Electrolytes. Fruit. No Added Sugar or Sweeteners.
The story behind our Unsweetened Hydration Sport Drink Mix is rooted in purposeful simplicity and precise performance.
We initially developed our Hydration Sport Drink Mix to tackle a common issue among endurance athletes: traditional sports drinks often taste overly sweet, causing gastrointestinal discomfort and poor fluid absorption. By thoughtfully simplifying our formula—reducing sugars, boosting electrolyte content to replenish what's lost through sweat, and relying solely on real fruit for flavor—we provided athletes with hydration that tastes good and feels even better.
But Skratch Labs Founder and exercise physiologist Dr. Allen Lim saw another important need: some athletes wanted pure hydration, without additional calories or sweeteners, for training sessions focused solely on hydration, or for maintaining fluid balance throughout the day.
With careful precision, we removed all sugars to create our Unsweetened Hydration Sport Drink Mix. Each serving delivers an optimized electrolyte profile with 400 mg sodium, 100 mg potassium, 50 mg magnesium, and 50 mg calcium, essential for maintaining fluid balance, muscle function, and performance without gastrointestinal distress.
This minimalist approach results in incredibly low osmolality, allowing rapid absorption into your bloodstream without digestive issues. The subtle hint of real fruit for flavor keeps your tastebuds happy, ensuring you'll consistently hydrate before, during, and after your workouts.
Ideal for athletes who recognize that sometimes less is truly more, our Unsweetened Hydration Sport Drink Mix offers versatile hydration support.
Who is this product for?
Our product is designed for athletes seeking hydration beyond just water, without the addition of sugar or non-nutritive sweeteners. It's also perfect for those who require higher sodium levels to replenish what's lost through sweat, addressing the needs of athletes thirsty for electrolytes without the sweetness, individuals needing more sodium than conventional products offer and finally those who prefer an unsweetened hydration option.
Why did you make this?
Not all athletes lose the same amount of sodium in their sweat. Not all athletes need or want the same amount of carbohydrate to fuel their training. So, from the start, we created different products with different ratios of sodium and carbohydrate to meet a range of needs when athletes were sweating, thirsty, and hungry. But all those products were confusing and clumsy to put together in just the right way. Then it hit us. What if we just removed all the carbs from our Sport Drink Mix, instead of worrying about the right carb to sodium ratio across a whole bunch of products. And what if we left all the fruit so that it would still taste great alone without any sugar or weird sweeteners and flavoring agents. It’s a product that gives athletes what they always wanted - something they can use when sweating and thirsty but not in need of extra energy to a really simple way to customize the sodium levels in our Sport or High Carb Drink Mixes when they need more fuel. It is the missing link that now gives us a simple product ecosystem to meet the needs of every athlete, every day.
Why would I choose Unsweetened instead of Sport Hydration?
Choose Unsweetened when you want a lighter, flavored drink with no added sugar. It's great when you don’t need extra carbs — like during shorter efforts, daily hydration, or when you're pairing electrolytes with separate fueling sources.
How is this different from other low-sugar Hydration Mixes?
We keep it simple. Our Unsweetened Hydration Drink Mix contains no non-nutritive sweeteners like stevia, sucralose, or monk fruit—just real fruit for flavor. That means no artificial or natural flavorings either, giving it a refreshing taste that helps reduce flavor fatigue over time.
What really sets our mix apart is its electrolyte profile. It's not an arbitrary formula—we intentionally use 400mg of sodium per serving to match the average sodium concentration lost in sweat. That’s because sodium is the primary electrolyte lost during exercise. Each serving of Unsweetened Drink Mix contains 400 mg of sodium, based on our recommendation that one serving is added to 16 to 17 oz or about 1/2 a liter of water (500 ml). In metric, that equates to a sodium concentration of 800 mg of sodium per liter, which is about the average sodium lost in sweat. Thus, our sodium concentration is intentionally designed for people who sweat. That said, there is a wide range of genetic variability when it comes to the amount of sodium lost in sweat. Some people lose very little, while others lose quite a bit. On the very low end, someone may only lose 200 mg of sodium per liter of sweat. On the very high end, someone might lose up to 2000 mg of sodium per liter of sweat. For those with cystic fibrosis, the sodium lost in sweat may be greater than 3000 mg of sodium per liter of sweat. Thus, another reason we keep our sodium level at 400 mg per serving is to make it easier for those who need either more or less sodium to make adjustments.
Our sodium comes from sodium citrate (sodium bound to de-acidified citric acid aka lime juice) not sodium chloride (table salt or sodium bound to chloride ion or chlorine). We prefer sodium citrate because it tastes better, has a slight buffering effect, provides a citrate ion which can be used as a fuel source, and is very easy on the gut.
You preach sugar for athletes why no sugar in this product?
We do preach sugar for athletes when they are doing hard and long workouts, because maintaining and elevating one's blood sugar during physical activity can improve performance. That said, there are instances when sugar is not needed but replacing the electrolytes lost in sweat still is needed. For example, shorter workouts when there is plenty of glycogen on board and when the intensity is low, may not require additional sugar or energy consumption. In addition, we wanted to have a sugar free product for those times when athletes were dehydrated but not working out and thus didn't need extra sugar. Or for athletes who want to keep their hydration and fueling separate. Finally, having an electrolyte product made with the same fruit that we use in our sport drink mix, allowed us to create the perfect electrolyte supplement to add to our Sport Drink Mix or Super High Carb product when an athlete knows they need more sodium due to differences in their own sodium sweat loss.
If no sugar, where are the carbs coming from?
While there is no sugar in this product there are still some calories coming from the citrate in sodium citrate, potassium citrate, and the calcium citrate electrolytes. Citric acid which is also used for taste also has some calories. Specifically, citrate and citric acid have 2 calories per gram. Citrate and citric acid is utilized downstream of the same metabolic pathway that breaks apart the sugar glucose into energy. But since it's exactly half the size of glucose, it provides half the energy. Thus the more electrolytes one consumes, the more calories one will get. Finally, the fruit we use for flavor also provides a small amount of calories
Can I mix this with sport or high-carb? What are some mixing ratios you'd recommend trying? Tips and tricks for this?
Yes - you can freely mix this with our other mixes including Hydration Sport Drink Mix and Super High Carb Drink Mix especially if you have a higher need for electrolytes. Add Unsweetened Drink Mix a scoop at a time until you reach your desired amount of sodium and carbohydrates for your activity!
Isn't this just everyday hydration?
Yes — it's the same trusted formula you know, just with a new name and updated look. As we've evolved our hydration system, we wanted to make it easier for athletes to understand how all our products fit together. By renaming it "Unsweetened Hydration," we’re highlighting exactly what it offers: real fruit flavor, no added sugar, and electrolyte support for everyday hydration or lighter efforts, our a lighter flavor hydration mix, — all without changing what’s inside the bag.
