LMNT is one of the more popular electrolyte packets on the market. Co-founded by Robb Wolf, yes the same Robb Wolf who was fired from CrossFit’s Nutrition Certification over 15 years ago. Boasting no sugar, no gluten, no dodgy ingredients, vegan and paleo and keto-friendly, LMNT had been perceived as one of the cleaner electrolyte supplements out there.
But that has recently been called into question.
In the past month or so it has revealed that LMNT contains upwards of 550 milligrams of maltodextrin. According to a statement by LMNT, there is between 250mg to 550mg in the flavored drink mix.
The problem is that until recently it was believed that there was only 4mg of maltodextrin in the powdery packets.
What’s even crazier is that LMNT was originally thought to have no maltodextrin. But sometime last year someone uncovered that there was in fact maltodextrin.
LMNT then came clean and said there was maltodextrin, but it was only 4mg. Apparently the natural flavors that LMNT used to flavor its products contained these trace amounts.
Some were upset by this revelation because of LMNT’s promise of “no dodgy ingredients”. However, many rationalized it and said 4mg is such a miniscule amount that it would not affect most people.
Maltodextrin is a food additive that is used to improve texture, flavor and shelf life. It is processed from any starchy food, from corn, potato, wheat, tapioca or rice. The problem, though, is that maltodextrin causes large spikes in blood sugar – something particularly bad for those with diabetes or insulin resistance. It also said it can kick you out of ketosis.
But now, over the past month LMNT has admitted that its products have up to 100 times the maltodextrin than what many thought just a couple months ago.
Over the weekend, there was an interesting exchange on X (formerly Twitter) where Dr. Tro called out Luis Villaseñor, one of LMNT’s co-founders. Villaseñor responded to a tweet saying, “LMNT doesn’t have maltodextrin.”
Dr. Tro called him out and said that LMNT actually contains way more maltodextrin than originally believed.
Mark Sisson, the Primal Kitchen co-founder, jumped in and said 0.4 grams of carbs is “not a big deal.”
To which Robb Wolf responded…
“.Doc- Luis is a co-founder but is not intimately involved in the day to day, including all raw materials. That post was clearly a mistake and we own that.
“Our vendor communicated a 4g maltodextrin amount months ago, but after digging we found that to be inaccurate. We have been nothing but transparent about that and have hired a 20 year Garden Of Life supply chain expert who is also a lawyer. Our goal is to have an airtight accounting for every aspect of supply chain and ingredients.
“I appreciate the “how you do everything” sentiment. It’s refreshing to know someone who has never made a mistake…we are not at your level yet, our goal is to own the mistake and become better as a consequence.”
Luis Villaseñor has since nuked his X account and deleted all posts/replies.
Interesting.
Now back to maltodextrin in LMNT. In what appears to be a response to the controversy, Robb Wolf penned a blog post on the LMNT website. However, it can’t be found searching the website itself. I was only able to find it via a Google search.
In the post, Wolf addresses natural flavors, how they are different than artificial flavors, how they are produced and then goes into maltodextrin.
He explains that maltodextrin is not listed on LMNT’s ingredient label because “it’s a flavor carrier rather than an added ingredient.” He goes on to say that for those who are concerned about LMNT increasing blood sugar levels, he has “never seen a blood sugar increase when drinking LMNT” via a Continuous Glucose Monitor.
Wolf continues by talking about the safety of natural flavors, answers some other questions and then closes by saying he and his entire family drink “a lot” of LMNT, but that the formulation may not work for everyone and that people should make informed choices about what they consume.
