Potassium 200, sodium 100: reading an electrolyte label (and the 10 calories)

Electrolyte tubs love big words on the front. The useful part is on the back, in a small box called Supplement Facts. This article reads one panel line by line, the one on Hydration Strength, so you can read any electrolyte label the same way.

First, the flavors. Lemonade, Lychee, Passion fruit and Peach mango share one formula: the same serving, the same amounts, the same other ingredients. Only the flavor changes, so everything below applies to all four tubs.

The panel at a glance

Serving size is 1 scoop (5.4 g), and a tub holds 30 servings. Per scoop:

Why potassium is the bigger number

Many electrolyte drinks lead with sodium. This one carries twice as much potassium as sodium: 200 mg to 100 mg. The two work as a pair. Potassium works with sodium to keep fluid balanced inside and outside your cells, and supports normal muscle contraction.* Sodium is the main electrolyte you lose in sweat, and it helps your body hold on to the water you drink.*

Context from outside the tub helps. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025–2030, advise keeping sodium under 2,300 mg a day from age 14, a limit most Americans already pass. Potassium runs the other way: the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements notes that people in the United States get less than recommended, and gives adequate intakes of 3,400 mg a day for adult men and 2,600 mg for adult women.

One limit worth stating: 100 mg is a modest amount of sodium. The ACSM position stand on exercise and fluid replacement notes that the sodium in sweat varies widely between people. If you train for hours in the heat, or your gear dries with heavy salt lines, a sports dietitian or your doctor can tell you whether you need more sodium than a scoop provides.

What “4% DV” means

The % Daily Value compares a serving to a reference amount the FDA sets for labels. For these minerals the Daily Values are 4,700 mg of potassium, 2,300 mg of sodium, 1,300 mg of calcium and 420 mg of magnesium. Do the division and you get the label’s 4%, 4%, 3% and 5%.

Those are small percentages, and that’s worth knowing. A scoop is a top-up for a sweaty day. Your meals still supply most of your minerals, which is why food comes first.

“As citrate”: the milligrams are the mineral

All four minerals come as citrates: potassium citrate, sodium citrate, calcium citrate and magnesium citrate. On a Supplement Facts panel, the milligram figure next to a mineral is the mineral itself, not the weight of the whole salt. So 200 mg of potassium means 200 mg of potassium, carried as potassium citrate. The same rule explains why magnesium labels can look so different; see elemental magnesium and the milligram on the front.

Calcium 40, magnesium 20

These are small amounts. Calcium is needed for normal muscle contraction, and magnesium supports normal muscle and nerve function.* They round out the minerals in the scoop; they aren’t a calcium or magnesium supplement in their own right. If you already take Magnesium Foundation, the 20 mg here simply adds to your day’s total.

Seven B vitamins at 33% each

Each scoop carries seven B vitamins at a third of the Daily Value:

• Thiamin (as thiamine HCl), 0.40 mg
• Riboflavin (vitamin B2), 0.43 mg
• Niacin (vitamin B3), 5.20 mg NE
• Vitamin B6 (as pyridoxine HCl), 0.56 mg
• Folate, 133 mcg DFE (78 mcg folic acid)
• Vitamin B12 (as methylcobalamin), 0.80 mcg
• Pantothenic acid (as D-calcium pantothenate), 1.66 mg

These B vitamins support normal energy metabolism: they help turn food into energy.* They don’t hydrate you, and they aren’t the reason to drink it. Do count them if you take a multivitamin. Daily Foundation, for example, has all eight B vitamins, so on a two-scoop day your totals stack. If you take several supplements, ask your doctor about the sum. For more on B-vitamin lines, see reading a multivitamin label.

The 10 calories

A scoop is 10 calories, with 2 g of total carbohydrate. The sweetness comes from sucralose, not sugar, which is why the number is so low.

That makes it a different drink from a sugar-based sports drink. The ACSM stand discusses carbohydrate in drinks as fuel during long efforts; 2 g isn’t fuel. If you’re out for hours, bring food or another carbohydrate source too, and count the scoop as your electrolytes, not your energy.

Other ingredients and allergens

The other ingredients are polydextrose, citric acid, natural and artificial flavors, sucralose, calcium silicate and beta carotene (for color). No allergens are listed in the ingredients, but it’s made in a facility that also produces milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame. If you have a serious food allergy, weigh that line before you buy.

The label also says it isn’t meant for people with a medical condition, and if you’re pregnant, nursing or take medication, ask your doctor first. The NIH potassium fact sheet explains one reason this matters: some medicines and kidney conditions change how the body handles potassium.

Read any electrolyte label in five checks

1. Serving size. One scoop, one stick, two tablets? Every number below depends on it.
2. Sodium and potassium in milligrams. Not the blend name, not the front claim.
3. % Daily Value. It tells you how much of your day one serving covers.
4. Calories and sweetener. Sugar for fuel, or a sweetener for a light drink: know which one you’re buying.
5. The daily maximum and the allergen line. Hydration Strength’s maximum is five scoops in 24 hours; the directions are in one scoop, 14–20 oz, four flavors.

For when an electrolyte drink makes sense at all, read water isn’t the whole story on sweaty days. For label reading beyond electrolytes, see how to read a supplement label.

Your next step

Open the Hydration Strength page, check the Supplement Facts against these five checks, and pick the flavor you’ll actually drink.

References

1. U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025–2030. January 2026.
2. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Potassium: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals.
3. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels.
4. Sawka MN, Burke LM, Eichner ER, Maughan RJ, Montain SJ, Stachenfeld NS. American College of Sports Medicine position stand: Exercise and fluid replacement. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 2007;39(2):377–390.
5. Hydration Strength label: Supplement Facts, directions and allergen statement (same in all four flavors).