Worked during my 100 mile wilderness hike, but seemed to cause expedited digestive movement
Bought this electrolyte mix to use during a hike in Maine called the 100 mile wilderness. This is the last 100 miles of the AT. The recommended usage is 1 Packet per 16 oz of water but since the mix sweetness and flavor are very strong I ended up using one packet per 64 oz of water (2 Liters). This worked well because the continuous non-stop effort necessary to lug a 41lb pack up and down mountains for 8-10 hours per day requires constant intake of electrolytes. You can't just drink 16 ounces before starting and be good to go all day. You can sweat almost a liter of water per hour when its over 70 degrees and your exertion is high. Along with that sweat goes your electrolytes.<br />Sodium (0.9 gram/liter)<br />Potassium (0.2 g/l)<br />Calcium (0.015 g/l)<br />Magnesium (0.0013 g/l)<br /><br />I have depleted my electrolytes many times during training and on a long hike. It's not fun when your muscles no longer relax or begin to contract all by themselves. It can become very dangerous in fact.<br /><br />During my 100 mile hike on the AT this mix when combined with a tad bit more sodium from Himalayan Sea Salt worked well. I felt muscle fatigue but no cramping the whole time. The reason I added sodium is because this mix doesn't have enough. 90mg per packet of Sodium is just too little of an amount and this would make you rely on salty snacks to replenish what you lose in sweat. Despite that I chose this mix based on a ketogenic diet youtube influencer review. Despite the fact that Glucose can help you absorb electrolytes better I wanted to try this no sugar alternative.<br /><br />My take is this:<br />Next time I will use a mix with real sugar in it rather than something with an alternative sweetener. The stevia / monk fruit combo in this mix was good but a bit too sweet for me and may have attributed to some digestive issues  along with the high potassium content when used in a stronger concentration.<br /><br />The last day on my hike was over 20 miles and it was non stop go go go. I decided to mix one packet per 32oz (1 Liter) for a stronger electrolyte compound as I was losing lots of water through sweat. After ingesting two liters over a 4 hours period, each with a full packet, my digestive system went full steam ahead and this was not good. The rest of my night was all about the bathroom!
Rating: 3 stars