8 Best Carb & Electrolyte Powders in Canada to Fuel Endurance Performance (2025)
Joe Clark | BSc Hons Sport Science
If you’re looking for a side-by-side comparison of the top carbohydrate and electrolyte powders to fuel your endurance performance, you’ve come to the right place! This is an in-depth, science-based guide for endurance athletes seeking the optimal fueling product.
Comparing fueling products is tough as all the brands use different scoop sizes, serving sizes, bag sizes, and marketing language, making direct comparison time consuming and challenging. Unlike other guides on this topic, I’ve normalised every product to equivalant carbohydrate amounts, so all of the nutrition data and cost can be compared directly and fairly. Because most endurance athletes fuel at a rate of 30–90 g of carbohydrate per hour, this guide shows exactly what each product provides at 30 g, 60 g, and 90 g of carbs. This analysis took a lot of math and long time to put together—hopefully you find it helpful!
The products analysed here are:
- Skratch: Hydration Sport Drink Mix
- Skratch: Super High Carb
- Thrive: EnduraFuel
- Tailwind: Endurance Fuel
- Tailwind: High Carb Fuel
- Precision Hydration: Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix
- Maurten: Drink Mix 160
- Maurten: Drink Mix 320
Note: All of these products are available in Canada; however, the only product that is made in Canada by a Canadian owned brand is Thrive EnduraFuel.
Navigation:
- Electrolyte Sweat Loss Data
- Sodium Content
- Potassium Content
- Calcium Content
- Magnesium Content
- Product Electrolyte Summary
- Carb Type & Glucose: Fructose
- Cost
- Overall Winners
- Appendix: Nutrition Facts Panels
Research shows that consuming carbohydrates together with electrolytes best prevents fatigue and supports endurance performance, with improvements of over 2% reported compared to water alone in both running (1) and cycling (2). The top brands compared here all recognize this, which is why they include both in their formulas.
Electrolyte Sweat Loss Data
Data from a large study of 506 athletes—including cyclists, runners, and participants from various sports—showed that sweat losses typically range from 1.0 to 1.9 litres per hour of physical activity, depending on exercise intensity and climate with an average of 1.2 L per hour.
Research shows that the associated electrolyte losses for 1.2 L of sweat (average hourly losses) are as follows:
I’ve included this data as a reference for analysing the electrolyte dosing of the products, and colour coded the tables relative to how the products perform against these values.
Sodium Content
Average sodium loss is ~991 mg per hour (3), but 100% replacement isn’t necessary. Guidelines from ACSM, NATA, and DGE set ~700 mg/L as optimal. With exercise fluid intake recommendations of 600 mL–1.2 L per hour (6) (7), this equates to ~400–840 mg of sodium per hour as the optimal range. Intakes above 840 mg/hour are safe but may provide no additional benefit unless you’re a heavy salt sweater.
Potassium Content
Calcium Content
Average calcium loss during exercise is ~53 mg per hour (5). Replenishment during exercise is not strictly necessary to maintain performance, though small amounts are often included to help offset losses.
Magnesium Content
Average magnesium loss during exercise is ~12 mg per hour (5). Magnesium replacement during exercise isn’t essential for performance, but small amounts are often added to help cover losses and contribute to overall intake, which is important for health.
Electrolyte Summary
If fueling at 30 g of carbohydrate, the best choices are:
- Skratch Hydration Sport Mix
- Precision Hydration Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix
- Thrive EnduraFuel
- Tailwind Endurance Fuel
Each provides sufficient electrolytes even with just 30 g of carbohydrate per hour. At 60 g and 90 g of carbohydrate, the above four and Tailwind High Carb Fuel all provide sufficient electrolyte replenishment.
The Skratch Hydration Sport Drink Mix contains the most electrolytes and the highest sodium content, which some may prefer; however, it is slightly overdosed in calcium and magnesium and slightly underdosed in potassium. Precision Hydration and Thrive EnduraFuel both align closely with the electrolyte values lost during exercise. The Tailwind Endurance Fuel also has a good electrolyte profile but is slightly lighter on sodium and potassium. Regardless, all four perform well from an electrolyte standpoint.
The Maurten Drink Mix 160, Drink Mix 320, and Skratch Super High Carb do not provide full electrolyte profiles and deliver less than adequate sodium at all fueling rates except 90 g per hour. Given their cost, these products offer little value—particularly since the Maurten Drink Mixes are simply maltodextrin and fructose with sodium. The Skratch Super High Carb does include cluster dextrin, which may help some athletes at very high fueling rates by improving GI tolerability and maintaining steadier blood glucose, but for most, it is unnecessary and costly.
Carb Type & Glucose: Fructose
Cost
The table below shows the product costs; most usefully, it shows the net cost per 100 g of powder. I’ve ranked them in order of cost.
Overall Winners
The top four are all strong fueling choices. To support a Canadian-made and operated brand, go with Thrive EnduraFuel.
Each of the top four contains a complete electrolyte profile with dosages that align with scientific research on sweat loss values. Tailwind Endurance Fuel didn’t quite make the top three because it has less than a 2:1 glucose-to-fructose ratio, but other than that, it's a strong product. The bottom three are simply carbs and sodium, so they don’t provide a complete fueling solution as they require a separate electrolyte supplement, yet they cost just as much, if not more in some cases.
I hope you found this analysis useful! Thanks for reading.
About the Author
Joe is a certified personal trainer, strength and conditioning coach, and nutrition coach. He holds a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Sport and Exercise Science, graduating with First Class standing. During his studies, Joe focused on human physiology and performance, and he applies this knowledge of exercise science to his work with Thrive. He is the co-founder of Thrive Protein, a Canadian family-run supplement company focused on clean, scientifically backed nutrition products — including protein powders, greens, and electrolytes.
Appendix: Nutrition Facts Panels
These are the original nutrition facts panels for each product, I’ve included them here for reference. In the analysis above, the values were normalised to 30, 60, and 90 grams of carbohydrate, since comparing these panels directly isn’t possible without first making them equivalent.
Thrive EnduraFuel
Skratch Hydration Sport Drink Mix
Skratch Super High Carb
Tailwind Endurance Fuel
Tailwind High Carb Fuel
Maurten Drink Mix 160
Maurten Drink Mix 320
Precision Hydration Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix
