How much sodium citrate are you buying?

Nutrition
1

I’m going to start adding sodium citrate to my sugar water. How much sodium citrate are people buying at a time? The smallest amazon bags are 1 pound

Seems like a teaspoon weighs 5 grams and has about 1100mg of sodium. That means a small 1 pound bag has 450 “servings.” That’s a LOT.

2

But if you use two servings for two bottles on your bike, it’ll last you about a year (assuming you don’t ride every day). Seems reasonable?

To answer the question, I just use salt if needed, which is about 3 days a year. shrug

3

I buy the 1 pound (about .45 kg). It lasts for a while, but it doesn’t go bad, and it’s about the size of a half a coffee can. I’ve determined through experimentation that what’s (usually) best for me is to use a 1/2 teaspoon (2.5g) per bottle.

4

Maybe I am making an assumption about serving size (which is going to vary from athlete to athlete, depending on temperature and sodium content of sweat).

But if you are aiming to replace 1000 mg/hr of sodium, that’s about 100 hours of riding.

5

I bought 1kg, and it is in fact lasting forever. Even better than saving money is never running out!

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6

why simply not use salt? if you use the Saturday app, you can see how much salt you can add to a ride based on temperature, intensity, etc.
1 pound is just like 500 grams… or 0.5 kg approx… just go with it

7

I’m currently using salt and thought sodium citrate might be worth using because it’s easier on the stomach and absorbed better. I’m not a salty sweater though so maybe this is more hassle for no benefit.

8

I think there are two main reasons to use Sodium Citrate vs Sodium Chloride.

  1. Sodium Citrate doesn’t taste as salty. Adding a gram or more of sodium from table salt to a bottle can start to make it extremely unpalatable. While sodium citrate has a slightly more sour taste that goes well with the citric acid that many use to flavor their DIY drinks.

  2. Sodium Citrate has a higher molarity (maybe not the right word) of sodium. It has 3 sodium ions per molecule vs 1 for sodium chloride. The idea being that the less molecules floating around in your gut the lower the likelyhood of gut distress. I’ve also seen some people say that chloride can be more stressful on your gut than citrate but idk if that’s actually true.

That being said, if normal table salt works for you and doesn’t cause the above issues then it’s cheaper and easier to find so not really any reason to not use it.

3 Likes
9

1lb bag lasts me about a year.

10

Somebody, somewhere, explained that some people have stomach issues with too much chlorides, and the sensitivity seems to compound over time (i.e., drinking it for 1 hr might be fine, but after 6 hours you might start having problems). It gets old for me after a few hours.

I looked up Skratch Hydration and it has: Sodium Citrate, Tangerine Juice, Citric Acid, Potassium Citrate, Calcium Citrate, Magnesium Carbonate, Orange Oil*, Orange Juice*, Ascorbic Acid.

And the citrate flavoring is so much mellower.

11

When I got mine I put a some granules directly in my mouth and was surprised at how mild the flavor is compared to salt. You could easily directly consume 1/2 tsp with some water instead of taking an electrolyte capsule…

12

Because adding salt to your hydration tastes horrendous imo.

5 Likes
13

I buy about 1lb at a time, lasts a long time. Just keep it sealed in a bag with one of those silica packs in it to prevent any moisture and it pretty much lasts forever.

I’ve used sodium Citrate for years to bump up the sodium content of Skratch during the hotter months and this year I finally broke down and started making my own hydration mix. Kicking myself for not doing it sooner (with Skratch costing $55/bag these days), the DIY mix is super easy and tastes great. Should be saving ~$100/mth during the summer with the switch.

1 Like
14

You can also use it for making cheese sauces, like nacho cheese or mac n’ cheese.

15

I buy a 2-lb bag and it seems to last me a bit over a year, maybe a little less. I use the Saturday app and I tend to need about 3/4 tsp/750 ml water, give or take depending on the temperature. I suppose how quickly you go through it depends on how often you work out, how long you work out, and how salty a sweater you are. As others have noted, it doesn’t go bad. I haven’t needed the anti-caking silica packets, although I don’t live in a crazy-humid place - northern California is much more humid than Arizona, but it’s not nearly as humid as the US South or Midwest.

I prefer sodium citrate because of the reasons @mwglow15 outlined. Also here’s a short by Saturday with a quick summary about “the best sodium source”:

Chloride can accumulate in the gut, apparently.