Where to get electrolyte tablets?

Does anyone know where I can find electrolyte tablets (chewables or dissolve in water)? I can’t seem to find them in any grocery/ department stores. Or do most cyclist just eat bananas here to substitute?

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Most of the ones in grocery stores are the local gatorade equivelants, lots of sugars. 711 usually sells pocari sweat powder. But if you want just vitamins and electrolytes without the diabetes, go to baby supply stores that sell scales, syringes, baby formula diapers, h202, rubbing alcohol etc. They sell lots. Some pharmacies have them too.

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Found it.

https://24h.pchome.com.tw/prod/DBBC01-A9008VEXB?fq=/S/DBAW7K

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A lot of locals buy from foreign cycling gear websites like Wiggle, Chain Reaction and iHerb, but if you wanted to buy it locally, outside of PCHome, you can check local bike shops.

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Are there any? I thought those were unavailable - I haven’t seen anything except for Pocari Sweat powder.

I haven’t found any that I like from iHerb.

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Chain reaction seems to have low shipping cost. Do you know how long it usually takes to ship from the UK?

I have not ordered from them in awhile, but I remember it was 5-7 working days.

Do not forget about the heavy import tax when ordering! I would advise to buy things that are going through sale/clearance to offset the import duties!

Coconut water with a couple dashes of sea salt does the trick.

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Yes, thhatts what i was referring to as local gatorade related products most do seem to be pocari. There is a logical reason to.do with labelling.laws and health products. So sugar related sports drinks are available anywhere as they make no health claims. Nutrtional suplements and the like need to be sold at certain businesses that are r egistered to.sell such products. Perhaps the simplest, though not 100% accurate way is to.compare it to the sale of alcohol. Though health products are far more regulatedt than legal narcotics in taiwan, and i presume that is because the government produces and profits off said narcotics wheeas they are less involved with the production of health foods and supplements…they just regulate them. So pharmacies, bbay specialty shops that sell more serious products as mentioned above et are all registered and allowed to sell and promote such products. Where as pocari sweat is a sugar, salt and vitamin pack that has an ingredient list and not mention of health benefits. Labelling laws…its also why your import duties and such are different…

@ranlee i ha ent bought this from.cycling shops. Have gone in for other things but getthe impression they are basically the same a hiking shops selling stuff for super inflated prices. But i wonder, are they selling just the vitamins/minerals/salts? Or are they more likethe sugar packs or those vitamin packs you see at 7? Those things have too low a ration of necessity:environmental impact vased on over packaging, so i never was interested.

@flatlandr agree. That does ok for heat and sweat. But coconut water and.salted protein was never enough for me when actually working hard and.sweating to the point of a fast drip/light run of water. Need more. I assume cyclists are excercising to that point as well. I cant cycle here as i heat stroke out too fast.

Ya, I’m prone to heatstroke as well. I can’t drink those sugar water drinks.

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If it’s the same exact product, it’s still from the same distributor, so the price can’t be much different whether it’s hiking or cycling. Smaller shops tend to just have the caffeine gels that most people use. Others may have recovery/vitamins and what have you. Depends on their clientele and if bossman wants to bring in something that has an expiration date.

Sports supplements in general tend to be expensive due to the heavy import taxes.

I personally do not like to eat them unless it’s race day, as they are expensive and eating too much of it is never really great for your health.

For sure. But i was meaning the hiking stores are insanely expensive muhc like cycling or any of fashionable thing here. Really sucks for the serious folks who arent rich. Never checked the elecrolyte stuff at cycling shops, but the stuff at hiking shops was quite a bit more than the baby shops when you check the ingredients. To be fair i havent checked the outdoor fashion outlets in a few years, maybe its more common now?

And totally, these should be taken for exertion, not for everyday “im tired walking to the bus” situations.

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You can make your own electrolyte drink by mixing:

  • Water = 2L
  • Potassium Chloride = 1 teaspoon (that salt fake salt based on Potassium)
  • Sodium Chloride = 1/2 teaspoon (most people use the pink one)
  • Baking soda = 1 teaspoon
  • Magnesium sulfate (optional) = 1/2 teaspoon (food grade Epsom salts)

I used to do it a lot back home, but here I just mix pink salt with water and take mineral supplement. Beware: the taste can be offsetting at first.

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I’m on the lookout for small packages of electrolytes powders no/low sugar/calories that I can throw into a big bottle of water during a short stop.

Have you tried Decathlon? https://www.decathlon.tw/zh/triathlon-nutrition

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No joke, baby supply shops. The ones thta ar registered to sell stuff like syringes, saline, rubbing alcohol, feeding tube etc (medical type stuff). No suger, electrolytes and vitamins/minerals. Best i have found in taiwan. The sports drink companies still add sugar to their powders, which i dislike. But at least you avoid so much plastic waste and further pollution.

Which ones did you get? I went to several baby stores and the less sugary one I could find was this one:

The chewables from Decathlon are great btw.

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I always bought small powder packs from germany before. Next time i go to the city will take a pic. I avoid bottles of liquids to reduce pollution issues, so have never tried that one. Surely better than supau, fin, pocari etc

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Great! I was expecting to find powder/tablets too, but all they had was the bottles (I’d rather avoid the plastic waste too)

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I agree. Even for those that dont care about our environment, buying bottles is not efficient nor cost effective as we are literally paying for water and its transport. Seems quite counter productive on a few levels. Plus once saturated, shelf life diminishes with most things. I like adding some nutes and minerals to plain water rather than the sports drink at 711 option. I still buy supau et al, sasparilla etc when i get the spins and feel like i likely wont make it home, they are great for emergencies but always ultra sweet which i dislike as pure sugar dosing just heats up the body more… I try hard to avoid them as a habit!

I regret not having a picture saved of the powder packs i buy, which i use for for mountain work or the occasional other extreme stuff that must be done. For now i cna give me locattion, maybe someone in the area knowsthe product name.

Pingdong city, there is a Poya, right next to the second Carrefour that closed and just down the road from the Mcdonalds that is fairly close to the government buildings, road testing departments etc. Right besude that poya, to the ekft, is the baby store i always go.to buy them. I dont live in pongdong anymore so i cnat jsut go take a pic, but in.the kff chance someone does and is interested, thats where i hvae always gone. And their powder packs have saved my life most likely on many occasions of extreme heat and sweating. Next month i will go back again, will try and find.time to.drive into the city and get some pics a well a stock up :slight_smile:

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