drinking water or another substitute
 

Well it is not what you think.

I do not like to drink "plain" water I do however like to drink the flavored water(Ex-wife got me on that kick) however I am attempting to re-enlist so can I drink things like tea,gatorade or other sport drinks or do they not work for your body like water?

I can tell you from first hand knowledge that if you don't carry it in, you wont find drink mixes in the jungle. Plus mix all that sugar with some water and it will mold up any container you try and store it in. Just "plain" water stores easier and most of the time you find it just "laying" around.

Tea: Diuretic (makes you puddle)
Gatorade/sports drinks: High salt content-you need to be doing LOTS of activity to warrant the replacement value of sports drinks and they are primariy a short term absorption. Better option is to dilute them 2:1 with water.
"Energy Drinks"-lots of caffiene/glucose-> lots of urine production and huge crash coming down...

Eagle

Here are the limits of what I know.

Tea has caffeine, a natural diuretic. Thus bad for hydration. Also has tannins that block iron absorbtion (not Green tea)

Gatorade, has electrolytes, helps hydrate with lots of water. Also contains sugar, which will raise body temp. Thus good for hydration if taken with plenty of water. Or bad for hydration if drank alone as a substitue for water.

Bottom line drink water, plenty of it, even on days that you're not physically engaged. Before a major physical event you should start hydrating 3-4 days out to avoid dehydration.

I see the Real Doc beat me to it.....Thanks Eagle5US

You have to consider hyponatremia as well as dehydration.

I agree that like most people, I will drink more flavored water than plain water alone. Maybe it is an acquired taste.

I always carried a small bag of sugar free Kool-Aid and dumped just enough in my canteen to give it a fruity flavor. Much better stuff out there now, at CMK, they give out ORS and Pedialyte. Cut Gatorade, as Eagle noted is also great stuff.

I would avoid the simple sugar and caffeine until an emergency need arose. They are designed for a 60 minute game, not a multi-day marathon.

TR

In a pinch-
2 MRE Sugars and 1 salt in a 1QT works wonders...;)

Eagle

Its a by-product of all that syrupy, nasty sweet tea you folks down south insist upon drinking by the gallon. :D

What about a little drop of lemon juice.

Is there another kind?

That may affect the flavor, but not the electrolyte values.

TR

LOL. That's one of the things I miss about NC, ordering iced tea in a restaurant and having the waitresses ask, "Sweet or unsweet, hon?"

Now I'm thinking they only asked me because of my Yankee accent!

When my friends and I went on a road trip down to FL last spring break the first time we stopped for food in Virginia they asked if we wanted Sweet or unsweet. We had no idea there was a difference so we got Sweet. One of my friends drank around 7 or 8 glasses in 20 minutes then immediately went into a diabetic coma. The picture is from the aftermath of the Sweet Tea. Keep in mind this is also before the heavy drinking even started so we should have been 100% healthy at this point.

LOL. Nice pic.

We went to a soul food joint last night. They had a nice big Gatorade cooler full of it.:cool: