Originally Posted by
Calsun
Actual studies of athletes have found that there is very little loss of electrolytes from sweating and that there was no need to replace them. One does need to have adequate water intake and one can gauge that for themselves by checking the color or lack thereof in their urine.
Companies like Gatorage and Coke made millions in profits by selling water with a few additives and marketing it as having "special" properties. Snake oil is something people will buy without any critcall thinking or taking time to investigate the claims being made.
Sugar results in a spike in the blood sugar level followed by a big drop, often referred to as bonking. Better to eat dried fruit that has fiber which slows the sugar spike in the blood or even better is pre-loading with carbs. This is not really rocket science and these recommendations have been made for many decades by scientists, though contrary to the hype from marketing departments.
"Little loss of electrolytes" is literally true, meaning the absolute amounts lost are insignificant relative to body stores. However, rehydration can result in very significant, even fatal, hyponatremia. Sodium replacement during exercise has not been shown to do much for performance, aid in water absorption, or prevent cramps, but probably it fends off hyponatremia to some extent and remains advisable.
Rapid absorption of sugar is desirable during prolonged exercise and glucose is taken up into exercising (and recently exercising) muscle via an insulin-independent mechanism. Glucose drop after ingestion is an insulin-related phenomenon and doesn't happen in exercising individuals. Bonking is mainly related to available glycogen depletion and is prevented by carbohydrate intake.
Originally Posted by
pdlamb
Actual observation has found salt crystals on surface of shorts and shirts during hot weather. I suppose it sublimates out of surface capillaries and re-crystallizes on the clothes, if it's not being lost through sweat?
That would explain a lot.
Originally Posted by
Iride01
I too have read some studies about salt being re-absorbed into the body. However the articles indicated that some people do and some people don't. None said that all the salt is reabsorbed either.
Reabsorbed from where? Sodium is bound to structural molecules in tissues such as skin and there are pools of extracellular fluid which are hypertonic with respect to plasma. It is believed, with some evidence from animals, that these sodium stores are available to replace sweat losses, but the process is too slow to keep up with plasma dilution due to drinking.