Following on the success of its Exercise Hydration mix, Skratch Labs has added a Daily Electrolyte blend for general non-exercise use and a so-called Hyper Hydration formula to help athletes tank up on fluids before big events. While all three share similar ingredients, they vary dramatically in their salt contents.
Skratch's Exercise Hydration formula already has a healthy amount of salt with 360mg of sodium per 500mL (16oz) serving. The new Hyper Hydration, however, more than triples that figure to a whopping 1,700g.
"My thinking behind the new Hyper Hydration drink mix is that there are a lot of situations where people sweat way more than they can drink and we wanted a way to help them," said company founder Allen Lim. "The Hyper Hydration mix can help to buffer the inevitable dehydration that occurs in extremely hot or physically intense activities where the availability of water and electrolytes is limited."
The Daily Electrolyte mix, however, replaces the old 'Everyday' formula and moves to the other end of the salt spectrum with a relatively low 100mg of sodium per 500mL serving, much more fruit content, and half the calories of Skratch's standard exercise mix. Lim says this variant was developed after hearing that many cyclists were drinking his Exercise Hydration mix all day as a substitute for water, not just during exercise. While this isn't necessarily bad, Lim says that doing so introduces more salt into the body than is needed since most people aren't sweating profusely while just doing everyday activities.
"We had an everyday drink mix but discontinued it because it was really an everyday drink mix designed for the chronically dehydrated and sodium depleted athletes I worked with in grand tour events," Lim explained. "But in the marketplace, we did a poor job of communicating that genesis story and found that too many of our customers were using it everyday when they really didn't need to. As a result, we discontinued the product and designed something that was more appropriate for 'daily' use while not exercising."
Retail price for the Hyper Hydration mix is US$2.95 per single serve packet or US$55 for a box of twenty. The Daily Electrolyte mix is US$1.75 per pack or US$19.50 for a 60-serving bag.