Can anyone help with either a brand name or a source for high quality hydration salts? Not interested in Gatoraid or the like. I "bonked" once in Moz on a buffalo hunt and the PH had some really high powered stuff that worked in minutes. Thanks for any help. Bob.

Thermotabs are what you're looking for. You should be able to find them at most pharmacies or vitamin stores.

I also like and use the Emergen-C line of product which mix with your water but does not have the sugar that sports drinks have. Look at the ElectroMix formula

Emergen-C

Thank you David! I wll look for them.

Most chain drugstores offer electrolytic solutions in powdered form, usually where the baby formulas and such is stocked. You might compare the costs of those products to the cost of products made for the sports industry and see which is the better deal.

At one time ERG, which imitated what you loose when you sweat, was the only product out there. I found that cutting the mixture down to 1/4 of that recommended strength was easier to tolerate while exerting and gave the best results in cross country ski racies up to 34 miles in length.

Mixing the electrolyte in tea or other caffeine type drinks helps with fat metabolism after glycogen stores in the muscles are depleted. Of course in a backpacking situation that shouldn't happen because of the almost constant high carbohydrate trail snack consumption you Should be doing. In most cases just plain H20 is good enough. But if you want to try the electrolytes, there is no reason not to other than the added expense...Rusty.

I quit using Gator-Aide long ago. I use Power Bars instead. They have plenty of salt and even more potassium than Gator Aide. They also provide often much needed complex carbs as well as a little protein and some vitamins.
Their only down side, if you'd call it that, is they get very hard when cold. In winter, when snow shoeing, I have to warm them before I can chew them. E

Thanks!!

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quote:

Their only down side, if you'd call it that, is they get very hard when cold. In winter, when snow shoeing, I have to warm them before I can chew them. E

I just carry them in an inside pocket for a while. Works like a charm.

Cheers,
Canuck

I believe Oral Re-hydration Salts (ORS) saved my life when I caught typhoid in Central African Republic, living alone out in the middle of nowhere. Most Peace Corps Volunteers in those days had a few sachets of ORS obtained from UNICEF. To be mixed with one liter of water. Here is a good site link with information about brand names in the USA:

http://www.drugs.com/cons/Oral_Rehydration_Salts_Systemic.html

quote:

Originally posted by ALF:
Sorry but I could not help seeing this:

"Hydration salts"

A bit of a contradiction? Why on earth would one take salts when dehydrated?

Water is absorbed into the body faster when combined with an electrolyte solution. That is why it is so effective in the treatment of diarhea symptoms where the water you drink is flushed through the body before it gets absorbed. At least that's my layman's understanding of it. Of course, ingesting the "salts" without any water won't help.

often in the summer after a hard day and i havnt kept fluids up during the day and dehydration is set in real bad i will often mix half a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of suger to one pint of water, after a couple of those i feel great.
alot cheaper than sachets

Another readily available product is called Zip Fizz. Sometimes available at the local Costco. It comes in a tube that you mix with a liter of water. It has helped me on some extreme backpack hunts. Much more concentreated than gatoraide, without the sugar. It tases like a citrus drink.
Bill

We frequently see clients and apprentice PH's go down with dehydration during our hot months - often very quickly if they have been boozing the night before.

An electrolyte imbalance is usually part of the problem. Most PH’s and guides take the locally available “darolyte†tabs during the hot months and I add them to the water in my camelbak.

I carry a can of Red Bull these days for clients who are not coping, but if somebody collapses, the recommended treatment is a drip of standard saline solution.

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What is an electrolyte?
It's the chemical composition that generates an electrical current...
This is what keeps your heart beating !
Lack of sodium ,potasium and sugar will cause heart failure!
simple. http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/1856.html
Tom

As I understand it, there is a caviate to what Alf wrote, which is given an abundance of water during prolonged strenuous exercise can, one drink too much water, in which case an electrolyte supplement is helpful. A way to gauge is based on weight during exercise. For an ultra-distance athlete as an example, the goal is to take in enough food and water to stay no more than three pounds lighter than your starting weight without going over the starting weight. Weight gain during an ultr-event generally means that you are retaining excess water, in which case the "salt" will assist in processing and getting rid of it.

Whilst backpacking in hot weather, and doing various physical activities in Africa and hot parts of Europe, I used to be a fan of re-hydration salts and the like.

Roll around a deployment to a hot sandy place and I didn't use them at all, or even feel the need to. Lots of plain water did the trick even in temperatures up to 155 Degrees. (Inside Armoured Vehicles; I'm British, no Aircon!)

We were briefed that if the sweat dripping into your eyes stopped stinging you'd lost too much salt and needed supplementation, never happened!

The only time I have found dioralyte salts useful is after a days really hard exercise, where a sachet dissolved in water before bed helps to stave off those middle of the night cramps. Which makes sense as I understand cramps are caused by a lack of salts in the muscles.

Note that I'm neither a physician, nor an ultra-marathoner. I am, however, a very athletic outdoorsman with some significant experience dealing with exertion.

If you're having problems with hydration, or related issues, the FIRST thing you should do is get in shape and treat your body properly BEFORE going on your adventure. It is very rare to find somebody who is adequately hydrated in daily life. Don't even get me started on the average diet!

You can't expect your body to adjust to exertion when you've been dehydrated and eating crap food for the last 2 years! Our bodies have evolved to be pretty damn good at dealing with hardship....IF you don't abuse them. Your body is a machine, no more, no less. If you're truly healthy, simply eat ALOT of good food, and drink ALOT of water. Your will to press on with the hike will go loooooong before your body shuts down.