Home made Hydration Fluid - Experiment!

[Beacon Hill Ben]

I did this experiment with the well-known recipe for home-made hydration fluid, that is touted as CHEAP, EASY and EFFECTIVE. This recipe is promoted by many official health organisations and I always wanted to give this a try, so I did.

I think this would be very useful as a every-day use rehydration drink, for hot days when you need to keep your salt levels up, when someone is sick (diarrhoea, vomiting, fever) or for demanding walks such as Kokoda. The idea is that I can add this to my food rations and First Aid gear. Potentially this could be a life saver.

The recipe: Home Made Rehydration Fluid uses only salt, sugar and water: Dissolve 6 level teaspoons of sugar and a half a level teaspoon of salt into one litre of clean water. Done. NB: too much sugar makes diarrhoea worse, too much salt can be harmful to a child. If the mixture is made a little too weak no harm can be done.

So I measured the sugar and salt very carefully as prescribed by the recipe and weighed it all on my kitchen scales. Turns out that the sugar amounts to 30g and the salt to 3g. I also made a little sachet from a simple plastic sandwich baggie, with the correct sugar/salt for 1 litre of water. Cost per baggie/litre is less than 5 cents!

Taste test: I made the baggie too tight and some of the sugar/salt spilled when I cut a hole with my Mora knife. I should make the baggies a bit loose so that you can cut a hole without spilling. Added one litre of cold water from the tap, and gave it a good shake. It dissolved easily. Taste is nice, like sweet tears, like thick water, a bit sweet but not overly sweet. You can't really tell the salt. I am drinking a glass right now as it's hot today and I have a head flu.

Result: Good, I like it. I will make a bunch of baggies for my next trip and use as I feel necessary. Anybody have any experience with this recipe?

[Rob A]

Jeez theres some ill informed advice on the internet.

[Going where]

Be cautious of experimenting with hydration.

There is much more the the fluid-electrolyte balance than just the ingredients you have used as there are also other ions that become inbalanced that need to be balanced correctly.

Among many other electrolytes two important ones are sodium Na+ and potassium K+ which are both required in the right balance for the centeral nervous system (one aspect of what is thrown out of balance with water intoxication and what primarily causes the associated seizures and loss of consciousness) but there are also numerous other ions that can be lost in excess through sweat and the renal filtration system due to blood pressure, dehydration, excess water consumption, hormone imbalance, certain medications etc.

Also VERY important to note when considering home made things is individual circumstances; for example, if someone takes a prescribed blood pressure medication that contains an ACE inhibitor* they can potentially be at higher risk of various conditions due to the effect this has on the kidney's ability to reabsorb sodium (I am not going to provide medical advice except that your should always check the info sheet available online or from the chemist, know what you are actually taking and talk to your doctor).

My opinion: Know your capabilities, listen to your body and pay attention, never drink in large amounts - take small frequent drinks to avoid dehydration and the urge to over consume, check your medications, consider commercial electrolyte replacement products (I use squincher sachets as they contain both sodium and potassium and they are sugar free and I get enough glucose from other sources), well worth the few extra bucks.

Also, for everyday use, generally we have too much sodium (salt) in our diets anyway so watch your intake. I wouldn't be considering it unless you are doing something causing excessive sweating and fluid intake.

Also, on a lighter note: there may be an awkward moment at the airport with the little bags of white substance . . .

* ACE = "angiotensin converting enzyme" which forms part of one of the body's blood pressure control mechanisms.

[wayno]

good scheme for making sure you're salt intake is adequate.
sugar on its own is going to use up nutrients, i prefer to take energy in the form of a snack with more nutrients in it.
i take seaweeed flakes and sea salt. has the full range of minerals in it, plus theres vitamins in the seaweed
i get it from the local japanese store.... note it's seaweed, not kelp. kelp is low in sodium and you cant take too much kelp, you can overdose on iodine,
the seaweed flakes are much lower in iodine...
otherwise you could get salt tablets
straight sugary drinks are acidic and dont assist in recovery as much as taking a more balanced nutrient intake such as in food with minimal processing

[ggorgeman]

The only DIY hydration fluid that I've experimented with is fermented in a 22 tub, then bottled. Staying well hydrated has been an enjoyable past-time.

[nq111]

Try milk. Has a near perfect ratio of salts (inlc. lots of potassium), protein, fats, carbs and other goodies (e.g. calcium). It is cheaply and readily available in a dried form which has an energy content per gram high enough to justify a place in any serious walkers pack.

[climberman]

Hydrolyte make tablets which we sometimes take on walks where the kids are with us and dehydration would be a bad outcome.

I can't see that adding some sugar and salt to some wter is going to be all that bad.

[Going where]

Hydrolyte make tablets which we sometimes take on walks where the kids are with us and dehydration would be a bad outcome.

I can't see that adding some sugar and salt to some wter is going to be all that bad.

It's not a bad thing but I just wouldn't rely on it as a full replacement and prevention of electrolyte imbalance.

[wayno]

if you're using milk powder to hydrate, either mix it with a higher amount of water than recommended and or use low fat milk powder as it takes a lot of water to digest fat

[facebox]

I've treated enough dehydrated patients to have some idea, however, this might be a bit dangerous my friend. Do a bit more research and you can achieve what you want a bit safer.

NaCl and Sugar in water would be as helpful as trying to light a fire with an ice cube.

KCl is the key. With out K+, and HCO3, and a touch of Mg++, Salt, sugar and water will make things much worst very quickly.

If you are serious about a life saving mix, try to replicate the UN-WHO ORS, just use a bit less sugar if no diarrhea is present.

Commercial preparations so much easier and have the correct balance of electrolytes.

Kind Regards

[wayno]

having a bit of dried fruit like raisins will give you a reasonable amount of K - potassium and some Mg - magnesium

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fru ... ces/2050/2

or if you want to find out what foods are high in potassium and magnesium

http://nutritiondata.self.com/foods-000 ... 000-w.html

ORS solution http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_rehyd ... c_solution

[corvus]

That reads like staminade is a good product for Hydration (works for me)
corvus

[north-north-west]

Phew.

For one horrible moment I though this would be Bear Grylls style of hydration.

[wayno]

well urine is full of minerals.......

[facebox]

Spot on corvas:)

[walk2wineries]

Beacon Hill Ben's solution does approximate the WHO advice for DIY ORS, and its saved many lives particularly in 3rd world countries where diarrhoea is a major cause of death in children. See http://www.who.int/topics/cholera/publi ... _steps.pdf.
The amount of salt (NaCl) and potassium in sports drinks is very low; if you have had gastro then yes, gastrolyte/hydralyte etc is better but doesn't really matter for adults unless it goes on for more than a few days. The problem with the sports drinks was people believing they couldn't get hyponatraemic on them.
THis WHO publication can be freely downloaded http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2006/WHO_FCH_CAH_06.1.pdf and that gives the current advice and the recipe they use - Salt, Glucose, KCl and trisodium citrate. But remember, thats for rehydration of people with gastro, not necessary for healthy people out on a walk! Unless you are sweating gallons on the Kokoda track......

[corvus]

Beacon Hill Ben's solution does approximate the WHO advice for DIY ORS, and its saved many lives particularly in 3rd world countries where diarrhoea is a major cause of death in children. See http://www.who.int/topics/cholera/publi ... _steps.pdf.
The amount of salt (NaCl) and potassium in sports drinks is very low; if you have had gastro then yes, gastrolyte/hydralyte etc is better but doesn't really matter for adults unless it goes on for more than a few days. The problem with the sports drinks was people believing they couldn't get hyponatraemic on them.
THis WHO publication can be freely downloaded http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2006/WHO_FCH_CAH_06.1.pdf and that gives the current advice and the recipe they use - Salt, Glucose, KCl and trisodium citrate. But remember, thats for rehydration of people with gastro, not necessary for healthy people out on a walk! Unless you are sweating gallons on the Kokoda track......

Good response but not quite needed for us MUG PUNTER bushwalkers sheesh we are only out there for a couple of days or more so no real need for the whooo? response so I believe that "Staminade type drinks do work)

[walk2wineries]

did I emphasise, big difference between real Oral Rehydration Solutions (including Hydrolyte, Gastrolyte) and sports drinks (Gatorade, Powerade, Staminade.)
Anyone still interested in following this up will find an interesting article on the history & marketing of sports drinks in this weeks British Medical Journal http://www.bmj.com/content/345/bmj.e4737 They are having a promotion, free access until the end of October although one does need to register.
I do find though that if I have got a bit dry (usually some hi tech reason like putting water bottles down on bench or lunch spot & leaving them) & feel yucky that I seem to be able to drink a larger volume of gatorade type drinks than water....

[walk2wineries]

Meanwhile - BIG BIG round of applause to Bundanoon http://www.bundyontap.com.au/ for banning bottled water AND providing free filtered cold water; Manly Council also has free stands of cool filtered water along its beaches and walks. Well done- bottled water is an environmentally disastrous fraud perpetrated on a credulous public!

[north-north-west]

I do find though that if I have got a bit dry (usually some hi tech reason like putting water bottles down on bench or lunch spot & leaving them) & feel yucky that I seem to be able to drink a larger volume of gatorade type drinks than water....

I've read somewhere - and the medically minded folks can tell us if this is correct - that, once dehydrated, the body has more difficulty absorbing plain water, and does better with fluids that have dissolved salts/sugars/etc in them.

[wayno]

I think the less minerals the harder it is to absorb the water? , i think something about the minerals being used to attract the the water in through the gut? it might make it harder to expel the water as well. i think the minerals are needed in urine to get the water to get passed out of the kidneys....?

[DanJWill]

Here's some great info from the Karl, guys:

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/ ... 593413.htm

In summary:

In these severe cases [dehydration from infectious diarrhoea], water alone cannot rehydrate you. You need water with the right amounts and types of sugars and salts added.

... they [sports scientists] also agree there is no way that pure water flushes away electrolytes. And they also agree that most people who exercise for less than an hour don't need sports drinks.

...a few months before the 2002 Boston marathon, advertisements encouraged athletes to drink at least 1200mL per hour, or else, "…your performance could suffer".
By a coincidence, sports scientists wrote a paper... on that very marathon. Two-thirds of the 766 runners provided a blood sample at the end of the marathon.
Of those, about 13 per cent had drunk so much liquid... that they had actually gained weight and had diluted their blood sodium levels down to somewhat worrying levels.
One competitor, a 28-year-old woman, actually died because her sodium levels were too low, from drinking too much.

So yes, rehydrate when you exercise, but not too much, or else you'll risk watering down all your hard work.

Be careful about adding highly refined castor sugar and table salt to water, whilst it's essentially sugars and salts it's about the types of sugars and salts + minerals that is important. Nutritionists and sports scientists refer to complex amino acids, minerals, sodium & carbohydrates simply as sugars and salts but it's not 'sugar' and 'salt' as we commonly know it.

Having said that, I like the fact that you're finding a cheap and simple alternative to spending big and supporting marketing budgets. Keep up the work Beacon Hill Ben.

[wayno]

"no way that pure water flushes away electrolyes" ?

it does it you pee it out, you can't pee unless your body pushes minerals out to attract the water with it. so by default, if you're peeing, you're peeing minerals with the fluid.... if you're drinking too much your body will eventually force the water out in urine...

[taswegian]

This must be one of the most confusing health related and debated topics about.

Recently I had a tooth out and was given directions to salty rinse my mouth etc, BUT if blood pressure is a problem then to rinse the mouth in clear water after the salt doses to avoid issues there.

Often I suffer from cramps after hot sweaty exertions, and when young the doctor gave me quinine tablets which were brilliant. They are banned now.
Recently I asked the chemist about it and about the benefits of 'health drinks' (supplements). That too confused the issue as I gather he frowned on a lot of those.

There have been too many deaths from both under and over hydration lately.
Experiments are good and I give you the credit for having a go.
Perhaps my ignorance in that area is a handicap, and yet knowing the consequences, I would want to be sure when it comes to the rubber hitting the road, it (supplements) is going to keep me going and not upend me in a big way.