Help With Adding Flavor to Water

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Honey and Vinegar

I have no idea if it would cause gall stones or not, but I like a 1 to 1 mix of cider vinegar and honey, then mixed with water at ~1 part mix to 7-8 parts water. The honey brings you natural sugar and the vinegar should also bring helpful ingredients (as in an apple a day keeps the doctor away...).

OT
 
WinterWarlock said:
Have you seen any of the liquid tea extracts? I know it's tea, but maybe this would work.

BTW - I drink two cups of strong black tea every morning, and a gallon of iced tea a day. I've been doing that for almost thirty years with no kidney stones...maybe I'm just lucky.
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Your intestines must be tanned by now. :eek:
 
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Fisher Cat -

In looking at the link Ferris sent, I see they compare it to CytoMax, which I use on longer or hotter hikes...tastes reasonably good (especially if diluted more than recommended) and is easy on the stomach (Gatorade tears me up). Still can't say about the stones since I think I'm one of the lucky ones, but it might also be an option for you.

Good luck...stones suck. (from what I've heard)

Scott
 
I prefer to get my nourishment from the snacks I carry (salt from lightly salted peanuts in gorp, short term energy from the gorp, fruit and PB&J sandwich). I get my hydration from water, usually straight up but occasionally I'll add a piece of lemon in the summer and hot organic tea and honey in the winter. On backpacks I go for a hearty breakfast and nutritious dinner to provide the longer term requirements.

I suggest reading the labels of whatever you choose to add. I avoid chemicals I'm not familiar with or think are generally more harmful than beneficial ... to me ... not to the mass food producers (e.g. high fructose corn syrup).

Hiking, climbing, paddling, skiing ... I believe we all do it for enjoyment and health, not for a multimillion dollar livelihood. Thus, enjoyable and healthy foods are the order of the day for me.
 
Viewseeker said:
vanilla extract??? mMMMMMM goes good with trail pancakes too:p
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Incidentally I tried that today, since I've been thinking of extracts, while baking some oatmeal & wheat germ cookies (no raisins). While it certainly provided flavor I must admit it wasn't the flavor I was looking for when hiking.
 
Pedialyte might be an option. It's a hydrating formula designed for small children but is just fine for adults. Low sugar but high in electrolytes. It's becoming more popular for athletes as an alternative to gatorade and other sugarwater products.
 
woodsxc said:
Pedialyte might be an option. It's a hydrating formula designed for small children but is just fine for adults. Low sugar but high in electrolytes.
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Ingredients (liquid):
* water, dextrose (a sugar), potassium citrate, sodium chloride (salt), sodium citrate.
* non medical: FD&C Blue #1 and Red #40 (grape flavor), FD&C Red #40 (bubblegum flavor)

* per liter of water: 1037 mg of sodium, 780 mg of potassium, 25 gm of dextrose (sugar)

Source: http://www.rxmed.com/b.main/b2.phar...s/CPS- (General Monographs- P)/PEDIALYTE.html


Pretty much all electrolyte drinks consist of water, sodium chloride (salt), potassium chloride, a sugar or carbohydrate, color, flavoring, and usually a lot of hype.

The optimum concentrations probably depend upon the cause of depletion. Pedialyte is intended to replace the losses due to diarrhea in children, hikers need to replace to replace the losses due to sweating.

Doug
 
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DougPaul said:
Ingredients (liquid):
* water, dextrose (a sugar), potassium citrate, sodium chloride (salt), sodium citrate.
* non medical: FD&C Blue #1 and Red #40 (grape flavor), FD&C Red #40 (bubblegum flavor)

* per liter of water: 1037 mg of sodium, 780 mg of potassium, 25 gm of dextrose (sugar)

Source: http://www.rxmed.com/b.main/b2.phar...s/CPS- (General Monographs- P)/PEDIALYTE.html


Pretty much all electrolyte drinks consist of water, sodium chloride (salt), potassium chloride, a sugar or carbohydrate, color, flavoring, and usually a lot of hype.

The optimum concentrations probably depend upon the cause of depletion. Pedialyte is intended to replace the losses due to diarrhea in children, hikers need to replace to replace the losses due to sweating.

Doug
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It works pretty well for both purposes. My dad (a pediatrician) recommends it to patients for general dehydration, not just dehydration due to diarrhea.

Article.
 
woodsxc said:
It works pretty well for both purposes. My dad (a pediatrician) recommends it to patients for general dehydration, not just dehydration due to diarrhea.
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Water, sodium and perhaps potassium are the most important ingredients. All electrolyte drinks that I am aware of have sodium and varying amounts of potassium. So an appropriate amount of simple table salt in water will meet most electrolyte needs.

However, the losses through sweat and the losses through diarrhea could easily be different--an electrolyte solution optimized for one may not be optimum for the other. This may not matter in mild cases of dehydration, but might become important in severe cases.

There is nothing magic in any of the electrolyte formulations...
(Except, of course, the hype. :) )

Doug
 
Given your interest in all things historical, maybe you should start making switchel to bring on hiking trips.:D:rolleyes:;)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switchel

BV6563.JPG
 
I was kid during the 70's and remember ZaRex well. Easy to mix and not too good for you, but we loved it!!

Besides my 6 bottles of water (of different sizes), on an average hike, I get kidded about having too much, I think it would be a decent idea to have a small fruit grenade they sell in convenient stores all over as a sugar pick me up. (Complete run on sentence). Maybe a Snickers bar, yeah!!!
I just don't think I'll be able to fit another bottle in the pack or rarely use it.
 
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