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ventaI need a little shopping advice.
I often wake up, in the night, with dreadful cramp in my legs. This is not pleasant. Some time ago, someone recommended drinking one of those modern-fangled isotonic-flavoured electrolye-ridden buzzword-compliant sports drinks before going to bed.
I bought a drum of lemon-flavoured powder from (I think) Boots and... hey presto! Miracles were worked, and my legs did not tie themselves into excruciating knots in the night.
Enter a second friend, who assured me that the water was the important part and that I was merely paying for the caché of sports drinks unnecessarily. So, this summer (cramp seems to be a summer problem, for me) I stuck to drinking water before bed. Friend2 was wrong. It does not have the same effect.
So, off to Boots I went. And then to Superdrug, Holland & Barrett, Tesco... Nope. No one sells the damn stuff any more. According to Boots' website, they do still sell drums of mixable powder but they now only do orange flavour. Also, I have yet to catch a branch which actually stocks the damn stuff (and the website is out of stock, too).
Can anyone recommend a powdered sports drink which is (a) cheap and (b) available in something non-orange? I only require the re-hydration parts, not the energy parts, since I'll be drinking it before bed. For preference I'd like something available in high street shops, since I don't think my ego will permit me to become the sort of person who orders highly specialised sports beverages off t'internet.
Either that, or I'll just have to settle for squash made up with homebrew ORS. Which might work, but would probably taste nasty.
I often wake up, in the night, with dreadful cramp in my legs. This is not pleasant. Some time ago, someone recommended drinking one of those modern-fangled isotonic-flavoured electrolye-ridden buzzword-compliant sports drinks before going to bed.
I bought a drum of lemon-flavoured powder from (I think) Boots and... hey presto! Miracles were worked, and my legs did not tie themselves into excruciating knots in the night.
Enter a second friend, who assured me that the water was the important part and that I was merely paying for the caché of sports drinks unnecessarily. So, this summer (cramp seems to be a summer problem, for me) I stuck to drinking water before bed. Friend2 was wrong. It does not have the same effect.
So, off to Boots I went. And then to Superdrug, Holland & Barrett, Tesco... Nope. No one sells the damn stuff any more. According to Boots' website, they do still sell drums of mixable powder but they now only do orange flavour. Also, I have yet to catch a branch which actually stocks the damn stuff (and the website is out of stock, too).
Can anyone recommend a powdered sports drink which is (a) cheap and (b) available in something non-orange? I only require the re-hydration parts, not the energy parts, since I'll be drinking it before bed. For preference I'd like something available in high street shops, since I don't think my ego will permit me to become the sort of person who orders highly specialised sports beverages off t'internet.
Either that, or I'll just have to settle for squash made up with homebrew ORS. Which might work, but would probably taste nasty.
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no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 12:01 pm (UTC)When I went to India, my co-worker had had dreadful cramps on his previous visit - his leg ended up going black! The doctor told him to take 2 sachets of rehydration salts daily. This to me seemed excessive, but coworker was particularly sensitive to salt loss it seems. Rehydration satchets - and the powders you are searching for, are just sugar, flavoring and salt, I have a keyring measurer to mix my own in the (not yet happened) event I got a runny belly.
Myself, I just added salt to my daily juice, and was fine in the 45 degree heat of India.
Maybe try a salted juice before bedtime? Increase or decrease the salt as required.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 12:09 pm (UTC)I was just about to say this. Most commercial rehydration powders only contain salt and sugar anyway (well OK, and lots of superfluous things to hide their secret formula).
no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 12:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 12:27 pm (UTC)http://shop.welltravelledclinics.co.uk/Products/Care_plus_ORS_Scoop.aspx
Another place to look, is any travel clinic.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 02:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 02:14 pm (UTC)Ah, you've been luckier than me then, I've never had one that didn't taste of salt. :-(
no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 04:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 01:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 02:11 pm (UTC)What I referred to as homebrew ORS is the WHO recipe:
6 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 litre water
... but I'd expect to be able to taste 1/2 tsp salt in that much water.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 02:32 pm (UTC)That homebrew recipe is enormous! I'd feel pretty sick drinking all of that. The keyfob measure that I have is about 200ml water (about one glass) 1 quarter teaspoon of salt and 2 teaspoons of sugar.
Alternatively, a quarter spoon of salt to a glass of non-diet lemonade.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 02:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 02:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 03:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 12:11 pm (UTC)Here's a periodic table for reference. http://www.ptable.com/Images/periodic%20table.png
(One of the magnesium compounds I've tried also contains Taurine, which is just a random stimulant. I blame marketing so I don't use that one.)
no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 02:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 02:29 pm (UTC)Sometimes I eat bananas for potassium - they also have nice complex carbs which are nice for excercising (although actually I hate bananas so I had to train myself to tolerate them; they go well with pancakes).
no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 02:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 12:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 12:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 02:18 pm (UTC)On the plus side, I guess it might also prevent malaria :)
no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 02:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 02:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 03:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 03:43 pm (UTC)Mind you, I do like my G&T's rather heavy on the T. Visitors to my house are usually invited to make their own, because I am apparently incapable of making them insufficiently weedy for normal people.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 12:26 pm (UTC)Holland and Barrett sell something called Iso-Energy which seems similar:
http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/pages/product_detail.asp?pid=550&MCatID=5&prodid=631&cid=513&sid=0
no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 02:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 01:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 02:15 pm (UTC)Also quite a few of those turn out, on closer inspection, to be intended for horses :)
no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 02:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 02:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 06:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 06:56 pm (UTC)Salty drinks are nasty, but salty snacks are yum - and tend to naturally encourage drinking of plenty of water, which will help with any dehydration causes of the cramps.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 10:08 pm (UTC)nuun.
high 5 zero.
there you go.
//a
racing on Aug 21st in Germany, powered by www.mybikefood.com
no subject
Date: 2011-08-02 12:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-02 01:49 pm (UTC)In fact, I still think that the nicely-fruit-flavoured commerical pre-mixed salts are the way to go :)
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Date: 2011-08-02 01:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-02 02:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-03 03:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-03 08:39 pm (UTC)If it is just the sodium you need, as many have pointed out, there's plenty of ways to get that other than sports drinks. Cheese is often pretty salty and mythically gives you fun dreams (fsvo fun) if eaten just before bed. Or a nightly tequila shot or two perhaps?