I started using electrolytes after the sauna. Now they come with me to workouts, flights, and just about everywhere else.
I didn’t set out to become an electrolyte person.
It started at my old home in Topanga, where I had a sauna and was using it all the time. I loved the whole ritual of it—the intense heat, the sweat, and then stepping outside and rinsing off in the outdoor shower my dad had built for me, tucked beneath a canopy of oak trees. That rush of cold water after the heat gave me this incredible clearing feeling, like everything had been wrung out and I could start fresh.
I started adding electrolytes to my water afterward because I knew I was supposed to be replenishing what I’d just lost through all that sweating. At first, that was really all it was: part of my post-sauna ritual.
But then I started noticing something I hadn’t expected: I felt calmer when I drank them.
The little jitters I sometimes carry around seemed to settle down. I felt clearer, more content and less depleted. And, strangely enough, putting electrolytes in my water made me want to drink more water.
I can’t tell you that electrolytes are somehow taking my body out of “fight or flight”—that’s simply how the shift feels to me. There’s something about being hydrated and actually wanting to keep drinking that makes my whole system feel a little more settled.
That was the part that stuck with me.
Electrolytes slowly stopped being something I associated only with the sauna and became something I reached for after workouts, on flights, during hot summer days, or anytime I felt like water alone wasn’t quite doing it.
Which is why, when I found Buoy, I knew I wanted to share it.
What are electrolytes—and what do they actually do?
Electrolytes sound more complicated than they are. They’re minerals—including sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium—that carry an electrical charge and help the body perform some pretty fundamental functions.
The benefits of electrolytes include supporting hydration and fluid balance, normal muscle function and nerve signaling, as well as helping replace minerals lost through sweat.
And we lose both water and electrolytes when we sweat.
Sodium is the primary electrolyte lost through sweat, with smaller amounts of potassium and other minerals. How much we lose varies considerably from person to person and depends on things like heat, activity, sweat rate and how salty our sweat is.
That made my post-sauna habit make more sense. The same applies to long, sweaty workouts and very hot days: sometimes drinking fluid is only one part of replacing what you’ve lost.
That doesn’t mean everyone needs to be drinking electrolytes all day. Most of us can get the electrolytes we need through food and normal hydration. But I’ve found that being more intentional about hydration—particularly when I’m sweating heavily—makes a real difference in how I feel.
What makes Buoy Hydration Drops different?
My problem with a lot of electrolyte drinks has always been everything surrounding the electrolytes.
I don’t want a giant jar taking up space in my kitchen, and I definitely don’t want to travel with one. Packets are more convenient, but somehow I always end up with powder getting everywhere. I don’t necessarily want another flavored or sweet drink either.
That’s what I love about Buoy’s Hydration Drops.
They’re unflavored liquid electrolyte drops that can be squeezed directly into whatever you’re already drinking. There’s no sugar, sweetener or added flavor, and Buoy says its formula contains ocean-sourced electrolytes plus 87 trace minerals.
There’s also some interesting research behind them. In a university-led clinical study cited by Buoy, the Hydration Drops were found to provide 64% greater hydration than water alone and 49% greater hydration than a leading electrolyte competitor over the study period. Buoy also reports that the drops produced about a 10x increase in positive net fluid balance.
I always take numbers like these in the context of the individual study rather than assuming they mean everyone will experience exactly the same result. But I like knowing there’s actual hydration research behind something that had already become such an easy part of my routine.
And honestly, the thing that initially made Buoy click for me was much simpler: the bottle.
Instead of traveling with a giant container of electrolyte powder or carrying packets that inevitably seem to get everywhere, I can just add a quick squeeze to whatever I’m already drinking. I keep one bottle at home and another in my purse, so I almost always have one with me.
The fact that it’s already liquid matters too. There’s nothing to mix or stir and no powder waiting to dissolve—it disperses right into whatever I’m drinking.
Water, obviously. But I can also add it to whatever is already sitting in front of me.
It’s such a small thing, but I think that’s exactly why the habit stuck.
My summer electrolyte ritual
I still love Buoy most in the way this whole thing started: after heat and movement.
After the sauna, electrolytes are automatic for me now. The same goes for workouts, particularly when I’ve been sweating a lot.
But this summer I’ve been spending time along the Italian and French Riviera, walking miles and miles most days in the heat. Electrolytes have gone from something I drink afterward to something I often reach for first thing in the morning too.
I genuinely notice a difference between the days I start with them and the days I don’t. I feel clearer and more settled, and because adding Buoy makes me want to drink more water, I find myself naturally staying on top of hydration throughout the day.
And after hours of walking in the Mediterranean heat, there’s something that feels really good about adding a few drops to my water and knowing I’m replacing some of what I’ve lost through all that sweating.
Apparently the secret to getting me to drink more water was putting something in it.
Whatever works.
It’s become less of a post-workout thing and more of a summer ritual: before the walking starts, after a long day, and anytime I know I’ve been sweating more than usual.
And because there’s always a bottle in my purse, it actually comes with me.
Which Buoy electrolyte drops do I use?
Buoy’s regular Hydration Drops are the everyday version I would start with. They’re designed to add electrolytes and trace minerals to an existing drink without turning it into a traditional flavored sports drink.
Then there are Rescue Drops, Buoy’s much more concentrated formula. Buoy says they contain 300 mg of sodium per serving and are six times stronger than its Hydration Drops, so I think of these differently: more for those moments of heavier sweating rather than simply because I’m drinking a glass of water.
They also make Rescue Salt, an unrefined sea salt containing electrolytes and trace minerals that can go directly onto food or into a drink.
I like that there are different options rather than one product pretending we have exactly the same hydration needs every day.
SHOP RESCUE SALT & RESCUE DROPS
And yes, my electrolytes come on the plane
Buoy has also become one of the things I throw into my carry-on.
Flying feels dehydrating to me—the dry cabin air, coffee, disrupted routine, hours of sitting—and I like having something that reminds me to actually keep drinking along the way.
The science here deserves a little nuance: airplane cabins are extremely dry, but that doesn’t mean every healthy traveler automatically becomes clinically dehydrated on a flight. So I don’t think of electrolytes as some kind of antidote to flying.
They’re simply part of the ritual that gets me to drink and pay attention to hydration before, during and after a flight.
And sometimes that distinction is the point.
The things that become rituals
I’ve become much more interested in wellness habits that can disappear into everyday life.
I don’t want seventeen powders lined up on my counter or a morning routine that takes an hour. I want a handful of things that are easy enough to keep doing.
That’s ultimately why Buoy stayed.
What started as something I drank after the sauna has made its way into my workouts, flights, walks along the Riviera, summer afternoons and ordinary days. I keep it around because it’s easy, because I actually use it and, most importantly, because I notice how I feel when I do.
Sometimes the best wellness rituals aren’t the elaborate ones.
They’re the tiny things you find yourself doing without thinking.
Electrolyte FAQs
What are the benefits of electrolytes?
Electrolytes help support hydration and fluid balance, nerve signaling and normal muscle function. They can also help replace minerals such as sodium that are lost through sweat.
Do electrolytes help with hydration?
Electrolytes such as sodium and potassium play important roles in the body’s fluid balance. They can be particularly relevant when you’re replacing fluids and electrolytes lost through prolonged or heavy sweating.
When should you drink electrolytes?
There isn’t one rule that applies to everyone, and most people can meet their everyday electrolyte needs through food and normal hydration. Electrolyte drinks can be useful when replacing significant sweat losses, such as during or after prolonged exercise, heavy sweating or time spent in the heat.
Personally, I reach for them most after the sauna, after sweaty workouts and during long, hot summer days.
Do you need electrolytes after a sauna?
Sweating in a sauna means losing both water and electrolytes, particularly sodium. How much you lose varies based on factors including how long you’re in the sauna and how heavily you sweat. Rehydrating afterward is important; whether you specifically need an electrolyte drink depends on the individual and the extent of those losses.
For me, adding electrolytes to my water after the sauna was where this entire ritual began.
