Sports Drink with No Sodium?!

[Artista]

I'm doing a 4 hour ride tomorrow in the warmest temperatures of the year so far. I sweat A LOT so I picked up a box of Electromix by Emergen-C to replace electrolytes during the ride. I was surprised to see that this product, marketed as a sports drink mix, doesn't have a lick of sodium in it. They kind of elude to the lack of sodium by stating that "modern diets typically contain excessive sodium". I don't think that excess salt in the diet ensures that we'll have adequate sodium left in our bodies after sweating for hours, though.

Guess I'll drop a little pinch of sea salt in my bottle each time I refill.

[tealtreak]

let us know how that goes- I am really into figuring out the whole sodium/potassium hydration equation........I have been having trouble with dizziness and talking to some Doc friends have been realizing that replacing sodium (ie: gatorade) and H2o only works if there is sufficient potassium- which I thought was covered by my heavy fruit/veg diet. Issue is- if you sweat heavily, the replacement drinks are high in sodium- but not potassium!

I had a superb bike ride today- drank half OJ and half gatorade!

[zoom-zoom]

I would try adding "lite salt" to it, as this also contains potassium. I have a recipe for DIY sports drink that uses lite salt.

[Artista]

I knew that potassium was important but I hadn't heard the theory that our bodies may not use sodium as efficiently without adequate potassium. This drink mix does have 408mg of potassium as well as calcium, magnesium, manganese, and chromium. I thought that the addition of chromium was a good idea since I'll also be eating carbs throughout this ride.

[OakLeaf]

Replacement drinks are (or should be) high in sodium because you don't sweat out nearly as much potassium.

I don't have any links handy, but it's easy enough to google. I did just look up sodium losses (anywhere from 550-2000 mg/hr, depending on the individual athlete and their degree of heat acclimation). Any of the other electrolytes are much less.

Drinks that aren't balanced are typically meant to be used as part of a cocktail of several of a manufacturer's products. Drives me nuts.

[Artista]

Thanks Oakleaf. That's what I suspected. I put a packet of sea salt in my saddle pack to use on the ride.

ETA: I just took a look at the nutrition info on the sea salt. It claims that 1/4 teaspoon contains 550mg of sodium. That would make a pretty salty drink. I'll put in as much salt as I can tolerate, which may be less than 1/4 teaspoon. It should be fine, though. The temps will be pretty warm but not dangerously so.

[Artista]

I did my ride today with Electromix and sea salt in my water bottle. It tasted a little like unsweetened Gatorade. I didn't find it offensive but my taste buds are accustomed to unsweetened drinks. I was pretty fastidious about supplying my body with carbs throughout the ride since the drink wasn't sweetened.

I was strong during the entire ride with this Electromix/sea salt combo and a reasonable amount of carbs. I'll continue to use it during hot rides. I may mix it with juice for rides of less than 2 hours when I don't really want to take the time to eat during the ride.