g salts (mostly sodium chloride) per liter. Sea salt is a good option if you want electrolytes beyond sodium but really sodium is all you really need, the rest ???
Dr. Alex can comment better on how much because it depends on things he is expert on.
composition of st-yorre :
.
Dr. Alex, your app calls for a specific mg of sodium for a workout which is then converted to tsp recommendations. I’ve been using Judees which just by chance seems to align very close in your tsp > mg recommendation. Am I reading your sheet correctly that ‘It’s Just’ and ‘Pure’ would leave me deficient in mg of sodium if I’m following your tsp recommendations?
looks like something to do with how each manufacturer is calculating grams of sodium citrate per teaspoon, where Judee’s is 50% larger for some reason. But they look to be identical in sodium/gram, so it might be worth using a food scale and your teaspoon that you use at home to figure out what the real number is.