[at-l] 2 sugarless drink mix questions

[spiriteagle99 at hotmail.com (Jim and/or Ginny Owen)]

Das Toe wrote:
>OK, so, I'm a gear weenie.
>OK, so, food is gear.
>OK, so, "sugarless" might not meet "food" requirements, but it's
>*darn* close.

I'm not a gear weenie - I'm a pragmatist.  Food is fuel.  <G>

>SO:
>Yesterday, JimO notes that, in what he doesn't carry in sugar,
>he can make up for with greater calories in chocolate, thus
>
>(DELTA\{sugared drink mix} - {sugarless drink mix}) = Snickers
>                    and
>   CALORIES Snickers > CALORIES Sugar
>
>(haunting in its elegance, no?)

If you remember, there was a -20 Cal delta and a -0.6 oz weight advantage on 
that exchange.    Well, when I went home last night I checked some numbers - 
and if I wanted to fill out that 0.6 oz  delta, a bar of Astronaut ice cream 
weighs in at exactly 0.6 oz - and provides 110 calories.  That would provide 
an extra 90 calories per day (assuming 2 qts of Koolaid per day) for the 
same weight as the sugared Koolaid.  The question then becomes --- how many 
supermarkets along the AT (or any other long trail) carry Astronaut ice 
cream?  <VBG>

>Now, if I "rarely* carry/use sugared drink mixes, I *never*
>carry unsugared drink mixes. Howsomeever, I'm hearing that
>"calling" -- the siren call of pseudo-science -- the cackle of
>the gear weenie. I gots to try some sugarless. Hencely and
>therefore, I gots these two questions:
>
>1) Not vital, but does anyone know of research which indicates
>that stomach emptying (as <burp> discussed yesterday) is at all
>affected by non-food items such as unsugared drink mix in water
>suspension?

Dunno about "stomach-emptying", but for rehydration purposes I've been using 
it for over 13000 miles of hiking and it works for me.  YMMV.

Go back and read my original post - there was research done 15-20 years ago. 
  But I don't think they used sugared vs unsugared Koolaid.  As a practical 
matter (remember - I'm a pragmatist), some of those who work steel mills and 
coal mines have used lightly salted water for rehydration for longer than 
either of us have been alive.  I learned that from my grandfather and uncles 
before Koolaid was invented.

There may or may not be better solutions available, but the basic question 
is - are they available to the average hiker - and aare they available along 
the trail?  If so - what and where?


>2) Do those of you that use non-sugared drink mix have an
>observation as to whether or not your drink containers are at
>risk of grunge-growth or not, as is the case with sugared drink
>mixes? (Again, not vital, but since I don't really "clean" my
>water bottles except "occassionally", black "creeping crud" is
>one factor that keeps me away from regular drink mix use.)

Prior to using the sugar free stuff, I was cleaning grunge from my Nalgene 
once a week.  Since starting to use sugarfree "stuff" (over 13k miles) I've 
cleaned out the grunge "maybe" twice.  Once I remember for sure - the second 
time is kinda vague.

And just to add to the confusion - on the CDT, sugar free Koolaid was only 
available by maildrop from Kahley, so most of the time we used Crystal Lite. 
  Still no grunge.  If there's no sugar - there's no medium to feed the 
grunge.  Again - YMMV

For those who are still with us - and don't know what "grunge" is -- it's 
the mold buildup in your water container.   Usually specifically in the cap 
threads.  You'll know it when you see it - it's black and can get really 
nasty if you're not paying attention.  Wash the threads with soap and water 
- you may need a toothbrush to get it all out.

Walk softly,
Jim

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