[Sca-cooks] Home Made Gatorade (OOP)

[Ted Eisenstein]

>RAPID FLUID ABSORPTION AND REHYDRATION: Best: beverages containing up to
>a 6-percent carbohydrate level (not 7% or over!) and a small amount of
>sodium.  Plain water, caffeinated and alcoholic beverages cause water
>loss by turning on urine production.
Plain water? If this is true, _any_ liquid will "cause water loss by turning
on urine production", even gatorade. Caffeine and alcohol are diuretics;
plain water isn't. Drinking plain water causes you to lose water? I wonder
why everyone keeps recommending that you drink several glasses of it
each day, then. . . .

>Taste: lightly sweetened and flavored non-carbonated beverages are
>consumed in greater quantities than are water, carbonated soft drinks
>and fruit drinks.
(Carbonated soft drinks are also mild diuretics.) Fruit drinks are already
lightly sweetened, non-carbonated, and have the advantage of having
vitamins and minerals that Gatorade doesn't. And are quite a bit tastier,
too. I suspect that the reason that the reason water, carbonated soft drinks
and fruit drinks are consumed in lower quantities is advertising, not how
good they taste.
("non-carbonated beverages" should include water and fruit drinks, though;
I wonder who exactly wrote the original message. Sounds like someone
who wasn't thinking all that well.)

>Gatorade replaces both.
>
>o 6% carbohydrate solution (14 grams/8 oz. or 60 grams/liter)
>o Carbohydrate blend: glucose, sucrose, fructose
>o sodium
>o potassium
Oh. You mean it does the same thing that normal fruit drinks do?

>HOMEMADE GATORADE RECIPE
>475ml, about 2C, water
>475ml, about 2C, juice (your favorite)
>2 teas sugar
>1/4 teas Citric Acid (food additive sold in most drug stores)
>1/4 teas Sodium Chloride (table salt)
>1/4 teas Potassium Chloride (salt substitute, e.g., NU-SALT®)
>The quantity above contains 500mg of Sodium and 516 mg of Potassium.
>Maximum human daily intake of Potassium should not exceed 1033 mg.
Oh. It's a weak fruit drink, then - with more sugar (which most Americans
don't need more of), added salt (ditto), and just under half the daily
requirement of potassium - all in one liter, which, if you're exercising as
heavily as they think you are if you're needing such a thing, means that
you're likely to drink your maximum daily potassium levels in an hour or
two.

Pfuieeee. Drink water, preferably a bit cool but not cold. People who are
exercising _extremely_ heavily, like football players, may need additional
salt/potassium/carbs, but for those of us normal folks who exercise,
water should be sufficient. In high heat conditions (like the first week of
Pennsic, say), unless you're in good shape already, don't exercise as much -
and drink more water.

Alban