LMNT is a well-formulated, high-sodium electrolyte drink (1,000 mg sodium, 200 mg potassium, 60 mg magnesium per stick, about $1.50). It is worth it if you value the convenience, taste and travel-friendliness of a pre-mixed stick and the fixed 1,000 mg dose happens to suit your sweat. Because sweat sodium varies roughly tenfold between people, that fixed dose is too much for a light sweater and not enough for a very salty one over a long, hot effort. Dosing to your own measured sweat is more accurate and far cheaper.

What is a cheaper alternative to LMNT?

You can hit the same or a better-fitting mineral profile with bulk pink salt, potassium chloride and a magnesium supplement, optionally over a real-food flavor base. The raw minerals cost cents per serving; with a real-food base the total runs about $1.50 to $2 a session, dosed to your own sweat rather than a one-size stick. A calculator gives your exact sodium, potassium and magnesium target.

Can I make my own LMNT at home?

Yes. LMNT's profile is 1,000 mg sodium, 200 mg potassium and 60 mg magnesium; roughly 2.5 g of table or pink salt supplies about 1,000 mg of sodium, with potassium chloride and a magnesium supplement for the rest. The better move is not to copy a fixed dose but to size sodium to your own sweat, which varies about tenfold between people.

LMNT vs making your own

LMNT pours the same 1,000 mg into everyone's glass.

It's a well-made product. But the real question isn't LMNT versus some other stick — it's whether a fixed 1,000 mg of sodium fits your sweat. Sweat sodium varies about tenfold between people, so for most it's either too much or not enough. Here's the honest milligram-by-milligram, when a stick is worth it, and how to hit your own number for pennies.

Get your exact number →

The milligram-by-milligram, fairly.

LMNT Recharge is a clean, high-sodium formula. Here's what a stick delivers, what it costs, and what the same minerals cost from bulk:

Per serving	Sodium	Potassium	Magnesium	Cost
LMNT Recharge (1 stick)	1,000	200	60	~$1.50
The same minerals, from bulk	1,000	200	60	~$0.15
Your own, dosed to your sweat	your #	your #	~300*	~$1.50–2

The 1,000 mg of sodium in a stick is about 4 cents of pink salt or half a cent of table salt (prices read 2026-09-29). *Magnesium is barely lost in sweat (~5 mg a session); the ~300 mg is a recovery-supplement dose, not a sweat replacement. Your own line runs ~$1.50–2 because it includes a real-food flavor base; raw minerals alone are pennies. Full side-by-side with Nuun, Liquid I.V. and Gatorade on the comparison page →

Why a fixed dose is wrong at both ends.

This is the whole point, and it's not a knock on LMNT — it's arithmetic. Two athletes in the same session can lose 200 vs 2,000 mg of sodium per litre of sweat. One 1,000 mg stick is:

Too much for a light sweater. If you run around 300–500 mg/L and you're doing an easy hour, a full 1,000 mg stick is more sodium than you lost — you're topping up a tank that isn't empty.

Not enough for a salty sweater on a long day. If you run 1,500–2,000 mg/L and you're out for two or three hot hours, a single stick replaces a fraction of what you lose. This is the person still cramping with electrolytes, wondering why. Why that happens →

A fixed dose can only be right for the slice of people whose sweat happens to match it. Everyone else is guessing. Measuring your own sweat removes the guess.

When a stick is the right call.

We're not anti-LMNT — a pre-mixed stick genuinely earns its price in a few situations, and it's honest to say so:

Travel and races, where scooping loose minerals isn't practical.
You've measured your sweat and 1,000 mg genuinely fits it.
You simply prefer the taste and the zero-effort convenience — a real, legitimate reason to pay for a wrapper.

The point of this site isn't "never buy a stick." It's "know your number first, then decide what's worth paying for." Convenience is worth money; being wrong isn't.

How to hit your own number, for pennies.

Two minutes, no account: the calculator turns your sport, duration and how salty you sweat into an exact sodium, potassium and magnesium target, then shows the real-food-plus-bulk-minerals mix that hits it — and the one-tap Amazon cart for the ingredients.

Step 1

Get your number

Sport, minutes, salty-sweater level → your exact Na/K/Mg. Weigh in once for a precise figure.

Step 2 · the mix

Build it once

Real-food base plus bulk pink salt, potassium and magnesium at your ratio — a month at a time.

The receipts

Every product, mg by mg

LMNT, Nuun, Liquid I.V., Gatorade and the raw minerals — elemental mg and real cost, side by side.

Common questions

Is LMNT worth it?

It's worth it when you value the convenience and taste of a pre-mixed stick and the fixed 1,000 mg dose fits your sweat. For a light sweater it's more sodium than you lost; for a salty sweater on a long, hot day it's a fraction of what you need. Measuring your own sweat is more accurate and much cheaper.

What's the cheapest alternative to LMNT?

Raw bulk minerals — pink salt, potassium chloride, a magnesium supplement — cost cents per serving. With a real-food flavor base the total is about $1.50–2 a session, dosed to you rather than a one-size stick. The recipe →

Can I just make my own LMNT?

Yes — about 2.5 g of salt supplies ~1,000 mg sodium, plus potassium chloride and magnesium for the rest. But copying a fixed dose keeps the flaw; the better move is to size sodium to your own sweat. Get your number →

Does a cheaper mix work as well?

The body responds to milligrams of sodium, potassium and magnesium in water — not to the brand on the wrapper. Dosed correctly, a bulk mix delivers the same elemental minerals. The one thing a stick adds is flavor and convenience, which the real-food base in our recipe also covers.

Stop guessing at a stick.

Get the sodium number that's actually yours — 60 seconds, no account.

Get your formula →