Hydration drinks and powders

[zac150]

Landsailer Sounds good, wiggle charge $8 a pack or $24 for four pack, delivery to aus is free if you order $50. Postage takes about 5 days.

[DaveNoble]

This link is long but well worth reading -

http://www.bmj.com/content/345/bmj.e4737

from the British Medical Journal.

Dave

[GPSGuided]

This link is long but well worth reading -
http://www.bmj.com/content/345/bmj.e4737
from the British Medical Journal.

Good flag there Dave!

For me, plain water is best for any of my non-endurance exercises. For intense bike rides of greater than 2-3 hours (over 60km) in the warmer months, I carry one home mixed Staminade bottle on the bike for the salt and energy content. Used to get cramps on those long rides and the Staminade has made a difference for me, putting it down to the Mg supplement. It's meaningless for activities less than that. For bushwalking, can think of no value unless on a prolonged walk in mid-summer with excessive sweating and salt loss. Better still, eat snack food and drink water. The intensity and rate of loss is just not there to justify these expensive drinks.

[ErichFromm]

+1 for hydralyte. Ever since a thread on this site pointed out that water on it's own is not enough to hydrate you when you are doing alot of sweating....

During extreme hikes I also take a few of those gel packs that cyclists use (very high sugar though).

I also keep a couple of tablets in my first aid kit.

[horsecat]

I swear by my Sqwinchers. Forgot to pack my lunch when I did Barn Bluff return in a day and got by on one of these with no problems

[mikethepike]

Raro and similar offerings are just lolly water with a big hit of cane sugar based,over refined, empty carbs. Classic diabetes fodder.

"Empty carbs' is an expression that has ben bandied about by some health gurus for years now but it is almost totally wouthout meaning although the balance of your diet may have some influence on how they are procesed. But apart from that possibility, it's either carbs or it isn't and whetehr you burn up the carbs - its calories - in the next hour or deposit them as fat doesn't change the matter.

[beachcruiser]

+1 for Nuun, I like the flavours they offer, usually go with half a tablet in 600ml of water after arriving at camp especially when walking in hot weather also drink it after getting home from long bike rides in summer

Wiggle is the cheapest that I've found

[slparker]

My impression of hydration drinks is that they are really only useful in situations where you can't eat or eat sufficiently to maintain electrolyte balance. The only situation that i can think of are competitive running and cycling in hot weather. When I'm bushwalking I can always stop for a mouthful of scroggin. My stomach doesn't know whether it's absorbing sodium, potassium and manganese from food or hydration drink, my blood doesn't care once it arrives there and it's only my wallet that notices the difference. Dave Noble appended an excellent article above that pertains to electrolyte drinks in sport.

That said, if you're prone to heat exhaustion in hot weather (as I am ) from excessive sweating, whatever works, works.

[nq111]

This link is long but well worth reading -

http://www.bmj.com/content/345/bmj.e4737

from the British Medical Journal.

Dave

Good stuff that is.

[nq111]

That said, if you're prone to heat exhaustion in hot weather (as I am ) from excessive sweating, whatever works, works.

YEah, personally I am still open to hydration supplements, but not entirely convinced they are worth it in most cases.

I suspect for hot weather activity, even a moderate amount of acclimation and heat training would give a better outcome than any of the best supplements.

For one, it is well documented that once acclimated to exercising in heat, your sweat becomes essentially free of salts. I observe this myself, my sweat is just about drinking quality after a week of walking in the tropics! What electrolytes are these drinks meant to replace then?

[GPSGuided]

YEah, personally I am still open to hydration supplements, but not entirely convinced they are worth it in most cases.

Correct, most of our activities don't get to that level of body stress that requires "scientifically proven" supplements. Drink water, eat food (containing salts) are more than enough for the purpose. Even those Tour de France riders, if you look at what they have in their bidon, they wouldn't pour the content over their head to cool down if they were "scientifically proven" sports drinks. Water is your friend!

[madmacca]

YEah, personally I am still open to hydration supplements, but not entirely convinced they are worth it in most cases.

Correct, most of our activities don't get to that level of body stress that requires "scientifically proven" supplements. Drink water, eat food (containing salts) are more than enough for the purpose. Even those Tour de France riders, if you look at what they have in their bidon, they wouldn't pour the content over their head to cool down if they were "scientifically proven" sports drinks. Water is your friend!

Actually, TdF riders typically carry 2 bidons - 1 of water, and 1 will be some kind of sports drink. Obviously only the water gets poured over themselves.

(Guess who has been spending too many of their July nights watching SBS).

[GPSGuided]

Actually, TdF riders typically carry 2 bidons - 1 of water, and 1 will be some kind of sports drink. Obviously only the water gets poured over themselves.

There's no absolute there. When the domestiques ferry bidons, there's no differentiation as to which is which, suggesting there's more water than sugar water. In the meantime, they have to do the right thing to their sports drink sponsors and appear to be using them exclusively. What's more important is food (including Coke and gels), which contains salt and carbo.