Muddymoles mountain biking in the Surrey Hills and Mole Valley

High 5 Zero electrolyte drink review

Posted by Matt | January 25, 2023 | 2 comments so far

High 5 Zero Berry and Pink Grapefruit flavours
At the Muddymoles we are all about nutrition. This often stops and starts with bacon rolls but even we need a better solution to hydration.

One unifying characteristic of aerobic exercise is the need to be properly hydrated. All that effort means you exhale a lot of water vapour as a cold day easily demonstrates. Couple that with a lot of sweat and all too soon – unless you are Elliot or JR – you need to take on fluids.

It’s not just fluid you are sweating out. Hard exercise means a lot of salts come out too – not just Sodium, but Magnesium, Potassium, Calcium and Chloride which together form the electrolytes that help your muscles work efficiently.

This is where High 5 Zero tablets come in. I have used these for years now to make my water intake more palatable and replace the electrolytes I am sweating out. Even at my modest level I can tell the difference; it encourages me to drink and subjectively makes a lot of difference to me post-ride, to stop the dreaded muscle cramps in tired legs.

I just drop a tablet into my water bottle where it soon dissolves.

The benefits to me are:

  1. I like the taste – my preference is Berry or Orange & Cherry but there’s Mango, Blackcurrant, Strawberry & Kiwi, Citrus, Tropical, Pink Grapefruit and even Neutral to choose from.
  2. There are zero calories and zero sugar in the tablets – so I get the electrolytic benefit without a calorie tax.
  3. The tablets pack small so can easily be popped in your bag if you need to top up your water on a long ride – I sometimes wrap a couple in cling film for an even smaller package.

I do have one criticism though, to do with the packaging.

High 5 Zero Berry tube open showing tablet

Now I appreciate a product like this requires to be kept away from moisture until used so I understand why it comes in a plastic tube, but over the years I have thrown so many of these away. Fortunately I recently discovered the plastic tubes are fully recyclable.

You have to separate the label from the tube and the tube from the lid (and prize out the silica from behind the cardboard cap in the lid) but this is useful knowledge. Unfortunately, with space on the packaging at a premium there’s no mention of this on the tubes; I had no idea until I went looking.

Given all the above it’s hard not to recommend High 5 Zero tablets (buy on Wiggle) for hydration and electrolytic replenishment.

I find it really helps and if not there’s always cake.

Matt

About the author

Matt is one of the founding Molefathers of the Muddymoles, and is the designer and main administrator of the website.

Having ridden a 2007 Orange Five for many years then a 2016 YT Industries Jeffsy 29er, he now rocks a Bird Aether 9 and a Pace RC-627.

An early On-One Inbred still lurks in the back of the stable as a reminder of how things have moved on. You can even find him on road bikes - currently a 2019 Cannondale Topstone 105 SE, a much-used 2011 Specialized Secteur and very niche belt drive Trek District 1.

If you've ever wondered how we got into mountain biking and how the MuddyMoles started, well wonder no more.

There are 2 comments on ‘High 5 Zero electrolyte drink review’

We love to get comments from our readers - if you've spent a few moments to comment, thank-you.

  1. Elliot says:

    In a potentially shocking revelation…I do occasionally drink for purposes of hydration. In fact I use these very tablets. They taste nice enough and even breaking in half I can definitely feel it working.

    The only negative I’ve found is when using them every day, like I did in the Alps last summer. Coming off these I had a nasty headache the following day.

  2. Tony says:

    I use them on big rides in the summer especially in the high mountains where you can dehydrate easily. Although on really hot days in the alps / Pyrenees I have to resort to salt tablet to ward off the cramps.

    My favourites are Nuun and I need to check whether the packaging is recyclable.

    Lastly… Elliott drinks on rides? No way…

Leave a comment…

Have your say – we'd love to hear what you think.

If you have something to add, just complete this comment form (we will not publish your email address).

*Required information.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.