got thinking

about gatorade - and the lack of fake stuff free alternative powder, that isn't over priced to cover the processing cost at low demand levels (compared to gatorade).

Gatorade is basically pretty simple (powder that is) in terms of ingredients. So I got to thinking. How would I make one that would replace the sugars and salts needed. (caution - the lead into the gatorade talks about power and watts and powertap stuff...)

What do you need:
Sucrose
Salt

Ideally you should be getting enough potassium via food sources that you can get away with just replacing the sodium chloride that you sweat - and seeing as calcium is just as important for muscle contraction and all that (as K) sticking a bit of calcium ascorbate will balance it all out.

So.

Sucrose
Salt
Calcium Ascorbate powder

Add some fresh lemon and lime juice and boom.

A brilliant cheap drink.

Use some sea salt, and an organic fine crystal turbinado sugar and you get all the kick ass important micronutrients (from the sea salt and the stuff that is left in the sugar) and the benefit of juice from fresh fruit as a flavor agent.

Sugar, salt = cheap. You can purchase enough calcium ascorbate powder to last a couple seasons of just drink use for $20 or so maybe a little more. The Lemons, Limes (low sugar high flavor fruits) would certainly be the big cost. But even then. How many would you need?

And like the home made stock - yes - it is more work. But the return is exponentially higher than the input work.

It is good stuff.

(but then i can't see the lazy folks making it up - i'll refrain from lumping any group in that - obviously there is a market for products with little or no solid studies showing their benefit - accelerade for example {yes i know - they have studies - but all funded by the Labs that make the stuff - those studies don't count - EVER} anyway there is truth to the truism "any drink is better than no drink" or "the best drink is the one you use" something is better than nothing, but, is it really?)

Oh and just to dispell the purity of consumption myth. I did eat pizza for lunch and I had a couple small cups of Coke. Yeah. Preservatives (pepperoni) and High Fructose Corn Syrup. Ah well, once in a while, it ain't gonna kill me. Certainly not compared to the average population.

But then that brings up the whole conflict with eating out (the Sysco truck pulling out just down the road in front of me got me thinking along those lines). Food service stuff is bought in bulk. Big cans. Of medium quantity. High end restaurants really aren't all that different. Maybe in the combinations or the quality of the key ingredients (meat, fish) but the filler stuff isn't always at the same level. Middle level establishments still get a big portion of stuff from bulk not great suppliers. Not to mention the amount of waste and what not. And yes. I speaking from a diversity of background and personal experience with the matter. Like riding in the cold, I have a pretty solid framework on which my thoughts are grounded. Sometimes I obscure it with a big of fog but the foundation is there and is generally pretty damn solid. And. yes. There are always exceptions. My rule for riding in the cold. You need base your clothing choices on being able to stand outside, on the most exposed stretch of your ride, long enough to change a flat tire. That and a 90kg person holds more heat than a 60kg person (given equal or similar BMI). Just flat out mass. I got mass. So anyway. Never take anyone's advice without feeling comfortable following it with what you know. If it is unknown - look into it - see if others are saying the same thing. Few ideas are original. Hell this Pollan guy seems to have tapped into my brain regarding what to eat! Hey, at least he saves me from writing a book no one would read.

Heddwch
G