Water alone won't keep you well hydrated, will it?

[DandyDon]

:h2o: Corret me if my understand is wrong. This is one of the reasons I come here to chat...

We sweat a lot while farming and running cows here on the high desert, and even our native waters don't have the needed electrolytes. Heat exhaustion and stroke are risks here, but in Scuba - it's DCS. Bottled water purchased when traveling in less developed countries is even emptier, as it's RO or distilled quality.

Make your own sports drink: Buy large jugs of RO water, and pack a few packs of Kool-aid, a small can of sugar, a smaller one of table salt, and a smaller one yet of salt substitude with potassium chloride.

For 2 quarts: 1 pack of Kool-aid, 8 tablespoons sugar, 3/8 teaspoon table salt, 1/8 teaspoon salt substitute. The sugar, sodium and potassium give you the electrolytes.

Comments...?

thanks, don :h2o:

 

[diverlady]

Seems like a lot of trouble. Why not just get powdered Gatorade?

Diverlady

 

[ScottyK]

When we do strenuous hiking in hot weather, Jen and I bring PB and J's on whole grain bread and chocolate bars. That gets me my simple and complex carbs, and the peanut butter has a high sodium content. We drink Gatorade with lunch and water the rest of the day.

 

[redacted]

In my normal dive trips, suppliments in addition to H2O would just contribute to the wetsuit shrinkage problem.

 

[JimC]

For the duration and intensity of most scuba activities, a Sport Drink is complete overkill. You'll need to be doing sternous activity for an hour+ to benifit from a carb hit in your drink, and even then a refined sugar hit, and the resulting insulen respons isn't what your looking for.

As for the sodium, potassium and other electrolytes, your are highly unlikely to deplete your body's stores during a normal day. If your running in an Ironman or something, you'll want them. They do this to actualy prevent overhydration and hyponatremia.

Considering the average north american's diet... your already getting an incredible overload of most electrolyte minerals anyway... and sugar... Last number I heard for the sugar bit was almost 800 callories / day which is almost 1/3 of your typical diet now days.

 

[diverlady]

JimC once bubbled...
For the duration and intensity of most scuba activities, a Sport Drink is complete overkill. You'll need to be doing sternous activity for an hour+ to benifit from a carb hit in your drink,

Agreed. For a usual dive weekend (2 dives/day for 2 days) Gatorade (and similar type drinks) are too much.

However, when I was in the Bahamas, after about 2 days I found water was going right through me and I was always thirsty. I was also not accustomed to the hot temps and was perspiring a lot. I had a Gatorade and felt much better the next day. I also noticed that I was retaining some of the water I consumed after that which was a good thing.
Everything in moderation.

Since DandyDon mentions working on a ranch perspiring a lot and I know he's just back from Coz, I'd hazard a guess that he's referring to more prolonged bouts of perspiring than just the few minutes it takes for the A/C in the car to kick in.

Diverlady

 

[PaulB]

When I know I'm going to be diving for most of the day I'll start off by eating a good breakfast. Something like cereal that has both complex and simple carbs.
I'll just drink water all day to prevent dehydration and an increased risk of DCS.
When I break for lunch, I'll eat something like a sandwhich and some fruit. That again gives me my simple and complex carbs and instead of getting empty usless sugar, I get useful sugar from the fruit.
No need to go through such lengths to just get what normal food and water can give you.

Energy bars and drinks such as gatoraid is actually bad for you if your body doesn't need it. If you're straining yourself for an hour or more and sweating a great deal, then yes, your body requires a replenishment of energy and salts. If you're not exerting yourself to that maximum extent, you're just putting garbage in you that your body doesn't need.

 

[Diver0001]

dandydon once bubbled...
:h2o: Corret me if my understand is wrong. This is one of the reasons I come here to chat...

We sweat a lot while farming and running cows here on the high desert, and even our native waters don't have the needed electrolytes. Heat exhaustion and stroke are risks here, but in Scuba - it's DCS. Bottled water purchased when traveling in less developed countries is even emptier, as it's RO or distilled quality.

Make your own sports drink: Buy large jugs of RO water, and pack a few packs of Kool-aid, a small can of sugar, a smaller one of table salt, and a smaller one yet of salt substitude with potassium chloride.

For 2 quarts: 1 pack of Kool-aid, 8 tablespoons sugar, 3/8 teaspoon table salt, 1/8 teaspoon salt substitute. The sugar, sodium and potassium give you the electrolytes.

Comments...?

thanks, don :h2o:

Well......the first thing that jumps to my mind is that you're not running a marathon. Also, our species survived 10 million years before the invention of Gatorade and I'm sure some of those people did it by drinking water so it must work.

The point is with diving that you don't want to be so dehydrated that it affects the circulation of your blood.

R..

 

[zboss]

Diver0001 once bubbled...


Well......the first thing that jumps to my mind is that you're not running a marathon. Also, our species survived 10 million years before the invention of Gatorade and I'm sure some of those people did it by drinking water so it must work.

The point is with diving that you don't want to be so dehydrated that it affects the circulation of your blood.

R..

We haven't been diving for 10 million years...

I like to bring powdered gatoraid or another sport drink when I go on vacation because I rarely just dive. I also go hiking, kayaking, sailing, all in the same trip. Let's not forget about those days when in fact, you do go out to a bar and wake up with a hangover (please spare me the speech about drinking). Sometimes I get a hangover from just a few drinks combined with sweating out all my fluids. Gatoraid takes care of the hangover and combined with water, gets me right where I should be as far as hydration is concerned.

Also - I take potassium supplements to help with leg cramps and muscle fatigue.

 

[Walter]

I drink water.