Dentist Orders- NO GATORADE. I need HELP!

[Aggie_Ama]

I love gatorade for my long rides. It gives me a nice little boost and keeps me hydrated. I went to the dentist today and I have a lot of problems. I am one of those people that get cavities despite flossing, brushing, etc... The dentist was asking me about sugar and I told him I didn't eat much sugar.

Then we discussed gatorade. Every weekend on my long rides I am easily drinking Gatorade for 4-6 hours. He said this is letting the sugar just basically eat away at existing problems and the dryness of my mouth only lets the bacteria go wild. I know, pleasant thought. Being that I have to have up to 3 root canals I am all for cutting sugar out.

There was a question to this long post.... What can I replace my gatorade with that is low sugar? I tried browsing the posts, but I am short on time. Thanks for the help!

[SadieKate]

Try plain water and gels. Get a flask so you don't have to deal with the packets, take a squeeze of gel frequently (or as necessary) and then follow with plenty of plain water, rinsing your teeth at the same time.

For electrolytes alone, Endurolyte comes in both capsules and powder form.

[FreshNewbie]

I am also trying to cut on sugar that comes from sports drinks. I recently tried Hammer gel in raspberry flavour and it's good. I mean even compared to GU it's better. It has only 2 g of sugar, now compare it to 25 grams of sugar coming from Gatorade. If you check out Hammer website, they have a recipe that combines their Heed product with water and something else and thats basically to sabstitute for Gatorade. Good luck with root canals!!!

[bcipam]

There are alot of products that contain no sugar for example ELETE. Just add to plain water. Of course it won't taste like Gatorade (which for me is a good thing).

[Eden]

It sounds like you'd still need to watch the gels - even if they are low in simple sugars,they are still pretty much all complex sugars (carbs) which will stick to your teeth and cause problems too. Be sure to carry plain water and rinse out well after the gels - maybe sugarless chewing gum might help? I like it sometimes to keep the fuzzy mouth feeling from energy drinks away and it might help with dry mouth.

plus another sugar free electrolyte alternative is Nuun - it does have sorbitol, which some people can be sensitive to.

[Nanci]

Don't they say chewing sugarless gum fights cavities? So do your gel or whatever, then rinse with water, then chew gum???

Nanci