Hydration Drink Guides: Water, Electrolytes and Storage

Most drinks hydrate. What separates a plain glass of water from a formulated hydration drink is the addition of dissolved minerals, most often sodium and potassium, and usually some carbohydrate.

What matters is what those products contain and how they are formulated. How much anyone should drink, and what any body needs, are questions for a qualified professional rather than a drinks reference.

What separates these products is composition rather than category. Sodium, potassium and carbohydrate in different proportions is most of what distinguishes one bottle from the next.

Consistency is the axis nobody prints on the label. A formulated drink is made to a specification and arrives the same every time, where a natural product varies with the harvest it came from.

Mineral water is a legally defined category rather than a marketing phrase. It has to come from a protected source and carry a stated analysis, which is why the panel on the back is worth more than the front of the bottle.

Alkaline water describes a pH figure and nothing more. That is a measurable property with a precise meaning, and it is a narrower claim than the packaging usually suggests.

These pages describe what is in the bottle and how the products differ.

What anyone should drink is a question for a qualified professional rather than a drinks reference.