Electrolyte Drink Suggestions

I rock ultra fuel when doing 5000' days or anything over 20 miles. its *magic*

http://shop.hihealth.com/Twinlab_Ultra_Fuel_Powder_-_Or_P305C192.cfm?UserID=1160256&jsessionid=5e3023471a60$06$BE$B

and the container is rodent proof! (about 1 gal capacity ~3 days)

Emergen-C packets

Low sugar.

I will second these. I dont think they really taste the best, but they get the job done. They are like $10 for 80 at walmart.

e: the Emergen-c powder mike was talking about, I thought this website quoted lols.

Research Nuun, pretty much the staple electrolyte supplement for the trail running ultra crowd, they put down the miles and tax their bodies, I think it would be more than sufficient for hiking.

I found out about them while training for a marathon. Less weight than powders and avoids any stomach issues.

EFS(Electrolyte Fuel System) by First Endurance. It contains carbs(24 grams), amino acids(2 grams), and
a full complement of electrolytes, i.e. sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium per 12 oz serving. I have found it to be excellent on all day hikes, especially in hot weather.
Worth at least considering, IMO.

NUUN would work, be very, very careful though if you watch sodium intake – it is VERY high!

Personally, while I do drink some drinks I usually just have water and food that acts fast. If I do need something I take Zip Fizz or Emergen-C, prefer ZF due to the added caffeine (a small amount, not a huge hit).

Nuuns are sugarless and compact, so i like them while hiking. But for backpack trips i want the calories, so i take regular powdered gatorade. I just wish they made the non-fluorescent kind available as a powder. I have also tried making my own mix out of koolaid, sugar, salt and low sodium salt, but it didn't taste as good…

I have found G2 packs at Kroger. Kroger also has a line of their store brand single serving pouches, look for "Hydration" or check other brands like Crystal Light on the nutrition info for the requisite sodium and poatassium.

Both the G2 and Kroger branded stuff is tasty, drink them at home/work.

Tohru – I buy large containers of powdered lemon-lime gatorade powder at Costco, if that's available to you. I also can find smaller cans of powdered gatorade in both lemon lime and orange flavor at the local Albertson's grocery.

I like the Crystal Light On the Go packets, Hydration Lightly Lemon. It's usually on sale for 2 bucks for a 10pk. I like the focus(with caffeine) version as well, but it doesn't have the electrolyte supplements.

I bought what seems like a lifetime supply of ElectroMIX from Amazon last year and it seems to work as good as any. I use a different flavor EmergenC in my water with supper as an added supplement. I'm headed out for a month long hike soon and will be taking both along and also in resupplies.

There's a news story this week about a new (to me) drink called, "The Right Stuff." It doesn't sound light weight to me but… http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20090630/sc_space/nasasportsdrinkgiveseveryonetherightstuff

The 'stuff' is NASA developed…

"But for backpack trips i want the calories, so i take regular powdered gatorade."

Gatorade is loaded with high fructose corn syrup. Bad stuff.

GU02 or Hammer HEED for calories while moving.

NUUN. for electrolytes while moving.

Hammer E-caps also work.

I have toyed with various electrolyte drinks over the years and have found something to recommend each of them. The most cost effective is Gatorade powder, and one study that I came across rated it just as effective for recovery as other more expensive, high-tech sports drinks.

I should probably do some research regarding the appropriate levels of sodium and potassium since these two vary widely across the spectrum of sport drinks available. All I know for sure is that potassium and calcium are required for proper assimilation of sodium, and of the ones I've tried only Emergen-C, Zipfizz and Nunn contain calcium; however, if your diet is well balanced it shouldn't be an issue. Here's a sample:

Drinks with calories:
Gatorade: 50 cal., 90 mg NACL, 25mg K.
Power Bar Recovery: 180 cal., 500mg NACL, 24mg K.
Emergency-C: 25 cal., 60 mg NACL, 200 mg K.
Zipfizz: 10 cal., 60 mg NACL, 905 mg K.
Nuun: 3 cal., 180 mg NACL, 50 mg K.

Drinks with 0 calories:
Fizzies: 150 mg NACL, 90 mg K. (Root beer is my favorite)
Lite salt (1/4 tsp): 290 mg NACL, 340 mg K.

A serving size for Gatorade, Emergency-C, and Fizzies is 8 oz., whereas Zipfizz, Power Bar and Nunn is 16 oz.

As you can see the ratios are all over the map, and I haven't been able to acertain what is optimal, though maybe that isn't an issue because they're all helpful towards recovery.

Coffee.

Cheers

"Gatorade is loaded with high fructose corn syrup. Bad stuff."

That is true for the bottled varieties of Gatorade and Powerade, but the powder form is sucrose and dextrose.

You might have a point there Roger! When on the trail I make cowboy coffee which requires a pinch of salt and crumbled egg shell ( to neutrailize the acids, smooth it out, and settle the grounds), so given that, it would have electrolytes.

I don't really have much of benefit to to add. But I do drink a ton of nuuns. I worked for a wilderness outfitter and we supplied nuuns to all of our clients. It's a desert environment and a nurse chose nuuns. We take the safety of our clients extremely seriously and wanted a sugar free option. Nuuns taste better when they're fresh rather than after they've sat in a bottle a long time. Our medical director also advises nuuns as part of treatment on a regular basis.

If i wasn't getting nuuns for free I wouldn't drink them. They're expensive.

I've found this website full of insight from a variety of folks on what works for them.

http://www.ultrunr.com/

"That is true for the bottled varieties of Gatorade and Powerade, but the powder form is sucrose and dextrose."

Good to know, Monty. I blew it off based on the bottled ingredient list. Dextrose, in particular, is where it's at, IME.

i want to remember hearing that sucrose (table sugar) and dextrose have to be converted to glucose before your cells can use them.
otoh, ultrafuel is complex long-chain glucose (polymers) which goes basically strait to your bloodstream and kicks into full gear quickly. although it is marketed as a carb drink and sometimes a weight gainer ? it is usable as an electrolyte drink for sure. the ingredients list is long, and fully developed. im not sure why many haven't heard of it.

fwiw, the ingredients list on the link i posted does not tell you that is 400 calories per 16oz serving. about 14 servings i think per canister.

i dont want to recommend gatorade to anyone, powder or otherwise. gookinade has some decent qualities. coffee of course, wins by far. im with you, Roger.. jittering all the way

This is marginally off-topic, but a lot of people are mentioning Nuuns.

Recently while on a hike that ended up being longer than expected (by about 4 times), I decided I should start adding some electrolytes to the water I'd been drinking. Except I didn't have a spare container for it, and I didn't want it in my hydration system. So I took out a wafer and just bit little pieces off of it as I went (party in my mouth!!!) – continuing to drink water here and there too.

Can anyone think of a reason this might make Nuun somehow less effective? Off the cuff, I see no reason why it would – as long as you keep up the water intake. But somewhere in the back of my head I worried…

As far as I could tell, it worked just fine…