Ingredients for drinks while walking

Simon Mc said:

I read an interesting article in last month's Trail magazine about fluids
you should/could take on while exercising; covered things like amounts of
carbohydrate and salt per litre, and how it can be more beneficial than
water alone. I haven't got the magazine now, but I was wondering if anyone
can recommend a way of making the solutions up yourself using some
proprietary powder and water and salt.
Any of you do this? and if so, where do you source your powder from. Any,
importantly, how much cheaper than shop-bought drinks does it work out?

Thanks in advance.

Take some crisps (salt + carbohydrate) and wash down with a slug
of water, followed by a couple of sweets for sugar.

caveat: this is not a scientifically proven formula. Works for
me, YMMV.

Colin

"Simon Mc" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I read an interesting article in last month's Trail magazine about fluids
you should/could take on while exercising; covered things like amounts of
carbohydrate and salt per litre, and how it can be more beneficial than
water alone. I haven't got the magazine now, but I was wondering if anyone
can recommend a way of making the solutions up yourself using some
proprietary powder and water and salt.
Any of you do this? and if so, where do you source your powder from. Any,
importantly, how much cheaper than shop-bought drinks does it work out?

Thanks in advance.

I think in famine areas they give a sugar/salt solution to replace what can
be lost due to diarheoa - i think that ratio is something like a teaspoon of
sugar, 1/4 teaspoon of salt to a litre of water. dead easy to make up
yourself and much cheaper than these energy drinks you see

Quoted message said:

--
Regards,

Simon Mc
(remove "nospam" to reply)

Hi Simon

The product you are looking for is made by SIS (science in Sport) at
www.scienceinsport.com. they produce PSP22 energy drink in various
flavours. I can vouch for the product as being good. It is also very good
for athletes and other sports being guaranteed to be free from additives
problematic to sports persons liable to drugs tested. So it must be good.
Have used it regularly for 3yrs. I carry 1 litre of PSP and 1.5 litres of
water.

Cheers Pete
"Simon Mc" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I read an interesting article in last month's Trail magazine about fluids
you should/could take on while exercising; covered things like amounts of
carbohydrate and salt per litre, and how it can be more beneficial than
water alone. I haven't got the magazine now, but I was wondering if anyone
can recommend a way of making the solutions up yourself using some
proprietary powder and water and salt.
Any of you do this? and if so, where do you source your powder from. Any,
importantly, how much cheaper than shop-bought drinks does it work out?

Thanks in advance.

--
Regards,

Simon Mc
(remove "nospam" to reply)

On Tue, 19 Apr 2005 19:19:14 +0100, "Simon Mc"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

Hi there,

Quoted message said:

I read an interesting article in last month's Trail magazine about fluids
you should/could take on while exercising; covered things like amounts of
carbohydrate and salt per litre, and how it can be more beneficial than
water alone. I haven't got the magazine now, but I was wondering if anyone
can recommend a way of making the solutions up yourself using some
proprietary powder and water and salt.

You can get powders of various sorts from running shops. They'll
advise you on which you need, depending on what you want to use it for
(e.g. prep' for walk, energy during walk, recover afterwards, washing
the car etc etc).

Each to their own, but I'm not into the added salt thing myself. I
remember my father adding salt to orange juice on a very sunny day
when I was about 13, and I spent the afternoon feeling yukky and
eventually puking. Take a small packet of peanuts/a salted
sandwich/crisps/something less puke inducing than salty drinks.

Quoted message said:

Any of you do this? and if so, where do you source your powder from. Any,
importantly, how much cheaper than shop-bought drinks does it work out?

It's probably much cheaper if bought in large tins. If you're really
keen, though, I'd suggest going over to one of the running NGs to ask
about this, as they'll probably have tried and tested cheaper,
home-made solutions.

Good luck!

Best wishes,
--
,,
(**)PeeWiglet~~
/ \ / \ pee AT [guessthisbit].co.uk

In article <[email hidden]>, Peewiglet
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Each to their own, but I'm not into the added salt thing myself. I
remember my father adding salt to orange juice on a very sunny day
when I was about 13, and I spent the afternoon feeling yukky and
eventually puking.

Hey, that's what us dads are for ;-)

--

Dominic Sexton

[email hidden] said...

Quoted message said:

I was wondering if anyone
can recommend a way of making the solutions up yourself using some
proprietary powder and water and salt.

Not sure why you'd need the powder, to be honest. A drink of
water with some sugar and salt added (if it tastes OK you've
probably got it right) will give you all you need in terms of
rehydration - for carbohydrate why not take sandwiches? After
all, you're likely to get hungry...
--
If you can keep your head when all around are losing theirs...
then you've failed to grasp some important aspect of the
situation.

[email hidden] said...

Quoted message said:

Each to their own, but I'm not into the added salt thing myself. I
remember my father adding salt to orange juice on a very sunny day
when I was about 13, and I spent the afternoon feeling yukky and
eventually puking.

Chances are he added too much. Blowed if I can remember the
exact proportions now, but when my children were small I used
to make up my own rehydration stuff for them if they were were
sick or had a dire rear. The salt content was barely
noticeable in the taste, but was enough to make sure they were
OK. TBH though, with the amount of processed food we all eat
today, we probably don't need to add any salt at all, and it's
doubtful that we need to add any sugar. I take it the OP is
planning to /eat/ at some stage? I'd have thought that
sufficient sugar and salt would find its way into the equation
at meal times.
--
If you can keep your head when all around are losing theirs...
then you've failed to grasp some important aspect of the
situation.

Simon Mc said:

I read an interesting article in last month's Trail magazine about fluids
you should/could take on while exercising; covered things like amounts of
carbohydrate and salt per litre, and how it can be more beneficial than
water alone. I haven't got the magazine now, but I was wondering if anyone
can recommend a way of making the solutions up yourself using some
proprietary powder and water and salt.
Any of you do this? and if so, where do you source your powder from. Any,
importantly, how much cheaper than shop-bought drinks does it work out?

Don't mess about with any proprietary stuff, it's a waste of money.
Get yourself to a local health foods shop and buy some glucose powder,
it'll be a great deal cheaper. Then google for something along the
lines of "homemade isotonic sports drink recipe" and you should be
able to find suitable formulas.

I've found a combination of glucose powder, water, sugar free orange
squash and a little salt pretty effective, but haven't had to make it
up for a while so forget the exact proportions.

It's also worth doing a bit of research (Again, google is your friend
- loads of stuff online about this) into the difference between
hypotonic, isotonic and hypertonic drinks, what they're for, when you
should drink them, etc... Understanding the theory behind these
things puts you in a much better position to make choices about what
to consume!

On Tue, 19 Apr 2005 22:17:33 +0100, Peewiglet <[email hidden]>
wrote:

| Each to their own, but I'm not into the added salt thing myself.

The average diet in the UK has too much salt by a factor of IIRC about 10,
so there is no need to add any salt to anything. IMO water is all you
need on the hills, plus something to make it taste palatable: tea, coffee,
fruit juice or whatever you prefer.
--
Dave F
Howard Flight was right

Dave Fawthrop said:

On Tue, 19 Apr 2005 22:17:33 +0100, Peewiglet <[email hidden]>
wrote:

| Each to their own, but I'm not into the added salt thing myself.

The average diet in the UK has too much salt by a factor of IIRC about 10,
so there is no need to add any salt to anything. IMO water is all you
need on the hills, plus something to make it taste palatable: tea, coffee,
fruit juice or whatever you prefer.

Quite right. And there's ample sugar in a Mars bar. Eating is so much more
enjoyable than drinking vaguely sugary drinks. There should be some law or
other relating the taste of a Mars bar to the altitude, distance walked,
degree of tiredness, etc.

--
You're growing old when your knees buckle and your belt won't.

Mail john rather than nospam...

John Laird said:

Dave Fawthrop said:

On Tue, 19 Apr 2005 22:17:33 +0100, Peewiglet <[email hidden]>
wrote:

| Each to their own, but I'm not into the added salt thing myself.

The average diet in the UK has too much salt by a factor of IIRC about 10,
so there is no need to add any salt to anything. IMO water is all you
need on the hills, plus something to make it taste palatable: tea, coffee,
fruit juice or whatever you prefer.

Quite right. And there's ample sugar in a Mars bar. Eating is so much more
enjoyable than drinking vaguely sugary drinks. There should be some law or
other relating the taste of a Mars bar to the altitude, distance walked,
degree of tiredness, etc.

For the most part, I'd agree with both the comments here. The
majority of walkers don't really need to worry about getting the
correct electrolyte proportion in their drinks as they generally won't
be exerting themselves to the degree where rapid rehydration is
necessary.

However, for people who _are_ putting lots of effort in - keeping a
fast walking pace for several hours plus involving lots of ascent, for
example, then an isotonic drink will be a good way to make sure fluid
is absorbed as quickly as possible and dehydration is avoided. This
is especially important in hot weather.

Just to talk about the issue of salt for a moment, as there is a
common misconception about the point of salt in sports drinks. It is
not added as a nutrient. The aim is - for an isotonic drink - to
match the level of electrolyte concentration found in the blood. This
allows rapid absorbtion of fluid into the body. The amount of salt
otherwise consumed in the diet makes no difference to this!

Adding glucose to a drink is another issue entirely - its only purpose
is to provide energy. It's a good way to maintain energy levels
during sustained activity as fluid glucose is absorbed much more
quickly than sugars in food.

Like I said at the outset, most walkers probably don't need to worry
about these things too much. From my own experience, though, I have
found that I feel much better after a strenuous day's walk if I drink
an isotonic drink rather than plain water - less fatigue, more comfort
and just generally a better day! I certainly wouldn't bother with it
for a walk of a few hours or less.

I would repeat that anyone who's curious about the principles behind
these things should do a bit of research for themselves. There is
lots on the internet, and also many sports nutrition books in
libraries. Knowing a bit more about it puts you in a better position
to make your own choices for your activities. It also helps to decide
whether to take claims from well known sports drinks manufacturers
with a (heh) pinch of salt!

Simon Mc said:

Any of you do this? and if so, where do you source your powder from. Any,
importantly, how much cheaper than shop-bought drinks does it work out?

Can't see the point unless you're into competitive fell running,
mountain marathons and the like.

A water bottle of ribena (or in winter, a flask of hot ribena) and
some sandwiches, plus maybe a packet of crisps.

S.

--
Stop ID cards and the Database State
http://www.no2id.net/

In message <[email hidden]>, Dave Fawthrop
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

there is no need to add any salt to anything.

Except bitter coffee (just a tiny pinch - try it!)
--
Andy Mabbett

Say "NO!" to compulsory ID Cards: <http://www.no2id.net/>