Gatorade vs. H2O

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i61164

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Have you seen the commercial on TV where the guy collapses 50 meters from the finish line at the Iron Man Triathalon in Hawaii. He starts drinking Gatorade and at the next Triathalon, he crosses the finish line triumphantly.

Does Gatorade really hydrate better than water? If so, why? How does it work? Unless I misunderstood that lecture about osmosis/diffusion back in general chem it would seem that nothing could be absorbed more effectively than water. Is there some sort of clever mechanism at work?

Since I am not much of an athlete, I am more interested in using Gatorade as a hangover suppressor.

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i61164 said:
Have you seen the commercial on TV where the guy collapses 50 meters from the finish line at the Iron Man Triathalon in Hawaii. He starts drinking Gatorade and at the next Triathalon, he crosses the finish line triumphantly.

Does Gatorade really hydrate better than water? If so, why? How does it work? Unless I misunderstood that lecture about osmosis/diffusion back in general chem it would seem that nothing could be absorbed more effectively than water. Is there some sort of clever mechanism at work?

Since I am not much of an athlete, I am more interested in using Gatorade as a hangover suppressor.

Electrolytes, man. Wait for renal phys, its a blast.

In short, when you sweat a ton you lose sodium and chloride, which leads to an inability to retain water. Gatorade has electrolytes ----> water retention.
 
When I was an EMT, we were told to dilute Gatorade because it was too concentrated for those with dehydration. That said, when I was running a marathon, we were told not to drink just water because we'd be adding more water as we'd be sweating out electrolytes- I forget what the term is (hyponatremia?) for the resulting state of over hydration- but it is dangerous, may result in death. Most marathons have a gatorade only stand at some mile markers for that reason.
 
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uptoolate said:
When I was an EMT, we were told to dilute Gatorade because it was too concentrated for those with dehydration. That said, when I was running a marathon, we were told not to drink just water because we'd be adding more water as we'd be sweating out electrolytes- I forget what the term is (hyponatremia?) for the resulting state of over hydration- but it is dangerous, may result in death. Most marathons have a gatorade only stand at some mile markers for that reason.
Yeah, my brother the sports trainier/PT has been preaching about Gatorade dilution for years. But def diluted Gatorade + Goo for extended physical activity (>30 minutes). :thumbup:
 
Also, there is a specific concentration of glucose (I think around the conc that's in gatorade) that allows the water to be absorbed more quickly than plain water. Plus, the sugar makes it taste sooooo much better than if it was just Na, K, Cl, etc.
 
EvoDevo said:
Yeah, my brother the sports trainier/PT has been preaching about Gatorade dilution for years. But def diluted Gatorade + Goo for extended physical activity (>30 minutes). :thumbup:

So then if I'm drinking my ass off and I'm not really sweating, do I need to replace electrolytes? Do you lose electrolytes in urine too, or just sweat?

How does a certain glucose concentration help water absorb more quickly? Doesn't that go against the theory of osmosis?
 
Actually, the glucose level in Gatorade is so high, it slows down absorbtion of water. This, and the electrolyte factor, may be beneficial when engaging in prolonged (i.e., > 60min) sustained athletic events. For most people, though, we generally recommend the 50-50 dilution of Gatorade with water. This will replenish electrolytes without slowing down absorbtion.

Regarding taste, that is a key factor as well. If you doubt how important taste is, try finding some stuff called Cerolyte (maybe Ceralyte?). Good to replenish fluids and electrolytes, but tastes like salty bathwater.
 
BOHICA-FIGMO said:
Regarding taste, that is a key factor as well. If you doubt how important taste is, try finding some stuff called Cerolyte (maybe Ceralyte?). Good to replenish fluids and electrolytes, but tastes like salty bathwater.

Or try drinking plain/clear Pedialyte - same idea. They made us do that on Peds just to see what we were advocating cramming into the little kids.

Remember too that sweat is hypotonic, even though it tastes salty as heck, so you need to replace more water than electrolytes.

And yes, you absolutely lose electrolytes in the urine, even more so after consuming significant amounts of a diuretic (i.e. alcohol). That's the only way the body can drive out water, since water follows electrolytes. Isn't renal physiology wonderful? :thumbup: ;) :thumbup:

Not really sure I buy Gatorade as a hangover remedy, especially once the damage is already done, so to speak. Yeah, keeping hydrated will help, but dehydration is really still just part of the whole pathogenesis of hangover.
 
NateatUC said:
Or try drinking plain/clear Pedialyte - same idea. They made us do that on Peds just to see what we were advocating cramming into the little kids.

Remember too that sweat is hypotonic, even though it tastes salty as heck, so you need to replace more water than electrolytes.

And yes, you absolutely lose electrolytes in the urine, even more so after consuming significant amounts of a diuretic (i.e. alcohol). That's the only way the body can drive out water, since water follows electrolytes. Isn't renal physiology wonderful? :thumbup: ;) :thumbup:

Not really sure I buy Gatorade as a hangover remedy, especially once the damage is already done, so to speak. Yeah, keeping hydrated will help, but dehydration is really still just part of the whole pathogenesis of hangover.

I think I might try drinking some Gatorade right before bed in an attempt to prevent/mitigate the hangover. I've tried drinking water before bed, and it does help, but I end up waking up six times during the night to pee. Maybe with Gatorade I won't need to pee as much.

Cheers.
food-smiley-004.gif
 
This reminds me of the news story a while back about a hazing death where a initiate was forced to drink water all night-- he later died of "water intoxication". Even for a healthy person, too much water can kill.

This is a pretty detailed article about the incident. Some people are monsters. :scared:

http://www.chicoer.com/Stories/0,1413,135%7E25088%7E2909829,00.html
 
BOHICA-FIGMO said:
Actually, the glucose level in Gatorade is so high, it slows down absorbtion of water. This, and the electrolyte factor, may be beneficial when engaging in prolonged (i.e., > 60min) sustained athletic events. For most people, though, we generally recommend the 50-50 dilution of Gatorade with water. This will replenish electrolytes without slowing down absorbtion.

You're right on the money. For activities lasting longer than an hour, which depletes glycogen stores considerably, sports drinks are reccommended for replenishment. In fact, it may even be beneficial in such scenarios to consume Gatorade/Powerade etc prior to the event, so you've got simple sugars in the bloodstream, which your body will use instead of breaking down stored glycogen, which could come in handy later, thereby delaying the onset of fatigue.
 
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bigdan said:
i6-

Did you ever try the chaser tablets?

dc


No, but I saw a commercial for them once. It cracked me up. I was thinking "Is this for real?" Sounds too good to be true.
 
BOHICA-FIGMO said:
Chaser is just acitvated carbon, which really won't bind to the EtOh that well but may absorb some of the cogeners.

From what I've heard, the congeners are a big contributor to hangovers. So in that case, binding them would probably help.
 
Flobber said:
Electrolytes, man. Wait for renal phys, its a blast.

In short, when you sweat a ton you lose sodium and chloride, which leads to an inability to retain water. Gatorade has electrolytes ----> water retention.

I thought that because sweat was hypotonic, sodium losses through sweat were pretty negligible, except in prolonged activity. The main problem is loss of fluid, which itself can cause hyperkalemia (lower tubular flow = less K washout and secretion,) and the other problem is that replacement with water is what actually causes the hyponatremia as opposed to the sodium loss through sweat. After you sweat out enough volume, a hypotonic replacement causes hyponatremia and doesn't help reduce any hyperkalemia (probably very mild until dehydration is severe) due to decreased tubular flow. Additionally, since gatorade is iso- (or hyper, it sounds like,maybe)-tonic to blood, its secretion requires no additional loss of electrolytes and less loss of fluid, whereas secreting hypotonic water requires some (small) additional Na loss and the loss of a lot more fluid due to needing to rid the body of the diluting agent and restore Na balance. On the other hand, the body must also retain fluid to keep up blood volume, further exacerbating the hyponatremic situation.

This is all I can remember from renal... this is a fun thread!
 
Salt in gatorade facilitates absorption of sugar via Na-dependent cotransport. This in turn osmotically facilitates absorption of water. Gatorade mix is not very good -- if you want max rehydration either use pedialyte or the stuff Red Cross uses (basically a salt-sugar mix).
 
i61164 said:
I've tried drinking water before bed, and it does help, but I end up waking up six times during the night to pee. Maybe with Gatorade I won't need to pee as much.

Cheers.
food-smiley-004.gif


Maybe you ought to just go ahead and get a leg bag/cath yourself before bed.
 
i61164 said:
So then if I'm drinking my ass off and I'm not really sweating, do I need to replace electrolytes? Do you lose electrolytes in urine too, or just sweat?

How does a certain glucose concentration help water absorb more quickly? Doesn't that go against the theory of osmosis?


actually water absorption occurs as electrolytes are absorbed and concentrated just across the brush border, and the water flows in passively.
 
Try out a drink called "Succeed! Clip". I ran a 100 Km race in Belgium a few years ago and used the drink as a major energy source (along with pastries, sandwiches, soup, gummi bears, fig newtons, electrolyte capsules, and Clif bars). Succeed! has a combination of maltodextrin, medium chain triglycerides, and amino acids. The added fat makes your body dump a bit of bicarb, so your stomach acidity is less. As an added bonus, the flavor is pretty mellow, so it should go well with a hangover :thumbup:
 
unless you have cystic fibrosis you're not going to sweat off excessive amounts of salts.
In dehydration you lose water volume and osmolality of the blood actually increases. Drinking pure water has the highest osmotic gradient pulling it from the GIT, so it's the quickest rehydrating fluid.

However, you do lose a little salt with the vast amounts of water sweated out, so the electrolytes in Gatorade help counteract that.

Gatorade straight from the bottle has too high an osmolality for the component of fluid lost from sweat. It is necessary to dilute gatorade in order to replace lost fluid and electrolytes in the correct ratio, but thats a mere homeostasis issue rather than a dehydration issue.
 
LSUwannabe said:
Maybe you ought to just go ahead and get a leg bag/cath yourself before bed.

If only I had the equipment...

I actually used watered down gatorade to chase my shots last night and I am pretty pleased with the results. I was drinking like a fish, but I woke up with no hangover and only had to get out of bed once to pee. I probably had 8-10 shots and drank almost half a gallon of diluted Gatorade.

I would like to thank all who contributed to this thread. You have revolutionized my nightlife.
 
i61164 said:
If only I had the equipment...

I actually used watered down gatorade to chase my shots last night and I am pretty pleased with the results. I was drinking like a fish, but I woke up with no hangover and only had to get out of bed once to pee. I probably had 8-10 shots and drank almost half a gallon of diluted Gatorade.

I would like to thank all who contributed to this thread. You have revolutionized my nightlife.


and was this....tequila shots?!?!?
 
This is the gist of what we were taught:

You attempt to absorb ALL glucose and since glucose is transorted w/lots of H20; activating glucose trasporters will greatly icrease the amount of H2O entering via GI and Renal. It really works. In cases of pure dehydration (only water loss), I could see where gatoraid would be bad, as you could become hyperosmotic and actually throw off the electrolyte ballance. In 'volume depletion' (loss of fluid and electrolytes), gatoriad would help.

As for the electrolytes...... sweat is diluted as it moves thru the duct (becomes hypo-osmotic), but if you sweat very fast, this dilution is dramatically reduced and you do lose electrolytes. During the course of normal, nonsensible H2O loss, the electrolyte replacement would not be needed as your body/sweat ducts can maintain homeostasis.

In a nut shell, the extra glucose is actually to increase water absorption and the electrolytes are needed in cases of "fast" sweating. When I play b-ball for long periods, this stuf definitely helps with cramping/fatigue.
 
gdubb said:
and was this....tequila shots?!?!?

Vodka. I have always preferred Vodka (maybe 'cause of my Russian heritage). Just the smell of tequila makes me shudder, but I would be a good sport and drink it anyway on a special occasion. In fact, I can drink just about anything if I get into the right frame of mind.
 
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