djnzlab1

HI,
I have been holding my weight the past few months and I don't seem to be loosing as fast as I used to ,
and then I thought hey, I am drinking that gatoraide before and after every daily ride, and that may be just enough calorie replacement to prevent any weight loss, so I dumped the Gator and left him for a non-sugar electrolyte drink , and within the first day I feel like I am thinner.
I read on a exercise for weight loss forum that you'll burn liquid fat till you consume sugar, and then body will shift to glucose it prefers the quick burn before going with fat.
Thats not entirely the whole truth cause its a blend of glucogen to liquid fat, the good is the less sugar you drink when you exercise the more liquid fats you'll burn,,it then becomes 20% glucogen to 80% liquid fats..
We'll see if it helps..
Doug

rugerben

I would just mention that Gatorade has high-fructose corn syrup in it. Very high glycemic index. I avoid HFCS like the plague. Makes you more likely to get diabetes because it spikes your blood-sugar more quickly that other sugars (and especially unrefined sugars).

If you have to drink some sort of athletic drink like that, find one without HFCS, for the sake of your health. I think that the mixes for those drinks just use regular sugar, so they ought to be at least a bit better. Of course, I just drink water.

Trakhak

https://health.yahoo.com/experts/nutr...rn-syrup-myth/

DelusionalDude

Are you legally barred from mentioning the name of teh beverage you switched to? If not, please list it here. Thank you.

cyclokitty 

Tastes horrible. It's like drinking sweet swill. I stick to water or if desperate I'll get an iced lemonade or an iced coffee (mmm iced espresso!) when I'm out.

Bone Head

Gatoraid G2 seems less sweet and is lower in calories that the original. You could always water down the original. If you are a heavy sweater (I'm not talking Angora here), you'll probably need more than just water for electrolyte replacement.

cohophysh

water is fine too!

127.0.0.1

over 20,000 miles ridden in 2008, all I drink is gatorade. nuff said.

JBBOOKS

I stopped Gatoraid for the HFCS reason mentioned about. I use NUUN for electrolyte replacement and get carb boosts, when needed, from Gu Gel or something similar.

10 Wheels

11,240 miles on Gatorade 2008.

Gosh, please tell me again what is bad about it?

jesspal

I started using HEED and love it. After 30 miles i felt like I could go without stopping, only reason i did stop is to refill water bottles.

Bone Head

Generally speaking, yes. Short rides on a comfortable day plain water should be no problem.
IF there is heavy sweating for an extended period ( as in Long rides on hot humid days in Virginia) then probably not so much.

A 17 year old football player in California died and the coroner's report stated that he died of electrolyte imbalance from drinking too much water during practice. A tragic case. As I understand it, as we sweat out elecrolytes and drink plain water, we further dilute the concentration of electrolytes that remain in our system. Not good.

https://www.healthline.com/blogs/diet...ion-death.html

sstorkel

I'm an insulin-dependent diabetic and I drink CarboRocket. It has a 2:1 ratio of complex carbohydrates (maltodextrin ) to fructose, which means that it doesn't spike my blood sugar like Gatorade. Plus, the flavor is much more palatable than Gatorade. I find that it tastes good warm or cold, which means that I'm willing to drink it all day long.

Mazama

water

jcm

I have a stomach like an iron fuel tank, but gatorade gives me a slight gut ache. I usually just bring a couple of bottles of tap water, or buy something along the way like the afore mentioned lemonade. On a longer ride, I might buy some pretzels for the salt.

StanSeven

It's loaded with sugar. That's fine if your rides are hard and over two hours. For shorter rides, all you need is fluids (water). If you go over an hour, replacement of electrolytes is good and salt (peanuts) for example is good.

Mr. Beanz

On a 50-60 mile ride, I use water on th ride. Half a bottle of G-Ade at the rest stop (cycling bottle). Then back on water.

On hot days, I will drink a full bottle at the rest stop. On a century with 10,000ft, I will drink one to one while riding. But at some point, my tummy will not want to take any more, so it's water after that.

I buy G-Ade at Smart&Final, big tub for $10 (powder). I have buds that have high end sports drinks. Seems like a waste IMO. They are always showing off some new proiduct, $50 a container!....But usually after 30 miles, they are out of energy. I think it's more fitness level than anything.

One guy begged me to try his $50 tablets. Replaced electrolytes and cleaned your bottle at the same time!..........I tried it and 15 minutes later, I was craving Gatorade!

youcoming

On anything under two hours it's just water for me. I've used Heed and Gatorade and both bothe rmy guts. Gonna have to find something else. I do find if I use th egel packs I seem to get enough from them on hard rides. I also find chocolate milk really helps on or after hard ride. I've seen electrolyte gel tabs somewhere and may give them a try.

rsyb

I prefer to dilute Gatorade with water. A 50/50 mix in my bottle. Goes down easier and sits better in my stomach.

Neil_B

I've used Gatorade and water. Like other posters to this thread, I find diluted Gatorade easier to digest. That said, I'm usually riding to ride, not to race, and so I drink any and everything. While on tour in August, I drank Gatorade, diet tea, diet soda, water, and flavored water, often a bottle of each - it can be 20 miles or more between towns on the GAP and C & O.

b_young

Gatorade is too sweet for me on long rides. It upsets my stomach.

I avoid HFCS as well. Its funny how even the new commercials out say there is nothing wrong with it in small doses. Only its in everything so how can you get it in small quantities. We found out my son is Type 1 diabetic two years ago and changed our eating habits. It is amazing how much more you spend on food without HFCS but it is worth it.

Davetype1

have you checked out powerade zero yet? it is sugar free and good tasting

surfrider

I drink water; nothing like the real stuff! If you're eating a regular, balanced diet, nibbling enough snacks while on longer rides (my point seems to be over 2 hours of pushin' it in the saddle), and are in reasonably decent health, you should do fine. The few times I've tried to drink Gatorade, Powerade, or anything similar while working out, I've barfed it up. I have to dilute it down to about 25% strength before its tolerable.

As for that healthline.com article posted above about the 17 yo who died of a water overdose, don't read too much into it; its pretty light on factual information and (typical of media today) somewhat sensationalistic. The articles here in the local news in Orange County, CA where it happened had a little more detail, and he was found to have other medical problems that contributed to his death. Backtracking through his activities for that entire day showed he had around 1 to 1.5 gallons of water, not an excessive amount for an active kid. The media just latched onto the water item due to its uniqueness.

flip18436572

I have bonked on a less than 2 hour ride with just water on a route that I usually only have water. I checked through my eating and drinking during that time, as I was writing down everything, and everything was similar to the same ride three days earlier and my food intake and water intake was almost exactly the same.

After that, I started taking a gatorade with me and I have not bonked since. I also carry a banana or cliff bar with me, but I am not good about eating while riding, so the gatorade helps me get the carbs that my body needs. There are other similar products, but I have no problems with gatorade, since I have used it for about 30 years now when there only flavor was lemon lime or something like that. We buy cases at SAM's because we have very active daughters in sports, so it is a good thing to have around. We use a lot of water also, but having the carbs in fluids seems to digest quicker or hit the bloodstream quicker that food doesn't. I know of others that will purchase a Snikcers bar for that extra energy.

I say do what works for you. Each body is different. I can eat spicy foods and ride for a few hours, my wife can't. Do what works for you.

dlester

Losing weight is, as much as some advertising will try to say otherwise, a simple formula. Calories expended needs to exceed Calories ingested. Many people forget/ignore their intake from beverages when they make their calculations. Aside from sports drinks, like Gatoraide, there is also a tendency to conveniently 'forget' to count the morning latte' and other sweetened beverages.

Water is a near perfect beverage. If you are riding a long distance you will need to do something during the ride to re-fuel. But, if you are recreationally riding, or doing a normal commute, or just about anything under 30ish miles you don't need any special drink to sustain yourself and those extra Calories will just slow your weight loss.