"Eating a balanced diet eliminates the need for supplements."

I tend to agree that having a good diet probably solves a lot of problems.

but there are some circumstances where these energy drinks and electrolytes are very useful:

1. For arduous types of exercise, such as the people training for triathlons. I just don't think they would come close to meeting requirements (esp. given time between meal and exertion) for essential sodium and potassium. Esp. when training on hot days.

2. I've found myself that when working hard under hot sun (something I avoid these days) that my body also gets an exhaustion lag. And one one these electrolyte drinks helps tremendously.

3. Frankly, as I'm getting older (hate to use that word - but I'm well past midlife crisis :-) ) I have noticed that my metabolism just isn't processing things nearly as fast as it used to when I was young and invincible. It takes more time and planning to get the right amounts of H2O and minerals into my body for workouts. Or else I reach a physical limit pretty quickly sometimes. So the smart use of these drinks can help to avoid some of these imbalances.

just my $0.02

Pete2