Maltodextrin
SGLT1Cheap, nearly tasteless glucose. Workhorse of every high-carb sports drink.
Glucose / Fructose100% / 0%
Sweetness vs sucrose0.10×
Osmolality per gram of carb20%
Ingredients — what actually goes in a sports drink
Almost every sports drink on the market is built from the same five to seven bulk ingredients. Each page below explains what the ingredient is, what it does in your gut and bloodstream, how to dose it, and (where we recommend buying it) the cheapest credible source we've found.
·10 ingredients indexed
Sugars compared
The five carbohydrates almost every sports drink picks from. They all deliver glucose to working muscles — what differs is sweetness, osmolality, and which gut transporter does the work.
GlucoseFructoseOsmolality bar: lower = easier on the gut at high concentration
Dextrose
SGLT1Pure glucose. Fast at the gut, but its osmolality caps the practical dose.
Glucose / Fructose100% / 0%Sweetness vs sucrose0.75×Osmolality per gram of carb100%Fructose
GLUT5The second transporter. Pair with glucose to push past 60 g/hr.
Glucose / Fructose0% / 100%Sweetness vs sucrose1.73×Osmolality per gram of carb100%Sucrose
BothPlain table sugar — a built-in 1:1 glucose-fructose pair. Cheapest dual-transporter option.
Glucose / Fructose50% / 50%Sweetness vs sucrose1.00×Osmolality per gram of carb53%Cluster Dextrin (HBCD)
SGLT1Premium glucose polymer with ultra-low osmolality. Earns its price only above ~100 g/hr.
Glucose / Fructose100% / 0%Sweetness vs sucrose0.05×Osmolality per gram of carb1.8%
Osmolality compares each sugar's contribution to gut osmotic load per gram of carbohydrate, anchored at dextrose / fructose (set to 100%). HBCD's ~1.8% reading is why a 12% HBCD drink imposes about the osmotic load of a 0.2% dextrose solution — barely above plain water. For the full picture of how these trade-offs combine into a finished formula, see how sports drinks actually work →
Compare every ingredient
The full set of ingredients you'll see on a sports-drink label, side by side. Sort any column to rank by sweetness, sodium density, or absorption pathway.
| What it does | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cluster Dextrin (HBCD) | Carb | SGLT1 | 0.05× | — | Premium ultra-low-osmolality glucose polymer for 100+ g/hr. |
| Dextrose (Glucose) | Carb | SGLT1 | 0.75× | — | Pure glucose. Fast but high osmolality limits the dose. |
| Fructose | Carb | GLUT5 | 1.73× | — | Uses GLUT5 — pair with glucose to push past 60 g/hr. |
| Maltodextrin | Carb | SGLT1 | 0.10× | — | Cheap, nearly tasteless glucose. The default carb in almost every drink. |
| Sucrose (Table Sugar) | Carb | Both | 1.00× | — | Table sugar — natural 1:1 glucose-fructose pair. |
| Magnesium Citrate | Electrolyte | — | — | — | Optional. Equivalent to malate at sports-drink doses. |
| Magnesium Malate | Electrolyte | — | — | — | Optional, LMNT's form. ~200 mg Mg per gram, clean taste. |
| Potassium Chloride | Electrolyte | — | — | — | Sweat losses are small — included for completeness. |
| Sodium Citrate | Electrolyte | — | — | 267 | Smoother-tasting sodium. ~270 mg Na per gram, mild buffer. |
| Table Salt (NaCl) | Electrolyte | — | — | 393 | Cheapest, most-bioavailable sodium source. ~390 mg Na per gram. |
| Citric Acid | Flavoring | — | — | — | Sharp tartness. Masks sweetness at high carb concentrations. |
| Malic Acid | Flavoring | — | — | — | Smoother, longer-lasting tartness — often paired with citric. |
| Caffeine (Anhydrous) | Supplement | — | — | — | Ergogenic aid. 3–6 mg/kg body weight, dosed across the event. |
Deep dives by category
Each ingredient has its own page with dose guidance, research citations, and bulk-buy links where applicable.
Carbohydrate sources
- Maltodextrin
The glucose-polymer workhorse in almost every high-carb sports drink — same energy as dextrose, far lower osmolality, nearly tasteless.
- Fructose
The GLUT5-transported sugar that lets you push past the 60 g/hr glucose ceiling — pair with maltodextrin at ~1:0.8 for the modern dual-transporter formula.
- Cluster Dextrin (HBCD)
An ultra-low-osmolality glucose polymer engineered for the highest carb intakes — premium price, real (but situational) benefit.
Electrolytes
- Table Salt (Sodium Chloride)
The cheapest, most-bioavailable sodium source in your kitchen — pennies per gram and chemically identical to what's in any electrolyte tab.
- Sodium Citrate
A smoother-tasting sodium source than table salt — the alkalising buffer commercial drinks use to dose sodium without the bite.
- Potassium Chloride
The cheapest, densest source of potassium for sports drinks — same form LMNT, Tailwind, and Precision Fuel use.
- Magnesium Malate
The magnesium form LMNT chose for Recharge — highest elemental-Mg fraction of any common powder, clean taste, well-tolerated.
- Magnesium Citrate
A perfectly fine alternative to magnesium malate — the form Walker 2003 used to settle the citrate-vs-oxide bioavailability question.
Hydrogel binders (informational)
Want to see how the ingredients combine?
The DIY teardowns walk through how each commercial product chooses its ingredient mix — and how to recreate it in your own kitchen for a fraction of the cost.