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Is it ok to mix water and Gatorade?
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 2010-06-24 1:55 PM |
New user 5 |  Subject: Is it ok to mix water and Gatorade?Hi: I'm competing in my first triathlon this weekend - Philly!. So excited. It's quite hot there right now, with extreme heat warnings last two days. On hot days I don't like sports drinks because they are too sweet for me, but I don't think water on it's own will be enough for the hot day (it's an olympic distance). Occasionally I mix water with Gatorade, but I've been told that they are like oil and vinegar and don't mix well and you can just become more dehydrated because your body absorbs the gatorade but the water sits in you stomach. I don't really know the theory but was hoping someone can point me in the right direction. Is it ok to mix water and Gatorade? Any pointers for the hot day on staying cool? I've read to put ice in your hat, ice in your water bottle, but how do I keep the ice from melting before I get to it? Thanks! |
| 2010-06-24 1:59 PM in reply to: #2941891 |
Pro 5761     Bartlett, TN | Subject: RE: Is it ok to mix water and Gatorade? I make my Gatorade from the mix and I use water, so I am not sure what they mean. Also, I will pour water into my aero bottle to as a refill, even if there is some Gatorade still in the bottom and I have never had any ill effects. |
| 2010-06-24 2:00 PM in reply to: #2941891 |
| Veteran 480 | Subject: RE: Is it ok to mix water and Gatorade? Whatever. Gatorade is 99.9% water. Of course you can mix them. Some people prefer to cut it with water because the taste is too strong. Personally, I think you would be fine with just water, but diluting a sports drink is not going hurt you at all. |
| 2010-06-24 2:03 PM in reply to: #2941891 |
Regular 85 Lakeland, FL | Subject: RE: Is it ok to mix water and Gatorade? Nothing wrong with mixing. I, too, make my gatorade from a powder and water. I usually take a bottle of gatorade and a bottle of water on my long rides. No problems....now if you drink too much of either, you may get "shloshing" in the stomach which happened to me my first tri. |
| 2010-06-24 2:07 PM in reply to: #2941912 |
Champion 10020 , Minnesota Bronze member | Subject: RE: Is it ok to mix water and Gatorade? You certainly can... although you might want to investigate less sweet choices. I always uses mixes now, due to cost, and there are a lot of good choices. In particular I'd recommend Gu Brew Electrolyte drink for you. It's extremely subtle, but you'll get the calories and electrolytes you need. Also, it's only $15 or so for a jar that makes several drinks. You'll easily go through it. You can freeze a half bottle (of water or sport drink) of fluid, laying it at an angle in the freezer. Keep the fluid away from the top. In the morning, fill up the rest with refrigerated fluid. Honestly it will probably be melted before the race starts, but it's better than nothing. |
| 2010-06-24 2:09 PM in reply to: #2941891 |
Member 32 Dublin, OH | Subject: RE: Is it ok to mix water and Gatorade? I think Gatorade is too sweet, too, so I use G2 powder, which has like half the calories or something as regular Gatorade and is not nearly as sweet and sticky. Come to think of it, G2 is basically just watered down Gatorade! Hahaha....I'm such a sucker! I should just buy regular Gatorade powder and use half as much!  |
| 2010-06-24 2:12 PM in reply to: #2941962 |
Expert 1249 MI | Subject: RE: Is it ok to mix water and Gatorade? mateojives - 2010-06-24 3:09 PM I think Gatorade is too sweet, too, so I use G2 powder, which has like half the calories or something as regular Gatorade and is not nearly as sweet and sticky. Come to think of it, G2 is basically just watered down Gatorade! Hahaha....I'm such a sucker! I should just buy regular Gatorade powder and use half as much! Actually, I have both the gatorade powder and G2 powder... same calorie content... unless you have the low calorie G2 version... so no need to get mad.  |
| 2010-06-24 2:15 PM in reply to: #2941891 |
| Extreme Veteran 1030 West Windsor, NJ | Subject: RE: Is it ok to mix water and Gatorade? +1 on "okay to mix it". Never heard that theory ...and it doesnt really make sense to me. How can water sitting in your stomach MAKE you dehydrated? I am no nutritionist, but I would think that if your body needs water and its sitting in your stomach, its smart enough to absorb that water and use it. But what do I know. I also think Gatorade is too sweet. I used to use PowerBar Refuel mix, which I liked a lot. Now I use Infinit. Which I also like. One is off the shelf, one is more custom. Just one rule to follow though: Nothing new on race day!! So whatever you go with...try it out a few times!! One other "heat" tip: make sure you are well hydrated a few days before the race. Urine should be like pale yellow lemonade. Not clear (too hydrated), and not dark. It takes a few days to get it just right. |
| 2010-06-24 2:17 PM in reply to: #2941891 |
| Veteran 200 South Shore, MA. | Subject: RE: Is it ok to mix water and Gatorade? Hot day needs endurolytes or Zym for the bike return |
| 2010-06-24 2:20 PM in reply to: #2941891 |
| New user 403 | Subject: RE: Is it ok to mix water and Gatorade? It is completely fine. As stated, Gatoraide is primarily water. The only issue is electrolyte and calorie numbers will be lower when adding water, if you are counting or concerned with those. More water, more diluted. The sloshing comes from too much fluid in your body. I forget numbers, but your body can only absorb so much fluid, no mater what it is, per hour, before it has to hold it in the stomache, then you get issues. |
| 2010-06-24 2:23 PM in reply to: #2941891 |
Extreme Veteran 837 Wellesley, Massachusetts | Subject: RE: Is it ok to mix water and Gatorade? I'm a huge fan of taking a two bottles of water on especially hot rides. In one I mix two tablets of Nuun so I can replace some electrolytes. It works well for me. A lot of good recs are listed above too. I'd say you should try out whatever you plan to before race day, which will be tight. Try not to do anything new the day of your race. Good luck this weekend! |
| 2010-06-24 2:26 PM in reply to: #2941891 |
Champion 5868 Urbandale, IA | Subject: RE: Is it ok to mix water and Gatorade? Sure you can mix it, they call it G2. |
| 2010-06-24 2:26 PM in reply to: #2941981 |
Not a Coach 11473 Media, PA | Subject: RE: Is it ok to mix water and Gatorade? JohnAgs3 - 2010-06-24 3:15 PM One other "heat" tip: make sure you are well hydrated a few days before the race. Urine should be like pale yellow lemonade. Not clear (too hydrated), and not dark. It takes a few days to get it just right. What if I drink pink lemonade? Seriously, your first point about staying hydrated in the days before an event is good. But the rest is bunk. Particularly the part about taking a few days to "get it just right". Hydration is not that complicated. |
| 2010-06-24 2:27 PM in reply to: #2941891 |
| Subject: RE: Is it ok to mix water and Gatorade? I also used to use gatorade powder, and varied the concentration based on how hot it was. If it was hot, and felt I would need to drink more, I would take two bottles and water it down. That way I don't get too much calories, but can drink more. But I moved to straight water simply because it was a pain to keep the bottles clean. Too much mildew started growing in the bottle caps...so now I just use water and gels. Gel + water = gatorade in my books. I would also waste a lot of gatorade because I wouldn't drink all of it. So I would force myself to drink the rest after the ride or dump it out. With gels...if I bring two, and find out I only needed one...I'll save the other for the next ride...no point in forcing myself to use the other gel if I don't need it. |
| 2010-06-24 2:29 PM in reply to: #2941891 |
Expert 1007 NW NJ | Subject: RE: Is it ok to mix water and Gatorade? I'm in the same boat... a) regular gatoraide is too sweet for me. If I get it in the bottle I cut it with h2o b) I now buy the powder in packets. I find that 1 packet to 21oz h2o is perfect. 8 packets I can get on sale for $1.99 - $2.99. I'll often carry an extra packet on long rides and when I need to refuel, just find a hose and mix. c) G2 is the new marketing name for regulat gatoraide. Since they have the pre fuel G1 and recovery drink G3, they just rebranded the original gatoraide G2. Same calories, same content. |
| 2010-06-24 2:31 PM in reply to: #2941891 |
| New user 5 | Subject: RE: Is it ok to mix water and Gatorade? Thanks for everyone's comments. Duly noted. It's ok to mix |
| 2010-06-24 2:33 PM in reply to: #2941891 |
| Subject: RE: Is it ok to mix water and Gatorade? Don't listen to whoever told you that. Your body is mostly water. Your body likes water. It's all good. |
| 2010-06-24 2:42 PM in reply to: #2942041 |
| Master 5557 , California | Subject: RE: Is it ok to mix water and Gatorade? Since they have the pre fuel G1 and recovery drink G3, they just rebranded the original gatoraide G2. Same calories, same content. Not same content. G2 uses high fructose corn syrup whereas original Gatorade is sucrose / dextrose. Fructose metabolizes differently (via your liver). Moral of the story: read the ingredients carefully. |
 2010-06-24 2:45 PM in reply to: #2942026 |
| Subject: ... This user's post has been ignored. |
| 2010-06-24 2:53 PM in reply to: #2941891 |
| Regular 55 | Subject: RE: Is it ok to mix water and Gatorade? The problem with diluting your sports drink is it makes them less effective at repentishing your lost electrolytes... google Hyponatremia. If sweetness is an issue, switch to Nuun. Its like water with a lemon twist... lots of electrolytes. On a hot day water alone in an Oly will lead to cramping.. diluted sports drinks aren't sufficient either. As for keeping cool. I keep a tiny cooler in transition with my sports drinks. Out of the swim, I grab two ice cold bottles for the bike. At T2 I have a third with ice water in a cheap bottle that I pour on myself running out of T2. Dump a water on your head at each aid station. |
| 2010-06-24 2:53 PM in reply to: #2941955 |
Elite 4048 Gilbert, Az. | Subject: RE: Is it ok to mix water and Gatorade? BikerGrrrl - 2010-06-24 12:07 PM You certainly can... although you might want to investigate less sweet choices. I always uses mixes now, due to cost, and there are a lot of good choices. In particular I'd recommend Gu Brew Electrolyte drink for you. It's extremely subtle, but you'll get the calories and electrolytes you need. Also, it's only $15 or so for a jar that makes several drinks. You'll easily go through it. You can freeze a half bottle (of water or sport drink) of fluid, laying it at an angle in the freezer. Keep the fluid away from the top. In the morning, fill up the rest with refrigerated fluid. Honestly it will probably be melted before the race starts, but it's better than nothing. Just a note on frozen/cold drinks. They take longer to be absorbed, because the body has to warm them up before they get absorbed. There was a hydration study a while back using firefighters in Florida, and they found that warm (at least open air temp anyway) fluids were absorbed faster. John |
| 2010-06-24 3:33 PM in reply to: #2941891 |
| Expert 608 St. Louis | Subject: RE: Is it ok to mix water and Gatorade? On my cycling team on the last lap of road races ie 30 miles left mix some flat coke and water. |
| 2010-06-24 3:47 PM in reply to: #2941891 |
| Regular 55 | Subject: RE: Is it ok to mix water and Gatorade? Wow... lots of bad info on this thread. Warm drinks are not better. Heat is your enemy... anything that keeps your core temp down is helpful. Team Garmin cyclists have a slushy machine that they use to fill their water bottles with a slushy mixture of sports drink while they are on the bike because of the advantage frosty cold drinks provide while battling it out in the heat. |
| 2010-06-24 3:56 PM in reply to: #2941891 |
| Pro 5011 Twin Cities | Subject: RE: Is it ok to mix water and Gatorade? I've raced with a 50/50 mix of water and sports drink (gatorade or powerade) in my bottle for years and been just fine. |
| 2010-06-24 4:01 PM in reply to: #2941891 |
| Champion 14571 the alamo city, Texas | Subject: RE: Is it ok to mix water and Gatorade? rosekcg - 2010-06-24 2:55 PM Hi: I'm competing in my first triathlon this weekend - Philly!. So excited. It's quite hot there right now, with extreme heat warnings last two days. On hot days I don't like sports drinks because they are too sweet for me, but I don't think water on it's own will be enough for the hot day (it's an olympic distance). Occasionally I mix water with Gatorade, but I've been told that they are like oil and vinegar and don't mix well and you can just become more dehydrated because your body absorbs the gatorade but the water sits in you stomach. I don't really know the theory but was hoping someone can point me in the right direction. Is it ok to mix water and Gatorade? Any pointers for the hot day on staying cool? I've read to put ice in your hat, ice in your water bottle, but how do I keep the ice from melting before I get to it? Thanks! Whoever told you this is an idiot. I personally don't do gatorade in a race cause it upsets my tummy to run on it, but if you are used to it, go for it. |
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