Electrolyte-ness of being

Telluride Daily Planet, Friday, August 29, 2025

“No matter how closely you examine the water, glucose and electrolyte salts in the human brain, you can’t find the point where these molecules became conscious.” — Deepak Chopra

Post-military career and a layoff by the Boeing company in 1969, my father, a mechanical engineer by trade, decided to retire and attend to projects of his own devising. He had energy and vision to spare, if not luck or marketing savvy. He was home all day from that point on, which meant a new way of life for all of us, including being at hand as his aides, whatever that entailed.

One of his interests was re-marketing patents secured by NASA that were made available through their publication, at the time called Tech Briefs. To this day, anyone can easily access information on many NASA patents through the NASA Technology Transfer Program. Their website shows over 2,000 consumer spinoffs of these NASA technologies, which warms my heart, for whatever reason.

Because of astronaut activity in the late ‘60s (Apollo 15), my dad became interested in, among other things, how NASA started supplementing humans in space with potassium gluconate on account of certain cardiovascular irregularities occurring from the potassium loss due to weightlessness. Eventually, they began adding potassium gluconate to Tang orange drink, which was an early Vitamin C drink, a sweet simple creation we all loved. Thus did the astronauts drink an electrolyte beverage in space, and thus did my dad begin his sideline as a maker of electrolyte supplements.

We all know Gatorade, however you feel about the sugar and dye content, has been used to supply additional electrolytes for decades; in fact, you can still see the orange, purple and blue bottles all over the field at sporting events. Now, as electrolytes are a household word and concept, there are scads of products sold and used by young and old and everyone in-between.

Salt and sweet together is usually not a hard sell, right? Of course not. And what you are really getting in all of them is your basic electrolyte trio of sodium, potassium and magnesium in one form or another. These are crucial for nerve signaling, muscle function, fluid balance, alkalinity and hydration when the body is stressed.

During this last spate of sweltering weather, I tested out several homemade electrolyte drinks as well as some commercial brands. As with nearly everything, it was either a simple little deal…or a journey. Even though I am more and more a fan of simplicity, this doesn’t necessarily apply to a good bio-hack. An elucidating experiment on myself for the purposes of potential better health and longevity delights me — not because I am committed to reaching the age of 120, like some (yes, I kid you not), but more to see what miracles can happen. So far, no miracles, but some nice discoveries.

A simple recipe for cucumber-mint water with lemon and salt started me off. I was skeptical until I realized how much better I felt after drinking the whole liter. In much the same way a green drink feeds me, this did. Yes, it might have just been the water alone, but I am typically a big hydrator, so, chances are, it was more than that. A summer mint-season drink. Dumbed down further, lemon and a pinch of sea salt in water works as well. One or the other can be downed more quickly than regular water and may offer some electrolytic advantage.

My dive into commercial electrolyte products was mostly fueled by friends and fans of various brands, and I have to say, the price isn’t right. Most are prohibitive, and some are really too salty or much too sweet. But they do have an odd drinkability and can save you in a situation of being hot, weak, tired or all three.

Coincidentally, while asking in a family WhatsApp group if anyone could recall the ingredients in that supplement my dad made from that original NASA recipe (individual capsules that we, the aides, tamped down with chopsticks) that he called K+, I was told my nephew was making his own electrolyte powder, and I reached out.

In a sweet little serendipitous boomerang of history, he told me he had indeed started making an electrolyte drink with three bulk ingredients including potassium gluconate (along with magnesium malate and sodium ascorbate). Some of the same ones my father had bought in giant cylinders. With my nephew’s recipe (as well as a corroboration on ChatGPT, where he may have started), I decided to give it a go, which I am right in the middle of doing. I believe I can make a good electrolyte beverage from the bulk ingredients that will cost under 10 cents per serving, plus whatever sweetener or flavoring I come up with. Dried raspberry powder sounds good.

So, think you might be low on electrolytes? There are lots of options to experiment with, even as the weather turns cool.