Endurance Athletes Perform Better When Taking Salt Tablets

Athletes who participate in demanding endurance sports such as long distance running and cycling benefit greatly from taking salt supplements, Spanish researchers report. Resistance sports and activities carried out in hot weather disrupt the body’s careful balance of water and electrolytes, especially sodium and chloride. Scientists analyzed the effectiveness of taking salt capsules during a medium distance triathlon that included swimming, cycling and running. Triathletes who ingested the salt during the event finished an average of 26 minutes before the control group that drank sports drinks but did not ingest the salt. The control group was only able to replace 20 percent of lost sodium, researchers found.