Alternatives To Gatorade And Dyes Being A Trigger?

[ACsMom]

Well, I've been poking around this morning and find that there is a sodium-glucose cotransport mechanism in the intestine. Then this little snippet from the link below. It's not just table sugar but glucose.... honey, etc. While there are sugars in fruit, I don't know how much fruit you'd have to eat to equal the beneficial amount of needed carb/glucose. The quote below gives a 3g water to 1g carb ratio.

"Glucose is an easy carbohydrate for your body to digest and absorb quickly. Carbohydrates can help to rehydrate your tissues by storing about 3 g of water for each 1 g of carbohydrate. As part of a rehydration beverage, glucose encourages your cells to store fluid and provides the fuel necessary for quick energy."

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/498562-why-are-salt-glucose-needed-for-rehydration/#ixzz2JNKj2eUD

[Batik]

Well, the sugars in raisins are about half fructose and half glucose, for instance. The amount of raisins I snack on seems to be about 4g glucose, and about 8g sugar in total. One medium apple is about the same or slightly more, though its total sugars are 19g, made up of fructose, glucose and sucrose. I don't know if that's enough. I've just had a look through the various electrolyte drinks on a website, and they vary from 28g sugar (not all glucose) per serving to no sugar per serving, with some in the middle at about 6g.

If it's not a daft question, is rehydrating tissues what we're actually trying to do here?

After reading that article, it looks like I should be using equal parts sea salt to low-sodium salt in my drinks, in order to get the right balance of sodium to potassium.

[ACsMom]

My dd has EDS and her doctor's theory is that with faulty collagen, her vessels, etc. may be leaky and have a difficult time holding on to water. The theory behind the saline infusions is that more fluid can get into the tissue "compartments". So, she can drink lots of fluid and still be dehydrated because the fluid is not filling the tissue and cells. The GU Brew is just one way to get in sodium and fluid. She may go thru 2 to 3 tablets/day. I don't KNOW that they help that much but they do provide the sodium, potassium, etc.

I think all sugars, carbs are turned into glucose during digestion. But simple carbs will convert to glucose more quickly than more complex carbs. That difference may factor into how well the sodium and glucose work together.

[Batik]

Normally everyone's telling us to stick to complex carbs! I certainly won't be putting sugar into my water bottle, partly because I don't want mould again, partly because I don't do too well on sugar. I'll see how I get on. A huge number of those electrolyte drinks don't have any sugar in, which does make me wonder.

[comfortzone]

I've flavored my Nuun tabs with the Mio flavor drops - easy to do - and no more lugging all those heavy bottles of Powerade Zero. I can choose a bland Nuun flavor like lemon lime - and make the Mio drops change it up to anything that sounds good - for what it's worth!

[boymommy3]

Oh my! Y'all are freaking me out talking about Gatorade! I have been drinking a 20 Gatorade almost every single day since the first of December. I see a lot of people say that they can't tell that it's doing anything for them, but I can see marked improvement when I drink it.

[shan1212]

Another vote for Nuun tablets. I'm currently addicted to the Kona Kola flavor, and I switch to fruit flavors later in the day when I don't want the caffeine.

I've also used EFS powder with success, but it's about 100 calories per dose so you can't have too much if you don't want to gain tons of weight. I reserve that for when I'm very symptomatic.

[k&ajsmom]

Ive heard, though stil not good for u , that the classic flavors have the least additives in them. (yellow, I think is one) I do miss my gatorade since giving it up, its very conveinant.

[Batik]

I was reading something else about electrolyte drinks for rehydration earlier, and noticed that the article in question was actually about how to rehydrate someone who is having constant heavy diarrhoea. Since we're suffering from POTS, not constant heavy diarrhoea, surely we have different needs? We're able to eat, after all, so our diet is providing carbs. If you're having diarrhoea at that level, you're usually not eating either.

Meanwhile, I'm sticking with the following mix, and doing quite well on it. By now I've made up the salt mixture and am keeping it in a tub with a little 1/2 tsp scoop.

* 1/4 tsp sea salt

* 1/4 tsp low-sodium salt (half sodium chloride, half potassium chloride)

* pinch of bicarbonate of soda

* 800ml/27oz bottle of water

It's hard to tell yet whether it's actually benefiting me, but I'm finding it easy to keep drinking, which is more than I can say for any previous electrolyte drinks I've used. I think I do feel a bit better on it.