[at-l] re: gatorade, was Salt Tabs

[sloetoe@yahoo.com (Sloetoe)]

--- Michael Henderson <michaelh@ospreypacks.com> wrote:

> A former rowing coach of mine who studied athletic physiology
> told me that Gatorade is about 2x as strong as it should be.
### Yep. It's mixed for marketable taste, not actual use.

> Apparently the body needs a
> LOT of fluid to process all the minerals and salts in
> Gatorade, so it will
> actually dehydrate you unless you drink water with it.
### Ummmm, not quite there. G-ade has two purposes -- to refuel
muscles and to facilitate hydration. If you think of the goal as
maximum absorption of water in the shortest amount of time, then
you want it at half strength. Full strength will command the
stomach to slow its emptying at a rate under that of the ability
of the intestine to absorb water -- thus denying the body the
fastest access to water/electrolytes. Plain water will shoot
through the stomach (*and* the intestine) much faster than the
body can absorb the water -- thus denying the body the fastest
*absorption* of water. If you care to imagine that far, in the
full strength picture, you'd pee less often, and pee yellow when
you did. In the plain water picture, you'd pee clear, then dark
yellow, then clear, then dark yellow, and you'd have to drink
twice as much to attain proper hydration.
### But then Goldilocks tried the middle pitcher, mixed
half-strength, and found (on average) stomach emptying
corresponded nicely to H2O absorption, and so was most quickly
restored, and with minimal water intake. And peed happily ever
after.

Streamtoe

=====
Spatior! Nitor! Nitor! Tempero!
   Pro Pondera Et Meliora.

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