Gatorade question

[DougPaul]

I dont think this statement is entirely true. I think they put a TON of cash into research on this product to make SURE it does whats expected. They monitor TOP athletes and "tweak" the product to provide what the body needs when it's depleted.

Gatorade isn't just hype and it isnt just sugar.

my $.02

Take a look at the contents of a variety of the popular electrolyte drinks. They differ, often by fairly significant amounts. If there were one optimum formulation, all would tend to be very similar.

Besides, what works for elite athletes may not be the best for weekend athletes.

My vote: (at least) 5 parts hype to 1 part research.

(Besides, at a dollar or so for a liter of water plus a few cheap chemicals? Like printing money...)

Doug

 

[KMartman]

Take a look at the contents of a variety of the popular electrolyte drinks. They differ, often by fairly significant amounts. If there were one optimum formulation, all would tend to be very similar.

Besides, what works for elite athletes may not be the best for weekend athletes.

My vote: (at least) 5 parts hype to 1 part research.

(Besides, at a dollar or so for a liter of water plus a few cheap chemicals? Like printing money...)

Doug

I wouldnt say they arent out to make money, but I think their product WORKS..plain and simple I notice a difference between drinking gatorade and just drinking plain water. I would tend to agree there is no "perfect" formula, but Gatorade started the idea and likely has the most R&D behind it to justify the "hype".

M

 

[David Metsky]

I wouldnt say they arent out to make money, but I think their product WORKS..plain and simple I notice a difference between drinking gatorade and just drinking plain water. I would tend to agree there is no "perfect" formula, but Gatorade started the idea and likely has the most R&D behind it to justify the "hype".

M

Yes, but studies have shown pretty much the same results by drinking pickle brine.

Most of us weekend athletes don't need anything more then a few additional salts when exercising. You can get them many ways, most of them much cheaper then Gatorade or Powerade brand products. No one is arguing that we don't need some salts, but the exact mixture and delivery mechanism doesn't seem to be very important.

Also, to appeal to the broader market Gatorade and Powerade add much more sugar then is needed. They taste great, but the sugar isn't doing you much good, and can actually inhibit the uptake of the salts.

 

[DougPaul]

I wouldnt say they arent out to make money, but I think their product WORKS..plain and simple I notice a difference between drinking gatorade and just drinking plain water. I would tend to agree there is no "perfect" formula, but Gatorade started the idea and likely has the most R&D behind it to justify the "hype".

I agree that it works, but so did salt tablets with water and eating salty food with water. (The key advantage of the electrolyte drinks over tablets or food is a more consistent dosing of the electrolytes in relation to the amount of water.)

There is also a significant range of need for different individuals as well as an individual's need may change with time. (The amount of salt in one's sweat changes as one gets used to exercising in the heat.) (These are counter arguments to the existance of any single optimum formulation.) Fortunately most individual's systems are tolerant of a range of electrolyte inputs.

Who was the first to market electrolyte drinks to the masses? I don't know. But medical IVs have used solutions of sodium, potassium, chloride, etc (see for instance, Lactated Ringer's solution http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringer's_lactate ) for quite a while and the crew of the Kon Tiki mixed mixed sea water with fresh in 1947 on a trans-Pacific raft trip. (Full strength sea water will eventually kill you by dehydration.) I also recall advice to dissolve a salt tablet in drinking water from before electrolyte drinks became popular.

Anyhoo, it is more important that you replace the lost electrolytes than which method you use. If you wish to use one of the commercial drinks, that is fine. My el-cheapo homebrewed drink does the job for me.

Doug

 

[Tom Rankin]

Yes, but studies have shown pretty much the same results by drinking pickle brine.

Also, to appeal to the broader market Gatorade and Powerade add much more sugar then is needed. They taste great, but the sugar isn't doing you much good, and can actually inhibit the uptake of the salts.

Ok, Dave, you drink the brine, I'll stick with the sweet stuff!

 

[DougPaul]

Also, to appeal to the broader market Gatorade and Powerade add much more sugar then is needed. They taste great, but the sugar isn't doing you much good, and can actually inhibit the uptake of the salts.

Up to about 7% sugar helps absorbtion, more tends to retard absorbtion and may actually take water out of your bloodstream (into your stomach).

In practice, one also has to factor in the sugars from any other sources (eg solid food) in this 7% limit, so it is often desirable to have a lower concentration in the drink.

I frequently use ~2% sugar in my electrolyte drink.

Consumer Reports suggested 1/2 strength fruit juice. (A friend does this and likes it.)

Haven't tried pickle brine...

Doug

 

[Chip]

Switchel
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup vinegar
1/2 cup light molasses
1 T ground ginger
1 quart water
Combine and stir well. While this very old beverage may be chilled in the refrigerator before drinking, it doesn't need chilling to be an effective thirst-quencher. Apparently this mix was used on the farms and on ships as an original "Sports" drink and to flavor stored water.

Chocolate milk supposedly works as well as Gatorade, but will obviously spoil.

 

[Puck]

Switchel
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup vinegar
1/2 cup light molasses
1 T ground ginger
1 quart water
Combine and stir well. While this very old beverage may be chilled in the refrigerator before drinking, it doesn't need chilling to be an effective thirst-quencher. Apparently this mix was used on the farms and on ships as an original "Sports" drink and to flavor stored water.

Chocolate milk supposedly works as well as Gatorade, but will obviously spoil.

Chip, there is something awefully familiar about that recipe. I know replace the water with a pint of oil and and a small can of tomato paste, a pinch of cayenne and ya got a great BBQ sauce and marinade.

 

[DougPaul]

Chocolate milk supposedly works as well as Gatorade, but will obviously spoil.

I have read the chocolate milk is supposed to be a good recovery drink.

Haven't seen anything re its use as an electrolyte drink.

Doug

 

[Jay H]

Am I the only one who doesn't get all the different varietys and flavors of Gatorade that are out there.. To me, they all taste the same and when I'm drinking them, I couldn't care less what flavor they are? To me, it's which color of gatorade you feel like drinking now...

On the rare occasion that I drink gatorade, I'll try to mix drinks like it seems most people here do, 50/50 for me..

Jay

 

[Neil]

I think their product WORKS..plain and simple I notice a difference between drinking gatorade and just drinking plain water.

It's the placebo effect.

jk

 

[bikehikeskifish]

I drink Gatorade because:

• It tastes good
• Offers me a definite benefit of electrolytes
• Offers me a readily-absorbed source of calories (convenient on the bike, not as much so while hiking.)
• Comes in a convenient, pre-mixed container
• Does not spoil
• Is reasonably inexpensive if you buy it on sale or from the wholesale/club stores.

I like frost and rain myself. I second (or third...) the idea of water only in the CamelBak. I also second the idea of keeping the bladder in the freezer.

Tim

 

[David Metsky]

To me, it's which color of gatorade you feel like drinking now...

I like the blue, myself. I have no idea what flavor that is.

 

[David Metsky]

It's the placebo effect.

No, that's not it. Electrolyte replacement works just fine. We're just discussing the most convenient, cheapest, and best tasting way to get those electrolytes.

 

[sli74]

I never drank gatorade until I discovered gatorade rain and now I have to keep myself from drinking it with dinner and wasting money.

I drink it for the taste the rest is icing on the cake . . . . umm . . cake

sli74

 

[JohnL]

Chocolate milk is only an acceptable recovery drink if it is made with skim milk. The chocolate milk you generally find on the grocer’s shelf is made with whole milk containing large quantities of saturated fat. Saturated fat will inhibit rapid recovery whereas essential fatty acids (Omega-3 and -6) aid recovery.

GatorAde is not a true recovery drink nor have I ever seen it advertised as such. It contains no protein and any drinks that are correctly marketed as recovery drinks all contain protein. Any exercise strenuous enough to require you to drink a recovery drink needs to have protein in it. Many people also mistakenly think GatorAde is a health drink, which it is not.

Salt tablets have long been deemed ineffective and in some cases dangerous. An excess of salt (from too much salt too fast) in your body can force your system to over-react and end up depleting your body of sodium.

When I am doing a long (>15 miles) hike on a warm day, GatorAde is more effective than food and water because it puts easily digestible carbs into my bloodstream faster than food can be digested. The digestive processes slow down during periods of intense and/or extended exercise so the easier your body can process carbs, the faster your body can turn it into fuel. The varied tastes of GatorAde are more palatable than plain water and thus get me over the psychological barrier of not wanting to drink something of which the taste is unappealing. If I’m doing a hike of less than 10 miles, I’ll bring water but most of the time I don’t even bother with food, though I bring it along anyway.

I concur with Tim on his reasons for liking GatorAde (or GookinAde) though I always fill my Camelback with XAde but drink water out of bottles. I thoroughly wash, rinse and freeze the Camelback bladder after each use. Never had a ‘growth problem’ even after years of use.

I also never use cold cold water, either. Warm water assimilates itself through your system faster than cold water.

Pickle brine…hmmmm, no thanks!

JohnL

 

[Neil]

Couple of years ago I hiked Moose and McKenzie in horribly, scorchingly hot conditions. I put a Nalgene full of chilled V8 juice in a water bottle jacket and I drank that as I hiked.

It worked!
How do I know that? Same way I know everything else I guess.

I was just kidding about the placebo effect. Everyone knows that the placebo effect doesn't exist in hikers.

 

[Snowflea]

Replacement of electrolytes is muy importante, IMHO, especially in high temps. Of late I've been using Nuun products (a teeny bit of FI ) Lots of good info on their site:

http://www.nuun.com/

Hammer Nutrition makes really good stuff, too. Helpful info here:

http://www.hammernutrition.com.au/knowledge.php

The beauty of electrolyte capsules vs. drinks like Gatorade is that one can easily control the amount of electrolytes they're taking in, but you should use whatever you like & thinks tastes good.

Just my opinion... I've been using electrolyte supplementation in long-distance running/trail stuff for over 15 years now, and I once witnessed the effects of hyponatremia & overhydration. Not fun stuff.

Stinkyfeet

 

[Chip]

Chocolate milk is only an acceptable recovery drink if it is made with skim milk.
JohnL

Yeah, it was low fat chocolate milk that was used in that study testing recovery (vs electrolyte replacement), although I did see somewhere there was probably enough salt/sodium/potassium in chocolate milk to replace what most of us might need, apparently not much for an average hike.

I guess I'm treating most of my hiking as a series of short hikes and recoveries as opposed to, say, running a marathon where electrolyte replacement might be more critical. Hard tellin', not knowin'. I do find I "need" straight water and diluted gatorade and food during most hikes.

"The truth is that the human body needs very minute amounts of sodium to function normally. We need only 250 mg of sodium each day, athletes maybe 500 mg, which is easily supplied by natural, unprocessed foods. However, the average American consumes approximately 6000 to 7000 mg per day. The average athlete stores at least 8,000 mg of dietary sodium in tissues and has these stores available during exercise. Most athletes perform successfully using from 80-300 mg. sodium per hour in prolonged endurance events. Sodium is necessary but not by itself and not in mega-dose quantities."

Gatorade's higher salt content also helps to stimulate thrist. I'm guessing most of it's benefit during a normal outing (not a marathon or canyon RTRTR) is from the carb and fluid replacement vs the electrolytes.

 

[Jay H]

I like the blue, myself. I have no idea what flavor that is.

Yeah, I've had blue before, probably picked it up just because it's the oddest color I could think of for a drink...

Jay