Even if endurance runners take a lot of salt pills during long races, drinking too much water — like 10 liters — can still give them a dangerous condition called low blood sodium. Salt alone won’t protect you if you’re chugging way too much water.

Even if endurance runners take in a lot of salt, they can still develop low blood sodium if they drink too much water — it’s the overdrinking, not the salt intake, that’s the main problem.

You won’t get low sodium symptoms from sweating during long workouts unless you drink way too much water — so replacing sodium isn’t the most important thing to prevent this issue.

If a runner gets low on salt during a long race, drinking a strong saltwater mix might help boost their sodium levels quickly before they get to a hospital.

If endurance runners drink too much during long races, it can dilute their blood and cause dangerous low sodium levels — not just from losing salt, but from drinking too much. Cutting back on fluids in events over 4 hours could prevent this problem.

When people exercise a lot, they can get low sodium because they drink too much water, not because they aren’t taking in or losing too much salt.