Electrolytes and Heat

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Twibbly
Twibbly Posts: 1,065 Member
I live in an area where it can get up to 115F during the summer, and I'm still crazy enough to ride a motorcycle and exercise some days. I've ALWAYS been one of the people who doesn't deal particularly well with the heat, and am a bit worried about this summer. You see, I normally just drank Gatorade any time I had an issue, and it would fix it. Plain water would not do much for me once I got hot. I have salt capsules I can take, but may need to look for stronger ones as these only have 209mg of sodium in each capsule (or I could just take more of them). I salt my water when I'm at home.

Any other recommendations to keep from keeling over due to electrolyte imbalances?

Replies

  • kuranda10
    kuranda10 Posts: 593 Member
    edited June 2015
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    I too live in miserable conditions (think FL Everglades in July/Aug, but all year round). Add in that I'm a sweater, just running the vacuum can have me drenched.

    I make sure I get dietary sodium and I take magnesium and potassium supplements. You can also drink Pedialyte, or what ever they give babies for dehyradtion where you live. Down here it's like $14 a bottle, so ... NOPE.
  • baconslave
    baconslave Posts: 6,958 Member
    edited June 2015
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    I take a mag supplement before bed, helps me fall back asleep faster when the kids get me up. But I take water, squirt in some Mio (or any other 0 carb, 0 cal water flavor), and add salt and Nu-salt (potassium salt) making my own Gatorade.

    Mix some up in a water bottle to keep with you (or reuse old Gatorade bottles, or similar.) Or mix some up in a Thermos and carry it to keep it cool. I sometimes buy Powerade Zero when it's on sale, but I keep the bottles and use them for hikes and camping to make my special KetoAde.
  • me_ona_diet
    me_ona_diet Posts: 71 Member
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    Have you tried the Mio Sport water flavours? They are supposed to be like a Gatorade type electrolyte drink that is 0 calorie. I'm finding them very salty tasting (and sometimes they seem almost musty to me, but I have weird taste buds). That might be a solution for you.
  • KnitOrMiss
    KnitOrMiss Posts: 10,104 Member
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    someone posted a personal recipe that included lemon juice freshly squeeze as part of the electrolyte bit. (it was this - but I didn't save the name of the person who made it.)

    My recipe is 2 T lemon juice (for potassium), 1/8 t himalayan sea salt (for sodium), 10 drops NuNatural Stevia drops (the only brand that doesn't have a bad aftertaste to me) and 8 oz water. This is essentially equal to 8 oz of a sugar free electrolyte sports drink.

    Powerade makes drops like Mio (in the sugar free type, even). G2 Gatorade is sugar free or whatever, as is Powerade Zero...
  • baconslave
    baconslave Posts: 6,958 Member
    edited June 2015
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    Oh bother, Twibbly. I just saw the post mentioning the AS restriction... I suppose you could drop strawberries or lemons in your water, allow the flavor to percolate, and mix a bit of stevia, make your own that way. Not as good. But if you don't add too much potassium or salt in each, but drink frequently, it shouldn't be too bad.
  • Twibbly
    Twibbly Posts: 1,065 Member
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    baconslave wrote: »
    Oh bother, Twibbly. I just saw the post mentioning the AS restriction... I suppose you could drop strawberries or lemons in your water, allow the flavor to percolate, and mix a bit of stevia, make your own that way. Not as good. But if you don't add too much potassium or salt in each, but drink frequently, it shouldn't be too bad.

    I'm not really supposed to do stevia either, outside of my protein powder. I'm actually fine drinking water with enough salt in it that I can taste it, so I don't actually need to cover the flavor. If lemon juice has enough potassium in it, I can easily add some of that in and consider it taken care of. Does Nu-Salt dissolve completely in water and actually taste like salt? If so, I can just keep a little bottle with it mixed with regular salt in the bike for an emergency stash, as I can get water anywhere & dump a bit in.

    I can't really do any of the commercial answers due to the sweeteners.
  • KnitOrMiss
    KnitOrMiss Posts: 10,104 Member
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    Twibbly wrote: »
    baconslave wrote: »
    Oh bother, Twibbly. I just saw the post mentioning the AS restriction... I suppose you could drop strawberries or lemons in your water, allow the flavor to percolate, and mix a bit of stevia, make your own that way. Not as good. But if you don't add too much potassium or salt in each, but drink frequently, it shouldn't be too bad.

    I'm not really supposed to do stevia either, outside of my protein powder. I'm actually fine drinking water with enough salt in it that I can taste it, so I don't actually need to cover the flavor. If lemon juice has enough potassium in it, I can easily add some of that in and consider it taken care of. Does Nu-Salt dissolve completely in water and actually taste like salt? If so, I can just keep a little bottle with it mixed with regular salt in the bike for an emergency stash, as I can get water anywhere & dump a bit in.

    I can't really do any of the commercial answers due to the sweeteners.

    I knwo that there are some brands of those commercial things out there that do the electrolyte ones now that use super small amounts of sugar...so it might be worth a look-see when you have 5 minutes to kill...but the lemon juice is higher in magnesium to my understanding, and I can't speak to NuSalt, but I have Lite Salt and I can tell the difference it taste when taken straight (licking off the palm). I don't like the "flat" flavor I get adding salt to water, so dunno there either.. I would rather find the Pink Himalayan Salt or whatever with the natural minerals in it that has enough to help... At least it tastes like yummy salt.
  • Twibbly
    Twibbly Posts: 1,065 Member
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    I use Celtic Sea Salt or Himalayan Pink Salt or Real Salt. The only regular salt I have is for cleaning!
  • me_ona_diet
    me_ona_diet Posts: 71 Member
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    Oh, sorry! Didn't realize you can't do the artificial sweeteners... :/
  • KnitOrMiss
    KnitOrMiss Posts: 10,104 Member
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    Twibbly wrote: »
    I use Celtic Sea Salt or Himalayan Pink Salt or Real Salt. The only regular salt I have is for cleaning!

    What is Real Salt? A brand? Type? I could google but I'm afraid I'd get mired up in pages upon pages of salt pictures!
  • Twibbly
    Twibbly Posts: 1,065 Member
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    KnitOrMiss wrote: »
    Twibbly wrote: »
    I use Celtic Sea Salt or Himalayan Pink Salt or Real Salt. The only regular salt I have is for cleaning!

    What is Real Salt? A brand? Type? I could google but I'm afraid I'd get mired up in pages upon pages of salt pictures!

    Yup, comes from mines in Utah. Http://www.realsalt.com