This is the recipe swap that never dies. Somebody posts their stick-pack habit, somebody else replies with a jar of salt and the published formula, and the thread turns into a group buy on potassium chloride. What follows is the consensus version — the ratios the boards settled on, with the receipts.
The clones
The LMNT clone
PUBLISHED RECIPE| Sodium chloride | 2.5 g → 1,000 mg Na | $0.02 |
| Potassium chloride | 385 mg → 200 mg K | $0.02 |
| Magnesium malate | 390 mg → 60 mg Mg | $0.04 |
≈ $0.08 per packet
Dissolved in 16–32 oz of water. Mix a 100-serving jar once — 250 g salt, 38.5 g potassium chloride, 39 g magnesium malate — and it's a three-month supply.
Kitchen Gatorade
PER LITER| Table sugar | 40–60 g | $0.05 |
| Table salt | 2 g → 800 mg Na | $0.01 |
| Water + citrus squeeze | 1 L | $0.04 |
≈ $0.10 per liter
The endurance-standard 6% carb solution at a tenth of the shelf price. Same fueling, no dye.
Recipe-swap notes from the threads
- Mix the 100-serving batch in one jar and shake before every scoop — the powders settle differently and the ratios drift if you don't
- Citric acid or a sugar-free drink packet fixes the salt-water taste — that's the whole 'natural flavors' line on the stick pack anyway
- Potassium chloride is bitter on its own — dissolve it fully and drink it cold
- Salt doesn't expire, but humid kitchens clump the batch — desiccant packet in the jar, same as the capsule stash
WHO rehydration base
CLINICAL| Sodium chloride | 2.6 g | — |
| Glucose (or 27 g sucrose) | 13.5 g | — |
| Potassium chloride | 1.5 g | — |
| Trisodium citrate | 2.9 g | — |
≈ $0.05 per liter
The literal clinical formula — 75 mEq sodium, 20 mEq potassium. For real dehydration, not just the gym.
The intra-workout
ENDURANCE| Cyclic dextrin or maltodextrin | 30–60 g | $0.50 |
| Essential amino acids | 10 g | $0.70 |
| Sodium + potassium + magnesium | 500 / 200 / 100 mg | $0.05 |
≈ $1.25 per liter
Sip every 10–15 minutes through the session. The $4 'intra' tub is this, minus the honesty.