Favorite Powdered Electrolyte Drinks?

Old school choice. Plain ol Gatorade.

Years ago, there was a Gatorade Light that was marketed briefly. It was OK.

While trekking in Nepal, one woman in the group contracted Giardia Lamblia and was treated with a four-day course of drugs in one day, so the flora of her entire gastrointestinal system was wiped out. But we were moving up 2000 feet in the next day, so she started drinking Gatorade. She hated the stuff, but she knew that she could stay alive with it, and stay on the trail. One other trek member had Orange Gatorade, and I had Green Gatorade, each in the big can. The woman drank Orange Death one day, and then Green Death the next day. On the third day, she made it to the high point at 18,200 feet elevation, going on zero food and only some Gatorade.

–B.G.–

EmergenC or Gatoraid

but I make them at about 1/2 strength or less.

Take your favorite crystal light (or other) flavors and mix in Salt Balance (or equivalent) and a magnesium/calcium complex. Hammer makes electrolyte capsules. If you look on the nutritional info you can find the exact mix between the ingredients. This will cost you pennies and won't dramatically impact the taste of your beverage. I also throw this in capsules to pop a times when I'm not drinking my calories.

Eh.

There's plenty of salt in the food that I consume when backpacking, between dehydrated meals, GORP, Clif Bars, and jerky I've never had symptoms of lacking sodium or felt the need to supplement with electrolyte drinks, if anything there's a surplus of sodium in my trail diet. Post hike, a nice sized Gatorade upon arriving back at the trailhead is always nice of course.

FWIW,

I've used Hammer HEED on trail runs lasting more than 10 miles or so, any mileage <10 plain water is sufficient, even for 100F afternoon runs. In the 20+ mile range I've found Hammer Perpetuem to be the best in feeding my body and replenishing lost electrolytes through excessive sweating- backpacking rarely, if ever, causes me to sweat to the point of inducing cramps due to low electrolyte levels.

Here's what I will occasionally throw in my bottles for a trail run, but never for backpacking, like I said, my typical trail grub takes care of salt for me:

Hammer HEED (excellent)
Hammer Perpetuem (sustained activities lasting several hours)
GU Brew (good, kind of sweet)
S-Caps (great for long sustained activity, if sodium is the objective these are easier than fiddling with powdery sugary drinks, but does nothing to stabilize glucose levels )

I don't drink Gatorade for the salt, and maybe not for the sugar. I tend to run a little deficient on potassium, and Gatorade is rich in it. If it wasn't for Gatorade powder, I would be carrying a five-pound bag of bananas.

–B.G.–

I'm partial to Nuun tablets. Not exactly a UL proposition, but easy, quick, and tasty. And no sugar. I carry a tube on most trips.

+1 on Hammer products.

The makers of S-Caps (Succeed!) have a powder electrolyte drink I like called Ultra. It has lightly flavored and is not sweetened. (http://www.succeedscaps.com/index.html)

They also make a powder that includes protein and fat as well, but I have not tried it.

now called Vitalyte: http://www.vitalyte.com/

I like it because of it is lower in sodium than others. What sold me was discovering that I do not get leg cramps when I rehydrate with it when I foolishly allow myself to get dehydrated.

I am a big fan of CytoMax for the electrolites, and Perpetuem for the long-lasting carbs my body seems to crave on long mileage days.

Never even heard of Perpetum but I'll try it next week on a 12 mile training hike in the mountains south of 'Vegas. Verrrrry interesting.

Thanks guys

Eric,
Unless you changed horses in the middle of this thread, be aware that Perpetum is a "phood", not an electrolyte mix. It has very little sodium or potassium.

Then I guess I'll try Perpetum as a snack. I thought it was a drink. Thanks for the heads up.

But what does it taste like, my grandma's chocolate fudge brownies? Her rhubarb pie?
Maybe like a Cinnabon roll. (One can hope.)

Erik – Perpetuem is a powder that you mix with water. Like a previous poster mentioned, it is not an electrolite, but it does work well as a meal replacement or just for carbs and calories on the trail. It is made by Hammer Nutrition if you want to research it. They also make it in a solid, but with less benefits. I didn't mean to distract from original thread, but wanted to clarify a bit.

Erik- It comes in Cafe-Latte, Strawberry, and Orange cream or something like that. Not the greatest tasting stuff on the planet, but effective, IMO.

Unless you changed horses in the middle of this thread, be aware that Perpetum is a "phood", not an electrolyte mix. It has very little sodium or potassium.

Not exactly.

Perpetuem has a substantial amount of electrolytes- Potassium (120mg) and Sodium (220mg) per serving- containing the same minerals used in the Endurolyte capsules and more per serving. Yes, Perpetuem isn't intended to be an electrolyte supplement, but it achieves in doing so very well under normal conditions (not sweltering) and doesn't require any additional supplementation.

This was taken directly from the Hammer website:

"Does Perpetuem contain any electrolytes?"

Perpetuem contains : Endurolytes dose 1-2 capsules per hour

As far as I can tell, all the carbs in Perpetuem come from maltodextrin. If not all, then the vast majority. It may be tasty, but it's not that good for you and you can do better for less money.

"As far as I can tell, all the carbs in Perpetuem come from maltodextrin. If not all, then the vast majority. It may be tasty, but it's not that good for you and you can do better for less money."

1) "It may be tasty" – Yes it is.

2) "you can do better for less money." – You can probably do equal and certainly for less.

3) "it's not that good for you" – I think you are missing the boat. Sitting on a couch and sipping maltodextrin slurpies might not be the best idea. But we are talking fueling during long duration activities, a whole different critter. I would suggest studying a bit more about nutrition for activities such as ultramarathons and long distance biking and you may get a little different perspective. But then again If you are hiking 5 miles then taking a two hour hour break and repeating that a couple of times then it is probably irrelevant how you fuel.

I normally will take my homemade version of Perpetuem that has the electrolytes. But I don't really want to get 100% of my calories from a drink so I supplement with capsules during the "eating hours."

By the way, I used to have huge problems with post hiking cramps and what I can only describe as "loss of temperature control" on very high mileage days. Since carefully paying attention to the electrolytes these symptoms have been eliminated.

As far as soreness goes, I wouldn't expect that the electrolytes will help much these. The general consensus appears to be that a combination of protein and glutamine can be effective. The protein makes perfect sense but I don't believe that there is solid proof on the glutamine. A specialize recovery drink similiar to Hammer Recoverite may help in the soreness area. But you can also make your own more affordable version of this.

I think you are missing the boat. Sitting on a couch and sipping maltodextrin slurpies might not be the best idea. But we are talking fueling during long duration activities, a whole different critter. I would suggest studying a bit more about nutrition for activities such as ultramarathons and long distance biking and you may get a little different perspective. But then again If you are hiking 5 miles then taking a two hour hour break and repeating that a couple of times then it is probably irrelevant how you fuel.

Have you looked for a complex carbohydrate alternative that actually acts like what a complex carbohydrate should? The GI for maltodextrin is the same as sucrose, so where's that benefit that such an expensive drink should provide? While I do believe there's a place for quickly absorbed carbohydrates, I prefer to have a healthy dose of low GI complex carbohydrates in there as well…pun intended.

"The GI for maltodextrin is the same as sucrose, so where's that benefit that such an expensive drink should provide?"

To what benefit do you refer? MD is quickly taken up and delivered to the bloodstream (as glucose, I think) without the restrictions seen when ingesting sucrose. That is an outstanding benefit. Try the same approach with sucrose and you'll be off the trail with the squirts.

Regarding electrolytes – a fit person at high exertion rates sweating a half liter an hour will lose about 0.5 Grams of sodium an hour. If you are relying on Perpetuem you need to consume 2-3 servings an hour to cover replacement. Good luck with that.

@ Eugene,

Maltodextrin is actually the ideal complex carbohydrate source. Sucrose and fructose based gels, which are few and far between now, aren't going to be processed well in the gastric system. I've tried using honey on trail runs in a pinch with very bad results- bloating, gas, bonking, and post run upset stomach- I'll never use any supplemental fuel other than maltodextrin based options.

* CLIF Shots are a great gel, they derive their carbohydrates from brown rice syrup, the breakdown of fructose, sucrose and maltodextrin is really good and is processed well in my experience.

They have a CLIF Shot electrolyte supplement drink that is organic brown rice syrup based as well- ingredients are simple.

+1 for Succeed products. On long endurance events, I have trouble with nausea from a lot of the sports drinks like HEED, etc. Cytomax works fine but is very sweet tasting.

A couple years ago, an ultra runner friend turned me on to Succeed. I tried it out on some long training workouts and then in a couple of long races and it worked great. Now it's all I use as an electrolyte sports drink type thing. It's very mildly flavored, not real sweet, etc.

They make three different drink mixes with different mixes of carbs, amino acids, protein, etc for different length events (I.e., 0-4 hours, 4-6 hours or 6 and more).

Ultra is the short distance mix that I use most.

If you need still more electrolytes, you can supplement with s-caps or endurolytes ( both are electrolytes in tablet form).

I've only ever used the powdered packets of gatorade, throw in a 1/2 liter bottle and shake- the taste is very good and seems to give me a little pickup- usually down one mid-morning and one mid-afternoon

looks like I might have to broaden my horizons a bit :)

…

Table salt, calcium tabs, magnesium tabs. Cheap and effective.

Scotch on glacial ice?