Something To Drink Besides Gatorade/g2

[iheartcats]

Hey,

I've heard that Gatorade/G2 is just ok. Real athlete's drink powders/better things.

Has anyone tried something other than Gatorade/G2 for the fluid/electroylte balance and does it work?

Suggestions are welcome and helpful!

[mkoven]

I'm a fan of coconut juice--lots of potassium. I also add a little juice and salt to water.

[Sophia3]

I drink chocolate milk..add a little hershey's syrup to milk as it helps me digest milk easier though that's NOT a big issue for me. This has more potassium and protein than gatorade though I still need my gatorade.

This study came out last year and is a great pick me up fOR ME. It's about what works for each of us.

[flop]

I drink water but with a pinch of Himalayan salt added to each glass (just enough to change how the water feels on your palate). I don't tolerate sugar well so I avoid sports drinks when possible.

If I am having problems then I drink sachets of dioralyte (diarrhoea rehydration mixes of glucose, sodium and potassium).

Flop

[EarthMother]

After doing Gatorade for a couple of years I ended up with systemic Candida. My system is just way too sensitive to the sugar in it. After that I experimented with making my own "sports drink" by adding salt and a spoonful or two of orange juice in a large bottle. I did lots of math so that I would be getting about the same amount of sodium and potassium but without all the sugar.

[iheartcats]

Good - I like milk, and chocolate milk. Will incorporate more of that.

[Heiferly]

PowerAde Zero has none of the sugar (no calories, thus the "zero") but does have sodium, potassium, and also B vitamins. I drink it like it's my job. In the winter, drinking hot vegetable broth is a tasty way to keep warm, and packs a punch of salt if you're trying to salt load.

[corina]

for me aquarius (and especially the blue colored) is working best. i've been trying to mix it with water (though i think sugar levels aren't that high, not sure though) but water, however i drink it, always makes me have to go to the bathroom a lot (it seems as if my body can't hold on to it where it can hold the aquarius). i've been trying other brands as well (though i can't remember the names ) but my blue friend is helping me best! so whenever i'm going out i take the bottles with me. while at home i drink other drinks as i don't want my body to get too much of the sportsdrinks (and i have the bathroom nearby )

hope this helps,

take care,

corina

[momofsara]

Ditto on the chocolate milk. Sara drinks that along with lots and lots of water. The sports drinks dont seem to agree with her too well. Since shes on lots of meds, the chocolate milk seems to soothe her tummy.

Susan

[juliegee]

Cant wait to try EM's recipe. Also, the powerade zero- Never heard of that before! Ialso don;t do well with sugar. Thanks for the great ideas.

My son and I both have suffered from severe tummy issues: gastroparesis, dysmobility of the small intestine, and colonic inertia. Dr. Rowe at Hopkins insists that all of his dysautonomia patients with GI symptoms REFRAIN from any milk proteins. Even though Mack has had biopsies of his tum/bowel that show no milk allergy. He is much improved- tummy and syncope when he avoids any milk protein. Weird. I can provide more info if any one is interested.

So if you have ANY tummy issues, maybe stay away from the milk, chocolate milk, carnation instant milk, ensure, etc for a few weeks. See if it helps.

Julie

[ajw4790]

Hi!

I too can not tolerate milk, so that isn't anything I drink. I drink a lot of water and tea.

As for other ideas...

Powerade Zero (is about the same as G2- with B vitamins and less sodium)

Powerade has a lot less sodium to begin with

Vitamin Water (add sodium), Snapple Water, Life Water (has sodium), Whole foods 365 brand Vitamin water

Whole foods has a sports drink with sodium and less sugar- might be Stevia sweetened?

Flavored mineral water

Coconut milk

My favorites- Electromix packets from Whole Foods etc. Lemon-Lime flavor- it is an electrolyte mix you add to water, it has NO sugar, but if you want sodium you have to add it. It has helped many migraines and bad days for me. http://www.emergenc.com/

Also, Clif, Luna, and Powerbar have electrolyte drinks- all the ones I have tried are good. They have on average (I think) about twice as much sodium as Gatorade) and quite a bit less sugar per serving. They also have a lot of good flavors.

http://www.lunabar.com/pages/sport_splash

http://www.clifbar.com/food/products_shot_electrolyte/

Hope that helps!!!

[jump]

I'll second coconut water!! It's a natural isotonic beverage and it has the exact chemical make-up as human plasma (no joke!) so it's great for fixing dehydration and electrolyte imbalances.

[yogini]

I drink organic broth. It has no sugar and tons of salt. It always perks me right up.

[megan2]

There's something called Nuun that you can try. If you go on their website, there's a list of stores that sell it. I know REI sells it if there's one by you. It comes with 12 tabs in a tube, one tab for about 1/2 a liter of water. It has more sodium than gatorade and very few calories. It's not as sweet as Gatorade but I find that it tastes okay. It's about the same price as the Gatorade G2 I buy at Costco. ($6.50 for one tube)

[Sophia3]

Glad to see the chocolate milk works for somebody else. It's critical for me as I often can't eat solid foods and it tastes better than Ensure !! Its filling and sometimes I take it with a vitamin.

Most of us desperately need the protein...lease those of us struggling to keep weight ON.

[juliegee]

Hi Sophia,

I did the same thing when my son was so thin he was about to get a feeding tube. I kept on trying to force milk, chocolate milk, smoothies, ensure, etc. on him just to get him some much needed calories and protein. He continued to struggle to keep any weight on. Each time he tried to eat he became very nauseous and often vomited. The wonderful doctors at Johns Hopkins connected his GI woes to an underlying autonomic dysfunction. If you're struggling to keep weight on, I wonder if dairy is inadvertently worsening thing for you. The only way to find out is to cut out all milk proteins for a few weeks. Here's an excerpt from an article Dr. Peter Rowe gave us:

MILK PROTEIN RESTRICTION

The attached sheets include some information on intolerance or hypersensitivity to milk protein. Dr. Kevin Kelly, a pediatric gastroenterologist colleague, wrote the seminal paper on the contribution of food proteins (most commonly milk protein) to chronic upper gastrointestinal symptoms (Gastroenterology 1995;109:1503-1512). We noted an overlap in this food protein hypersensitivity and orthostatic intolerance, particularly in individuals with chronic fatigue or chronic fatigue syndrome. Patients with orthostatic intolerance often have worse blood pressure control after exposure to a food to which they are intolerant. Dr. Kelly has found that individuals with food protein hypersensitivity develop some of the following:

(1) recurrent upper abdominal pain,

(2) gastroesophageal reflux symptoms (heartburn, pain in the mid chest behind the breastbone, acid taste in the mouth, sometimes a mucousy form of vomiting), and

(3) appetite disturbance, ranging from picky appetite to early satiety (the person sits down hungry but feels full after just a couple of bites) and even to complete food refusal.

Other associated problems can include intermittent fevers, mouth sores, aches in the limbs, fatigue, worsening of asthma, worse lightheadedness, headaches (including migraines), constipation, or diarrhea. Unlike other allergies in which skin tests are revealing, skin tests in people with these gastrointestinal hypersensitivities are usually negative. Moreover, after eating a food to which one is reacting, the symptoms can be delayed for 4 hours or more. As a consequence, when we hear that someone has awakened with abdominal pain, heartburn, or reflux at 2 AM, we focus on what foods they ate at 10 PM. Similarly, the abdominal pain at noon may be due to what was eaten for breakfast more than what was eaten for lunch.

We usually find that the intestinal symptoms begin to resolve after 10-14 days (sometimes sooner) provided that the diet has been rigidly restricted and that we have guessed correctly on milk as the culprit. Other foods can cause symptoms of the same type, with soy protein and egg protein being the most common after milk protein. When people have been off the offending food protein and are inadvertently re-exposed, the abdominal symptoms return in full force, sometimes more dramatically than before. If this happens, take it as confirmation of the diagnosis rather than as sign that the treatment has failed.

If you want more info I can pass it along to you. Giving up milk was a major change of life for us. Rice dream smoothies became my son's new staple. And looking for hidden milk protein in all food was quite challenging. But, once we went dairy free; my son experienced a positive improvement in BP/HR control, fatigue, aches/pains, and gastric capacity.

Might help. Just a thought-

Julie

[Sophia3]

Thanks. Milk has ALWAYS been my friend!!

now soy milk is NOT and I tried it again recently. Ugh. Chocolate milk or even regular milk with a snack can get me through a short workout or an errand running.

I would never DREAM of giving it up but did restrict it once and also tried the Gluten Free diet which did ZILCH for me.

I need to avoid all soy, and beans but can do lentils.

I never have any of the issues you mentioned except for typical POTS stuff...fatigue....

thanks for the info though. I don't eat much concentrated dairy except in summer whn I eat ice cream to help cool me down. cheese I go hit and miss...but w/o milk, I would be lots skinnier and MORE nauseated.

Mine is strictly hormonal related and I have a great ans and endo doc that helps me with that stuff.

[njfainter42]

I regularly drink Smartwater which I heard was recommended by Dr. Grubb. It has electolytes but no sugar and I've found it once at Costco and always at Shoprite/Wegmans

[ajw4790]

Hi!

Just wanted to add Smart Water does NOT have sodium (salt) in it.

[juliegee]

I'm glad milk is helping you, Sophia. I was shocked to learn how it can worsen dysautonomia. Mack and I went dairy free for 2-3 years. We are back to eating dairy now and doing fine with it. Both of us are a normal weight now- thank goodness. Whenever GI things flare though, dairy is one of the first things we give up. It really helps us.

BTW, Rice Dream is made from rice, not soy. It's actually pretty good and my son prefers it to cow's milk now. But, he loves pizza!

Moo -

Julie

[seb10]

I drink G2, but now I'm concerned that it's bad for me? It does help me, but I don't want to overload on sugar.

And where does one get this magical coconut juice?!

[ajw4790]

Hi!

G2 has artificial sweetener (Splenda) and does not have any sugar.

Coconut juice can be found in the drink part of your local grocery stores organic/health food part of the store, or at stores like Whole Foods or Trader Joes etc. It is with the other juices.