electrolyte drinks

[Nayshiftin]

Okay I've looked at these and one Gatorade they say is good had 26 carbs and 20 of that sugars so Id not really go there. I also read they do harm if that is not the issue.
I am not sporty so I really can not see that this is the thing for me.
What do you have and does it help and any positive thing you can say to help me. Lucozade does come light but oh dear . Like all potions I only like the real thing and was usually only given when sick so I still smell sick when I come across it even if its not there.

 

[Leadinglights]

Okay I've looked at these and one Gatorade they say is good had 26 carbs and 20 of that sugars so Id not really go there. I also read they do harm if that is not the issue.
I am not sporty so I really can not see that this is the thing for me.
What do you have and does it help and any positive thing you can say to help me. Lucozade does come light but oh dear . Like all potions I only like the real thing and was usually only given when sick so I still smell sick when I come across it even if its not there.

These are sugar free.

Electrolyte Rehydration with Essential Vitamins | Sugar-Free & Suitable for Vegetarians | Twin Pack Deal (2 Packs of 20)​

Visit the Vitaliva Store

 

[Nayshiftin]

These are sugar free.

Electrolyte Rehydration with Essential Vitamins | Sugar-Free & Suitable for Vegetarians | Twin Pack Deal (2 Packs of 20)​

Visit the Vitaliva Store

Thank you I've ordered these.

 

[Nayshiftin]

Thank you I've ordered these.

These are sugar free.

Electrolyte Rehydration with Essential Vitamins | Sugar-Free & Suitable for Vegetarians | Twin Pack Deal (2 Packs of 20)​

Visit the Vitaliva Store

Thanks if anything I have noticed they help the headache in the morning. Not a drinking headache but i often wake with a sore head and this has gone. So i was possibly slightly dehydrated of a morning .

 

[rebrascora]

Unless you are doing significant exercise and losing salts from your body via sweat or illness (sickness and diarrhoea) you really shouldn't need electrolytes, just fluids.

 

[Nayshiftin]

Unless you are doing significant exercise and losing salts from your body via sweat or illness (sickness and diarrhoea) you really shouldn't need electrolytes, just fluids.

I perspire an awful lot.
I am on a medication that affects fluid balance.
I suffer with headaches and cramp.
That is why the others suggested i try
Leadinglights recommended a low carb / sugar one which i take when i need it. So far its not been daily. The packet says i can have three times daily as required.
i drink gallons of water, coffee, tea and tonic water every day
I cant drink much more.
i drink more now than i ever ever did with high blood sugar even in the heat of summer. Twas hotter last year.
it has to be the diabetic drug , and unless my Bs is low enough i cant argue with the DN to take me off it.
Type 2 is different from type 1 .
So i do not see the harm.

 

[AndBreathe]

I perspire an awful lot.
I am on a medication that affects fluid balance.
I suffer with headaches and cramp.
That is why the others suggested i try
Leadinglights recommended a low carb / sugar one which i take when i need it. So far its not been daily. The packet says i can have three times daily as required.
i drink gallons of water, coffee, tea and tonic water every day
I cant drink much more.
i drink more now than i ever ever did with high blood sugar even in the heat of summer. Twas hotter last year.
it has to be the diabetic drug , and unless my Bs is low enough i cant argue with the DN to take me off it.
Type 2 is different from type 1 .
So i do not see the harm.

To be honest, you might get as much value out of just adding a pinch of salt to your "normal" drinks.

I am very different to you in that I rarely sweat, even in extremely hot weather, although the bunting nearly went up in Thailand when I did perspire a bit in 40c, doing one of my walks.

There I tend to just add that pinch of salt a couple of times a day to whatever I'm drinking, whether tea or coffee, with a bit of milk or squash.

I don't tend to add it to "just water". I doubt I would actually taste it, but psychologically I'd probably persuade myself I could.

 

[Nayshiftin]

To be honest, you might get as much value out of just adding a pinch of salt to your "normal" drinks.

I am very different to you in that I rarely sweat, even in extremely hot weather, although the bunting nearly went up in Thailand when I did perspire a bit in 40c, doing one of my walks.

There I tend to just add that pinch of salt a couple of times a day to whatever I'm drinking, whether tea or coffee, with a bit of milk or squash.

I don't tend to add it to "just water". I doubt I would actually taste it, but psychologically I'd probably persuade myself I could.

you say you might ad well ? whats your argument against??
If you have none of my dymptoms how do you claim to know what is best for me?

 

[AndBreathe]

you say you might ad well ? whats your argument against??
If you have none of my dymptoms how do you claim to know what is best for me?

Nayshiftin, I certainly don't claim I know what's best for you. I don't walk in your shoes. I merely like to keep things really simple and go the store cupboard as a first step rather than try to find a "product".

In my view, often these electrolyte drinks are over priced, sweetened water with a bit of salt.

Whatever you choose I hope you feel better soon.

 

[Martin.A]

As I understand it an electrolyte imbalance would normally be identified by a test. Then, knowing which electrolytes are out of balance, an HCP can determine the cause and treatment to restore proper balance. Have you had a test or have you decided that an electrolyte imbalance must be the explanation for your symptoms?

 

[rebrascora]

I think the point @AndBreathe is making is that you may be falling victim to good marketing on the part of these "electrolyte" manufacturers. The vast majority of people simply do not need electrolytes as such when they can include what they need far more simply and less expensively in their diet. I would guess that your low salt intake and higher fluid intake together with the medication is simply removing more salt from your body than you are putting in through your diet, so a pinch of salt here and there on your food or in your drink will have the same effect as these drinks. You are effectively paying a premium price for some salt. Yes, I am sure it will be balanced with all sorts of other things but balanced for whose body? They don't know what your body might be lacking so it is just a general mix and your body will excrete whichever salts it doesn't need, so half of what you are paying for goes down the loo.
We are just saying that there is no magic potion in these drinks, it is just everyday salts which can be found in everyday foods including table salt, which is most likely the one that you are low on.

 

[Nayshiftin]

Nayshiftin, I certainly don't claim I know what's best for you. I don't walk in your shoes. I merely like to keep things really simple and go the store cupboard as a first step rather than try to find a "product".

In my view, often these electrolyte drinks are over priced, sweetened water with a bit of salt.

Whatever you choose I hope you feel better soon.

Ah you had not read the other parts of the thread. i agree it can become a price racket hobby. Others recommended them and Leading lights came up with one that is nit sweetened etc.
i will not imagine id buy things long term. or off the shelf.
im too poor for that sort of thing .

 

[Nayshiftin]

As I understand it an electrolyte imbalance would normally be identified by a test. Then, knowing which electrolytes are out of balance, an HCP can determine the cause and treatment to restore proper balance. Have you had a test or have you decided that an electrolyte imbalance must be the explanation for your symptoms?

no and this is way over the too for someone suggesting i try it.
Ive no intention going for tests.
For a health drink possibly like Andrews lol if your old enough to remember that lol

 

[SimonP]

Wiggle do some for little money, which are reasonably palatable (lemon ones in my case): https://www.wiggle.com/p/wiggle-nutrition-hydration-tablets-20-tabs I've also tried the SiS ones (also available on Wiggle, or Amazon, etc.) but I wasn't so keen on the flavour. YMMV.

Though perhaps not relevant to you, I've now switched to water and eating stuff that has some salt in, as warm electrolyte drink at the end of a long ride is often not what I want, while water is always good even when warm.

 

[AndBreathe]

Ah you had not read the other parts of the thread. i agree it can become a price racket hobby. Others recommended them and Leading lights came up with one that is nit sweetened etc.
i will not imagine id buy things long term. or off the shelf.
im too poor for that sort of thing .

I don't think other's suggesting x, y or z would have influenced my own view.

On another front, if you seriously believe you are in electrolyte imbalance (and you must else I doubt you would seek out a solution), you really should be tested.

In the last year, I have taken medications that have thrown both potassium and sodium out of range (at different times). The action was an immediate cessation of the related medication. Thankfully I now take something that doesn't seem to be an electrolyte cosh.

Whilst in those imbalanced I was symptom-free, but clinical low sodium in particular should not be ignored.

Just for information, if you are interested. https://www.ruh.nhs.uk/pathology/do...es/PATH-019_hyponatraemia_in_primary_care.pdf

 

[AndBreathe]

I think the point @AndBreathe is making is that you may be falling victim to good marketing on the part of these "electrolyte" manufacturers. The vast majority of people simply do not need electrolytes as such when they can include what they need far more simply and less expensively in their diet. I would guess that your low salt intake and higher fluid intake together with the medication is simply removing more salt from your body than you are putting in through your diet, so a pinch of salt here and there on your food or in your drink will have the same effect as these drinks. You are effectively paying a premium price for some salt. Yes, I am sure it will be balanced with all sorts of other things but balanced for whose body? They don't know what your body might be lacking so it is just a general mix and your body will excrete whichever salts it doesn't need, so half of what you are paying for goes down the loo.
We are just saying that there is no magic potion in these drinks, it is just everyday salts which can be found in everyday foods including table salt, which is most likely the one that you are low on.

Spot on. Thanks for phrasing it so much better.

 

[Nayshiftin]

I think the point @AndBreathe is making is that you may be falling victim to good marketing on the part of these "electrolyte" manufacturers. The vast majority of people simply do not need electrolytes as such when they can include what they need far more simply and less expensively in their diet. I would guess that your low salt intake and higher fluid intake together with the medication is simply removing more salt from your body than you are putting in through your diet, so a pinch of salt here and there on your food or in your drink will have the same effect as these drinks. You are effectively paying a premium price for some salt. Yes, I am sure it will be balanced with all sorts of other things but balanced for whose body? They don't know what your body might be lacking so it is just a general mix and your body will excrete whichever salts it doesn't need, so half of what you are paying for goes down the loo.
We are just saying that there is no magic potion in these drinks, it is just everyday salts which can be found in everyday foods including table salt, which is most likely the one that you are low on.

Yes and all i am saying is i tried the one leading lights recommended. I do not think over priced no more than a couple bottles of squash. Each tablet 22.5p each .
It makes a pint and it slides over easy. its just a tablet so i can take to have with water anywhere.
So far its not stopped cramp but that i think has more to do with my replacements and arthritis. It has stopped the morning headache. So perhaps drinking that bit more has helped.
ill not know until i stop but one a day . i had two
today as i was thirsty and as i say its easier than our water here .
i cant drink squash no more.
A can of diet pop is about 50p for 330mls in comparison.

 

[wantonnoodle]

I would agree, if something's out of kilter, you should get tested. There are other things that can be done besides buying money-spinning powders and drinks. My father who's non-diabetic and in his 70s has suffered with cramp for years. Salts weren't the issue, as the Urea and electrolytes bloods done have always been in the correct range (have you had your's checked?). As a consequence, he was prescribed quinine tablets by his GP - which are many times stronger than tonic water (which in most cases these days has flavouring rather than true quinine), and these have all but eliminated the cramps.

Moral of the story is that you should always get persistent symptoms/problems checked out rather than trying to self medicate.

 

[Nayshiftin]

I would agree, if something's out of kilter, you should get tested. There are other things that can be done besides buying money-spinning powders and drinks. My father who's non-diabetic and in his 70s has suffered with cramp for years. Salts weren't the issue, as the Urea and electrolytes bloods done have always been in the correct range (have you had your's checked?). As a consequence, he was prescribed quinine tablets by his GP - which are many times stronger than tonic water (which in most cases these days has flavouring rather than true quinine), and these have all but eliminated the cramps.

Moral of the story is that you should always get persistent symptoms/problems checked out rather than trying to self medicate.

Several GP and Nurses have told me he would not give me quinine tablets. I am not using these to balance anything more of a low carb drink that will force the fluids over. I drink tonic water because its one of the things I have drunk for years. I'm not a gin fan but I love the tonic better than lemonade. Only time I can stomach lemonade was when pregnant. I was thirsty then but obviously not diabetic enough that they treated it then.
I like it with Cointreau but that has been years since I even had that.
I was recommended these and have bought them. They are just a drink says you can three a day the most I have had is two. I just find the cream upsets my stomach in coffee too much. Also drinking too much coffee is not good for you. I do drink tea and tonic water. Someone suggested a soda stream but for just tonic I do not think worth it.
Yes if you buy into the ones of the supermarket or very advertised ones it can be like buying almond or coconut flour it puts you in as you say buying ott.
I like these but I do not believe one will knock anything out of kilter.

 

[Billy Bob]

Unless you are doing significant exercise and losing salts from your body via sweat or illness (sickness and diarrhoea) you really shouldn't need electrolytes, just fluids.

Sue has hydration issues because of her ileostomy she can't drink plain water it flushes straight through so has to have cordial added she has 1 isotonic drink a day as well as electrolyte chews but has really struggled this week