nuun Hydration Tablets review

Pop a pill in your water bottle, let it dissolve for a few seconds, and drink.

That’s the simple concept behind nuun tablets, a unique new idea in the category of hydration and electrolyte-replacement products. Essentially a fast-dissolving pill, nuun tablets fizz and disappear like Alka-Seltzer when dropped in water, resulting in a mildly-flavored electrolyte drink to help athletes stay hydrated and cramp-free.

Each tablet contains an elemental mix of sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium to provide what the company touts as an optimal balance of electrolytes for 16 ounces of water.

The company (www.nuun.com) sells nuun tablets in tubes of 12 for $6.50. Flavors include Lemon+Lime, Tri-Berry and Citrus Fruit.

Unlike Gatorade and myriad other sports drinks, nuun separates hydration from nutrition and energy. nuun tablets replace electrolytes. That’s it. They have no sugars, carbohydrates, caffeine or artificial colors. A single nuun tablet contains less than five calories.

Drinking nuun-tainted water is easy while hiking or biking. I used the tablets several times this past summer and found their subtle flavor to be easy to stomach.

The promised electrolyte-replacement effects seemed valid. I banked on nuun during a particularly harsh day of mountain biking in July, with temps above 100 degrees. Though I sweated profusely all day long, my muscles stayed cramp-free and in the game.

nuun is easy to use, too. It dissolves quickly and does not coat water bottles in a sticky grim. The product requires no measuring for quantity. A full tube container of 12 nuun tablets weighs less than 2 ounces and is waterproof.

The science behind electrolyte management is complex and daunting. To distill the concept, nuun uses the analogy of the human body as a big balloon full of hot salty water. Your brain sends out electrical signals to move limbs, blink eyes, etc., with synapse transmissions, impulses and currents traveling through the bloodstream in an ionic sea of bodily electrolytes.

nuun’s promise is to keep your own inner ocean balanced and right. For me, the product seemed to do just that. Add in its convenience and portability and nuun proves itself a worthy supplement to any adventure.