Really Salty Energy Drinks?

[smurfalicious]

Hey just wanted to say thanks for recommending Elete. I love the stuff! Everyone at work was grossed out when I got it in. Apparently they are not fans. I totally dig it. Then again when I grew up consuming salted koolaid when certain stomach upsets happened and I loooove Pedialyte for that these days. I got the little tiny bottle, but ordered a big 16oz one the other day now that it's tested and approved. Hurray, now Vitamin Water XXX can be my riding beverage!

[ZenSojourner]

From the Infini-T website:

Osmolality is a measure of how much “stuff” is in your sports drink. If there is too much “stuff” your drink will be too dense and your body will treat it like a food. The unfortunate result: Failure. Your system shuts down and stops processing it, resulting in gastric distress, cramping, and worse.

http://www.infinitnutrition.us/information/osmofit.asp

Is THAT why I get cramping and nausea if I try to drink uncut gatorade when I'm riding????

I have never been able to drink Gatorade or any of it's look-alikes, not while I'm riding anyway, and I can't use any of the energy bars I've ever tried. I actually threw up a couple of times in the beginning before I learned to cut the Gatorade 1:3 and leave the energy bars STRICTLY ALONE.

Lately I've been drinking Propel on long rides because it's the only thing I know I can keep down. I take extra Propel with me on long rides even if they're SAGged because all they ever give you at rest stops is Gatorade and if I forget to cut it, I'm in trouble. It's slightly better than water but I really don't think it has a balanced proportion of electrolytes and vitamins, it's just all I've ever been able to keep down.

Honestly I've been afraid to experiment because I can't tell for sure whether or not something's going to affect me unless I try it under stress, like on an actual ride, and you do NOT want to be in the middle of a 50 mile ride and be overcome with stomach cramps!

InfinIT, Enervit, the Motor tabs - is any of this stuff safe for me to try? Has ANYBODY else had the problems with Gatorade they describe above, or is that just marketing hype and I'm still some kind of loner freak? I've never found anybody who has the same trouble I do with Gatorade and energy bars/gels, but that blurb from the InfinIT website makes it sound like it's a known, common problem

[Becky]

ZenS, like you, I don't tolerate straight Gatorade well, though not to the extent that I regurgitate it. I can't speak to some of the other recommendations in this thread, but I've had good results with Vitalyte (except the orange flavor). The citrus flavor is probably the easiest on the stomach. They sell little 4 serving trial packets if you want to try without a big commitment: http://www.vitalytestore.com/

It might be worth experimenting with some different products to see what your stomach likes.