Longer rides and "bonking"

[OakLeaf]

I don't like my food salty either, plus I'm a heavy sweater, and it took me literally DECADES to figure out why I would get sick for days at a time, unable to eat much or drink almost any water, to the point that I ended up on an IV once (when they finally found a vein, which wasn't easy, as dehydrated as I was). Doctors never figured it out, because they think no one ever eats anything that doesn't come out of a box with several grams of salt already added.

Any more, I don't even drink much plain water in hot weather or when I'm in a heavy training phase. I toss a Nuun U Naturals tablet in almost every bottle.

Gatorade is actually kind of light on electrolytes when you really need to replenish them, but it'll help, and it's what most organized rides use. Personally I just can't tolerate fructose during exercise (not even natural fructose from fresh fruit or honey), so drinks with HFCS are right out for me.

[colorisnt]

Yeah, HFCS makes me sick in high concentration, so I water it down to almost nothing. It doesn't help all that much then. I will try the Skratch Labs or the Nuun U Naturals stuff.

The main issue I have is I also have a citric acid intolerance. I can only take a bit of citric acid (tomato juice would kill me, too, for that reason). I have have about a 6 oz glass of juice after which point, I will start to have issues and develop sores on my scalp, mouth, and in "sensitive" areas, which is a shame because I LOVE smoothies and I LOVE pineapple/banana/orange juice best of all. I've tried to see if it still happens periodically and it does. So, smoothies (depending on what's in them) are a great thing, but maybe not something I can do depending on what is in them.

I know I should live in a bubble and I sound difficult but I think you guys are right in that Sodium is just not "there" for me. I don't eat a lot of processed stuff. My cooking is sodium-light. So, I could see why I'm not getting enough. I'm a pretty healthy eater most of the time.