Is Electrolytes legal in the United Kingdom?

A page that explains the basic blood chemistry test (BMP) for people on GLP-1 drugs, eating low-carb or fasting. A flavored powder is not a lab test. A potassium problem or falling kidney function (eGFR) needs a doctor the same day, not a packet.

Electrolytes here means the everyday body salts: sodium, potassium and magnesium. You read them on a basic metabolic panel (BMP), along with eGFR, a measure of kidney function.

How it works: Sodium and potassium keep cells firing properly and set how much fluid sits outside cells. The kidneys, a hormone called aldosterone, and how much you drink keep them in range.

Approval history: Rehydration drinks and electrolyte products are sold as foods or supplements. They are not approved to treat low blood sodium, high blood potassium, or kidney disease.

Licenses medicines for sale in the UK. A compound without a licence to be sold (a marketing authorisation) is an unlicensed medicine. The law only lets it reach people through a prescriber, under the specials scheme (unlicensed medicines made for one patient's needs). It cannot be sold as a research product.

The legal category above is how The Longevity Archive reads Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency listings for Electrolytes on the reviewed date. It is not a legal opinion. Rules change. Bringing a compound into the country, prescribing it and owning it can each be treated differently. Check with the agency before you act on anything here.

Check MHRA directly

Whether Electrolytes is banned in sport is set by the World Anti-Doping Code and by military rules, not by its legal status in the United Kingdom. Before you compete or get tested, look up Electrolytes by name on the Prohibited List, or look up a named product in Global DRO. Under the World Anti-Doping Code, category S0 bans, at all times, any drug-like substance that meets two tests. No other section of the List covers it. And no government health regulator anywhere has a current approval for it as a treatment in people. Many substances that are approved somewhere are banned by name in another section. So approval does not mean a substance is allowed in sport.

• WADA Prohibited List
• Global DRO (check a named product)
• USADA (US athletes)
• Operation Supplement Safety (US service members)

The rules you compete or serve under decide this, not this page.