Re: No more gatrade

On 4/15/2025 4:44 PM, Zen Cycle wrote:

 Gatorade in 1989 was very different than today's formulation. The original gatorade developed at the University of Florida back in the 70s used cane sugar, and not very much of it. The focus was much more on electrolyte replacement to the point that it had a slightly salty taste and very little sweetness. By the late 80's they had switched to HFCS so it was sicky sweet. Today's gatorade has a much higher sugar content than it did back then, and it's also a different type. These days it depends on which variant you buy, but they list it generically as sugar with varying amounts of dextrose, and it can be anywhere from 12 g to 30 g of sugar per serving (except for the 0 sugar options of course, but...artificial sweeteners....blech)
 For a while I was drinking regular Gatorade cut 1/2 1/2 with water (straight gatorade is way too sweet) until I found a formula in a triathlon forum  I make at home.
 Mix in a 2 qt container of water:
- 1/4 cup of honey
- 1/4 cup of lemon juice concentrate
- 1 teaspoon of electrolyte powder (https://drinkfastfuel.com/products/ fast-fuel-electrolyte-drink-mix)
 Essentially it's homemade lemonade with electrolyte powder, cut to a light sugar concentration. With the electrolyte powder it tastes quite a bit like the original gatorade before they started adding all the sugar.

I've never tolerated Gatorade, but on super-long rides (more than 120 miles, when I used to do them) I found that plain water just did not work. On my only double century, I almost bonked at something like 140 miles, feeling very thirsty but with a stomach sloshing full of water.
I was in sodium imbalance. Downing some fast food restaurant's salt packets got me going again. Since then, I've gotten good results by putting a bit of salt substitute into each bottle of water. "Cardia Salt," with sodium, potassium and magnesium salts.
BTW, a good friend highly recommends V8 juice, and we found it to be effective as well.
--
- Frank Krygowski