This excerpt from Christie Aschwanden’s new book, “Good to Go: What the Athlete in All of Us Can Learn from the Strange Science of Recovery,” is worth a look.
Aschwanden is the lead science writer for the web site FiveThirtyEight.
I think that many members of this forum already know much of what she writes about in this particular piece, but it's an interesting read, nonetheless.
Not all that long ago, I believed much of the hype about sports drinks, etc. Not so much now.
Not sure I like the article so much. It bounces around a lot, and conflates multiple issues.
Of course the hypertonic concentration of electrolytes in "sports drinks" has been well known for decades. I use these beverages for long hard activities, but dilute them 50/50 with water to make them approximately isotonic. Old news.
The hyponatremia and "over-hydration" issue is entirely separate. It's a valid issue, and the basic "drink when you're thirsty" has always made sense. Naturally, there have been headline grabbers who have promoted "drink before you are thirsty.' Simply trying to "one-up" common sense, in order to grab a headline. Again, old news. But at least this part is worth repeating, because there are still some headline grabbers out there promoting excessive drinking of water.
I have read that article excerpt and it doesn't line up with my experience hiking over the years that unless I drink electrolytes after a hike I end up with major leg cramps a few hours later. I don't use the sports drinks but I do use Nuun. I have better experience with Nuun than I do with Doug's sport drink substitute. I have tired varying my water intake over the years and it has little or nothing to do with the post hike leg cramps so I attribute it to loss of electrolytes due to perspiration. Some of the symptoms of dehydration are headaches which I have heard attributed to lack of water.
I do remember a radio show on the Boston Marathon that the biggest issue they have to deal with is hyponatremia which I attributed to the body sweating out electrolytes and water and only taking in water to replace it without electrolytes.
I also remember all the scientific sounding hype that came out a couple of years ago about leg cramps and how they were not related to electrolytes and the authors were discovered to be trying to sell spicy liquid as an alternative
http://www.teamhotshot.com/.
Last edited by peakbagger; 02-12-2019 at 04:36 PM.
I took a look at Nuun a number of years ago. IIRC, it has about twice the concentration of salt as used in my formulation.Originally Posted by peakbagger
It's a balancing act...I do remember a radio show on the Boston Marathon that the biggest issue they have to deal with is hyponatremia which I attributed to the body sweating out electrolytes and water and only taking in water to replace it without electrolytes.
Pseudo-science in the service of the bottom line is all too common...I also remember all the scientific sounding hype that came out a couple of years ago about leg cramps and how they were not related to electrolytes and the authors were discovered to be trying to sell spicy liquid as an alternative.
Doug
I enjoyed the article in part because, in some ways, it's mirrored my experience:
I've gone the Gatorade route (years ago), and tried Nuun, as well. Now, I just use water (when thirsty) and salt (NaCl) tablets, and augment with food.
Simple, inexpensive, and it's worked fine now for some time.
But, of course, everyone's mileage may vary.
I've never liked the taste of Gatorade and once tried drinking more water than usual (over the course of several days) and it just made me take more trips to the restroom. I guess the next thing I might try is Nugenix, because supposedly my wife would like it too! If it's endorsed by "The Big Hurt," it must be good.
I tried salt but found I needed potassium which is in Morton Lite Salt. Some folks say I need to add magnesium to the mix but Nuun seems to work fairly well. I did hear a few ladies on meetup complain that Nuun made them retain water for few days after a hike.
I totally agree that leg cramps are not primarily associated with hydration.
Obviously, hikers will be exposed to the necessity of bursts of exercise as the trail becomes steep. So in these steeps, its possible that the blood no longer carries enough oxygen for the muscles to use. The muscles will have to use oxygen and glycogen that is stored locally in the muscle tissue. When your body "switches to this mode", lactic acid will start to accumulate in the muscle tissue. This causes cramps after a while.
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