Nutrition Groups, Part One: The Mostly-Hydration

Let's cover some ground in nutrition.  There are lots of products out there, lots of ideas floating around about what works best(backed by lots of research, sometimes dubious, often contradictory). So this will be another multi-part post.

TO BEGIN WITH....
Nothing in this post or those following is intended to advise you regarding what to eat or drink.  This is only a kind of road map to the sport nutrition aisle.

The Mostly-Hydration

Our first subject is relatively new to the mass consciousness of sport.  In the category of Mostly-Hydration, we'll include products that are (pretty much) electrolyte-only, as well as products that are relatively low-calorie that include a significant electrolyte profile.  In the marketing material for these products, you'll typically read something about water/sweat replacement, something about electrolyte/salt replacement and some mention of the low-calorie nature of the product, or perhaps its non-syrupy consistency.  It's pretty common to hear, unofficially, that some such product is an anti-Gatorade, contrasting the high sugar content and syrupy texture of traditional Gatorade/Powerade/(name your knockoff) with the lower sugar content and lighter flavor of the new product in question. 

At the store, Mostly-Hydrations will be sold as drink mixes in bulk cans or bags and single-serve packets, or as dissolving tablets, typically in plastic canisters that resemble long film canisters.  Everything we're addressing here becomes a drink.  One or two scoops of mix in a bottle of water, one tablet in a bottle of water - that kind of thing.

Some recognizable names in the Mostly-Hydration category:

• Clif Shot Electrolyte Drink - bulk bags and single-serve packets
• Gatorade Low-Calorie G2 - premixed bottle and single-serve packets
• GU Brew Electrolyte Drink - bulk cans and single-serve packets
• GU Brew Tabs - film canister
• Hammer HEED - bulk cans and single-serve packets
• Hammer Endurolytes Fizz - film-canister
• Nuun - film canister
• Osmo Nutrition - bulk cans and single-serve packets
• Skratch Labs - bulk bags and single-serve packets

Why use it?

There are two stated purposes of the MH (and yes, I'm going to call them MHs from now on).  One purpose is to speed up your body's absorption of water during exercise.  The other is to replace electrolytes that are used and lost during exercise, either through sweat or through muscle contraction. Conveniently and unsurprisingly, both water absorption and electrolyte replacement are affected by the content of your drink, so one product can do double duty.  Depending on the product and the research or beliefs behind its design, you might find one or both of these purposes mentioned when you're reading the packaging.

A quote from the Skratch Labs FAQ page: "...a little bit of real sugar paired with sodium significantly enhances the rate of water absorption through the small intestine."

For the endurance athlete, the MH product is a way to separate hydration from calorie intake.  That means you can tailor your nutrition to your own body's needs and to different conditions (hot/cold, humid/dry - Sir Sweats-a-lot/Monsieur No-Sweat) without switching products entirely.  You can drink more on hot days without drastically increasing the amount of sugar in your stomach.  You can drink less on cold days, but keep your calorie intake the same (by eating supplemental calories from a different source).

The taste and texture is as important as anything else when you're picking your drink. MH products tend to have a much lighter flavor and lower viscosity than old-style sports drinks. That makes them a lot easier and more pleasant to drink, especially during the second half of a long race, ride or run.

So, some differences to look for:  Drink mix powders vs. Tablets

 

Skratch Labs: a spoonful of sugar, a spoonful of salt.

Hammer Heed: light calories, light electrolyte profile.

MH products in the form of drink mix powders (Skratch, Osmo, HEED, etc.) will typically include sugar and will therefore provide some calories.  It won't be a heck of a lot, so most people will use these mixes for hydration, and eat or drink something else for bulk calories during long training sessions and races.  For short-to-moderate distances, many people find the MH drink mix provides sufficient energy, so they use it alone.

Nuun: the most well-known electrolyte tab, sold in a film canister.

MH products in the form of tablets (Nuun, Endurolytes Fizz, GU Brew Tabs) do not provide calories - so, energy from a different source if you want any, at any distance.

Otherwise, between each mix and tablet, you're looking at differing levels of electrolytes: sodium and potassium, in many cases magnesium and calcium, sometimes various vitamins.

The list below compares the calorie and sodium count for several MH products, just for the curious.  In the list below, the calorie and sodium count is based on 16oz of drink at the minimum recommended serving density.

Product	Cal/16oz	Sodium (mg)
HEED - Lemon-Lime	100	40
Skratch Exercise - Lemons and Limes	80	240
Osmo Active Hydration - Men's	70	320
Osmo Active Hydration - Women's	70	360
Gatorade Low-Calorie G2	38	200
Nuun - Citrus Fruit	8	360

You'll notice a bit of variation. Sometimes the numbers change slightly between flavors of the same product, though it won't be by much - remember that each product will be built around some particular research or purpose or philosophy that determines the ideal drink content.

Websites for the drinks mentioned:

Clif Shot Electrolyte Hydration Mix
Gatorade Low-Calorie G2
GU Energy
Hammer HEED and Endurolytes Fizz
Nuun Active Hydration FAQ (with nutrition information)
Osmo Nutrition Active Hydration for Men and for Women
Skratch Labs Exercise Hydration Mix and Hydration FAQ

I do recommend reading through the Skratch Labs FAQ page. It explains hydration in a pretty clear and believable way, whichever product you end up using.