U.S. consumers spend more than $10 billion a year on sports drinks, according to <a href="https://www.bevindustry.com/articles/96745-2024-state-of-the-beverage-industry-sports-drinks-embrace-everyday-wellness"target="_blank" >Beverage Industry</a>, a trade publication. And we can’t lie that sometimes a Gatorade or electrolyte tablet sounds really appealing in the quest to hydrate daily – especially since it’s been a very hot, long summer. But the question is: Are we even sweating enough to warrant all these sugary electrolyte-filled drinks? NPR health correspondent <a href="https://www.npr.org/people/729920828/pien-huang"target="_blank" >Pien Huang</a> has been on the case, and she brings us answers she’s racked up in her reporting today. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/08/04/nx-s1-5470190/electrolytes-sport-drinks-hydration-salt"target="_blank" >Read more</a> of Pien’s reporting on electrolytes and hydration. Interested in more consumer health or human biology stories? Email us your question at <a href="mailto:shortwave@npr.org"target="_blank" >shortwave@npr.org</a> – we may feature it in an upcoming episode! Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at <a href="http://plus.npr.org/shortwave"target="_blank" >plus.npr.org/shortwave</a>. Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a> <a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

Podurama

Home

Trending

Personal

Your Podcasts

New Episodes

My Files

Favourite Episodes

Tags (Folders)

Recently Played

Bookmarks

Followed Playlists

Sip or Skip? The Truth About Electrolytes

Short Wave

AI Chapters

AI Insights

Reviews