What Are Electrolytes?

Your body runs on salty water. Inside and around every cell there is fluid, and dissolved in that fluid are minerals that carry a small electrical charge. Those charged minerals are what we call electrolytes. The charge is the point: it is how nerves send signals and how muscles contract, and the balance of these minerals is part of how the body regulates where water sits.

In nutrition the ones that come up most are sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, chloride and phosphate. Sodium and chloride you already know as salt. Potassium is abundant in vegetables, fruit, potatoes and pulses. Magnesium is in wholegrains, nuts, seeds and leafy greens. Calcium is in dairy, fortified drinks and some greens and fish.

The European Food Safety Authority publishes dietary reference values for each of these, and food labels in the EU are regulated against them. If you want authoritative numbers, EFSA is the source to use — not a supplement brand, including this one.

Mostly through sweat and urine. Heat, long or intense activity, illness and some medicines increase losses. Sweat is the one people notice: it is salty, and hard days in warm conditions move meaningful amounts of sodium.

For most people on an ordinary day, a varied diet and normal drinking cover it. Electrolyte products exist because some days are not ordinary — long travel, hot weather, extended activity, physical work — and because some people simply prefer a consistent, convenient way to top up.

It is worth saying plainly: an electrolyte product is food, not medicine. If you are ill, vomiting, have diarrhoea or are clinically dehydrated, you need an oral rehydration solution or medical advice, not confectionery or a sports drink.

COUP is an electrolyte lollipop — a portable, solid format for people who want electrolytes without a bottle or a shaker. It is a food product, it does not replace drinking water, and it is not an oral rehydration solution. Final ingredients, nutrition information and electrolyte quantities will be shown on the product page and the pack. Final formulation information coming soon.