Electolytes and minerals for high heat?

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Sid Post

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Oct 14, 1998
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In the past I have used primarily Gatorade powders for hydration. I'm not convinced I need all the sugar in Gatorade. What do the forumites recommend for good rehydration in high heat high sweat environments? How do you store it and use it (powders clump if humidity is up)? What brands of powders should I consider? How hard does it make Camelbak's to clean (i.e. too much sugar so, the heeby gibby's flourish in the drinking tube system)?

Thanks!
 
Well I have always used Cliff brand powders myself. I like the high percentage of natural ingredients. What type of activity are you doing? I'm a cyclist, so I kind of prefered the sugar and little bit of caffiene in the sour apple flavor, but when hiking or woods walking I didn't like the caffiene and would carry plain water and supplement with solids. I kept track of time and energy usage and shot for 150Kcal consumed per hour when hiking and 300Kcal/hour on the bike. I too often see people try and suppliment only with drinks and still hit "the wall" during activity. Magnesium and potasium (I used Sport Legs brand) 2 hours before planned activity worked well to keep the lactic acid down in my muscles.

As far as a camel back goes, I always did just water and two bottles of 2x strength electrolyte so I didn't get bloated from consuming too much at once.

This is what worked for me after thousands of miles of riding and testing and also talking with my doctor and knowing my body, as they say, your milage may vary!


-Xander
 
Our parents -- and generations since time immemorial -- have survived and thrived on ordinary water... maybe with a lemon slice in it. Whether you believe in evolution or not, you can't believe that the human body has suddenly come to need a continuous stream of sports drinks.

America does have the most expensive urine on the planet.

Then, at the end of the day, enjoy the refreshing electrolyte replacement that your ancestors enjoyed, which God gave us to enjoy: a beer.
 
Are you talking about hiking/camping or sports? If hiking, you should be fine with water, as long as you are eating at regular intervals (ie. snacking on trail mix, jerk, etc every so often), just be sure not to over do it and take rests breaks. However, if you are talking about sporting events in high heat/humidity. Some gatorade diluted in water (about 1:4 or so) should be fine to keep your Na/K levels up.

Regardless, just be aware of the signs of dehydration, low Na/K, etc, which range from confusion, vertigo, and can result in serious injury/death.
 
Chocolate Milk. There's quite a number of information regarding said drink as opposed to Gatorade. Look it up and maybe you'll find it very interesting.
 
I primarily hike in high heat though, I occasionally find myself working on the farm in high heat too. I typically eat peanuts as I hike though I have been known to eat various energy bars along the way. I also keep some hard candy in my pack when I "hit the wall" and get the shakes from low blood sugar.

What I'm finding now, is that I need to drink more water. Straight water is causing some nausea so, I need to supplement it. I'm not anywhere near hyponatremia but, I'm drinking gallons of water a day - not liters. This water is all being consumed by sweat with current temperatures being 106 with a 112 heat index. Beer is nice but, dehydrating so I avoid it unless I'm properly hydrated. I also started taking potassium tablets to deal with leg cramps.

In the end, I need a better balance of eltrolytes and minerals and want to avoid excessive sugar intake.
 
Drinking water alone is not a good idea to replace diminished electrolytes. You will just dilute your already diminished electrolyte balance even more. Of course if it's all you have then it will get you by.

NON alcoholic beer and simple homemade electro drinks are best. Very cheap to make electro drinks suited to your taste.
 
Sid Post said:
In the past I have used primarily Gatorade powders for hydration. I'm not convinced I need all the sugar in Gatorade. What do the forumites recommend for good rehydration in high heat high sweat environments? How do you store it and use it (powders clump if humidity is up)? What brands of powders should I consider? How hard does it make Camelbak's to clean (i.e. too much sugar so, the heeby gibby's flourish in the drinking tube system)?

Thanks!
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Somewhat off topic, but I'd suggest carrying a water bladder with a pour spout, and a water bottle. Mix single servings at a time in your bottle so you don't start growing unwanted green things in your water bladder. (Edit: Something like the MSR Dromedory bags. They come in 2, 4, 6 and 10 liter sizes and have hydration tube attachments you can buy.)
 
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Grease said:
Somewhat off topic, but I'd suggest carrying a water bladder with a pour spout, and a water bottle. Mix single servings at a time in your bottle so you don't start growing unwanted green things in your water bladder. (Edit: Something like the MSR Dromedory bags. They come in 2, 4, 6 and 10 liter sizes and have hydration tube attachments you can buy.)
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Thanks Grease! That's a great idea!
 
czombie said:
... and simple homemade electro drinks are best. Very cheap to make electro drinks suited to your taste.
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Where do I learn about homemade electrolyte drinks? That sounds like it might be a good option. Especially with Grease's idea to mix a concentrate when I need it.
 
We had salt tablets when we were on the pipeline. Not tasty or fun, but they were very convenient and I never cramped or got sick while I was taking them steady. I imagine they're dirt cheap, too.
 
Unless you are doing some hardcore exertion in extreme heat , (think military) , you will be fine. Yes , you can flush enough electrolytes out of your system to get sick . I dont think you have to worry. You would have to drink enormous amounts of water to suffer any ill effects.To answer your question , buy powder Gatorade and adjust the sugar content to your liking.......i.e. Only add half or 1 quarter what the directions say........you will be fine ........I promise.
 
For events that last hours I mix water 50-50 with Gatorade. For shorter term I just do straight water, most of us have more than enough electrolytes in our diet to cover brief outages.
 
I've used NUUN (i think thats the name) drink tablets. they are sweetened with splenda, so not the best for constant use (unless you dehydrate enough to get constipated, then they are great!) good flavors. I mostly use them as a mid day thing if I havn't been able to eat much and its super hot (more when I was acclimating to aussie weather) I try to stick to water most of the time, as I rarely feel the need to add more salt. +1 to the diluted gatorade as well, I think most folks need less than they think.
Gollnick, as for the history thing, there were a lot of things they did not understand, and there are a myriad of conditions in old medical literature that are really just the long term effects of dehydration, or low electrolytes. chronic kidney problems used to be much more common, so I understand (or at least quack cures were!)
 
proud2deviate said:
We had salt tablets when we were on the pipeline. Not tasty or fun, but they were very convenient and I never cramped or got sick while I was taking them steady. I imagine they're dirt cheap, too.
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From reading on-line, several sources indicated that the old "salt" tablets didn't transfer minerals to your body nearly as well as the liquids. I know on the farm, I used to just eat some raw table salt occasionally which seemed to help.
 
steeljhp said:
Unless you are doing some hardcore exertion in extreme heat , (think military) , you will be fine. Yes , you can flush enough electrolytes out of your system to get sick . I dont think you have to worry. You would have to drink enormous amounts of water to suffer any ill effects.To answer your question , buy powder Gatorade and adjust the sugar content to your liking.......i.e. Only add half or 1 quarter what the directions say........you will be fine ........I promise.
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I don't consider myself to be in the same class as the soldiers protecting our freedoms and safety. They have one advantage that that most weekend warriors lack, heat tolerance with continuous long term exposure. I don't spend enough consistent time in high heat high exertions activity for my body to get really conditioned for this. When I lived in Arizona, I noted a real difference when I moved back east or went to Oklahoma - now I'm pretty "soft" and have lost any heat conditioning I had from my time there.
 
Camelbak markets a product called Elixir that is safe to use in their hydration bladders.
 
bdmicarta said:
For shorter term I just do straight water, most of us have more than enough electrolytes in our diet to cover brief outages.
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That's my problem, all day early to late, working really hard. I have had some leg cramps and nausea drinking straight water.
 
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