Originally Posted by GravelMN

With hyponatremia (very low sodium levels) causing serious problems for some endurance athletes making the news over the past several years, some individuals have gone positively ape-crap over electrolytes and the sports "nurition" industry has been happy to oblige. I've seen many weekend warriors, fitness, recreational and casual riders slamming many times the amount of electrolytes they need to prevent hyponatremia, muscle cramps, and other associated issues. I've seen people add electrolyte powders to bottles of sports drink for < 25 mile no-drop B rides on 75F summer evenings and carry several sports gels to down along the way. On the same rides I've carried a water bottle with sports drink diluted 50:50 with water and had no fear of any form of electrolyte deficiency or cramps even though I'm a 51 year old Clyde who sweats easily and profusely.

As with so many things, enough is good but more isn't necessarily better.