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I've been consuming electrolytes before and after sports disolved into water without sugar.

Can electrolytes in high volume make you gain weight?

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    How do so many upvote this without any close flags? It's pretty much straight nutrition advice.
    – JohnP ♦
    Jul 30, 2013 at 14:55
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    The electrolyte drinks are sold to people to replenish workouts. Maybe just rephrase the question - "Can the no/low calorie electrolyte sports drinks I digest after working out make me fat?"
    – DMoore
    Jul 30, 2013 at 15:40
  • Additionally, electrolytes really have no calories. All calories in sports drinks come from some form of sugar, usually maltodextrin or similar.
    – JohnP ♦
    Jul 31, 2013 at 15:10

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You are drinking flavored salt water. If it has no calories it can't make you fat but it can make you feel bloated.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sodium/NU00284

Mayo clinic references too much sodium can lead to water retention. So maybe in the short term it could make you retain a percent of an ounce of water in your system. Not fat but maybe feeling fat and maybe weighing (slightly) more on a scale the next day.

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  • Yep. To be clear, it increases weight but not fat.
    – Berin Loritsch
    Jul 30, 2013 at 12:18
  • Well the actual weight gain is... it depends. If your body is already storing a lot of water weight it will be null or very minimal. Also an active person will sweat out a ton of salt. Drinking 16 ounces of water will make you gain 16 ounces. I know we are talking semantics but I do not count water weight as weight. If you sit in a sauna for an hour to drop 5 pounds, fitness-wise you have lost no weight.
    – DMoore
    Jul 30, 2013 at 17:07
  • The average gym goer usually considers gaining and losing weight as movement on the scale. While water weight is only of real concern to athletes who have to make a weight class, too many people only use a scale to measure progress and don't consider where the weight gain or loss is from.
    – Berin Loritsch
    Jul 30, 2013 at 17:12
  • @BerinLoritsch I believe you are 100% correct. But it is the informed job to dispel those myths/issues. If you drink less water to lose weight then your body will automatically try to store more water when it gets hydrated.
    – DMoore
    Jul 30, 2013 at 17:17
  • And speaking from experience - I had to make weight for years when boxing. I drank a minimum of 200 ounces of fluids a day. The only time we drank less was 1 day before weigh-ins if we were close to not making weight.
    – DMoore
    Jul 30, 2013 at 17:26

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