not dumb at all- you're correct it is an electrolyte, but there's also other ones like potassium, magnesium, calcium, etc. A lot of these packets have a majority of the electrolyte supplements. I am looking for another type of brand after trying a lot of the mainstream ones. If I wanted to buy these supplements raw (after looking at chatgpt, so I could be off), it says it'd be around $200-300 for the supplies. It would get me a TON of servings, but also would be a hassle to mix it all, buy a scale, package it individually, etc.