Oral Rehydration Solutions

Gatorade for rehydration and electrolytes was mentioned in another thread, started to reply there but maybe it deserves its own.

Gatorade (or any sports drink that contains sugar, salt, and potassium) probably deserves a place in your long term storage as a good means of treating mild dehydration, the powdered variety being best since the shelf life it greater. For severe dehydration I've read it's sugar content is too high and it should be diluted 50/50 with water. I made my own drink mix for storage by mixing orange flavored gatorade with original Tang (50/50 mix), the original Tang having additional vitamins and minerals over the current version. A good breakfast drink, and a reasonable substitute for real orange juice.

For treating severe dehydration there are a lot of slightly different homemade Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) recipes online, the World Health Organization one being the most trusted maybe. Their recipe, which lacks any potassium, and some alternative ones are listed here.

Most everyone here probably already has everything they need to make it, but the list I'd recommend is:

Sugar, table salt (sodium chloride), salt substitute (potassium chloride), fruit juice (acidic ones like lemon or lime), baking soda, and zinc*.

Adding a small amount of salt substitute (with potassium chloride as the only ingredient), or in the case of Lite Salt (a 50/50 mix of sodium and potassium chloride) then replace the 1/2 teaspoon of salt with 1/4 teaspoon each of both the Lite and regular salt instead, adds some needed potassium to the solution recommended by the WHO.

A couple other tips that might be helpful to remember but I rarely see mentioned in prepper literature is when the dehydration is a result of severe vomiting or diarrhea:

--- Severe diarrhea results in the loss of bicarbonate from the body which can cause acidosis (body pH too low). Reducing the amount of table salt by 1/4 teaspoon and replacing it with 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda will help correct it. Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate, which is why you want to reduce the amount of sodium chloride/salt in the mixture. *Zinc supplements may help reduce the severity and duration of diarrhea too.

--- Repeated vomiting results in the loss of stomach acid and chloride, which can cause alkalosis (body pH too high). Don't add baking soda which would only make that worse, add a little fruit juice (citric acid) instead.

 

And a bump so it shows up in Recent Activity I guess....

 

Great that you bring in the topics of acidosis, alkalosis, and potassium levels.

These are what kill people! What you just brought up is what is brought up during the teaching of medical students. "How people die" 101.

Electrolyte imbalances cause cardiac arrhythmias. Left untreated, cardiac arrhythmias result in death.

People should print-out your post and keep it with their survival instruction sheets. People should look up these topics and burn the info into their brains. It is this important!

In the wild, its hypovolemia, hypothermia, acidosis, alkalosis, and electrolyte issues are the killers. Being eaten by wolves is way down on the list.

 

Very good to know. I have always kept powdered Gatorade and Tang in my BOB's. Just thought it made sense. If the Astronauts drank it in Space it would probably be a good thing to have in an emergency. Second reason was just variety. Having little if anything to drink but water will get very old, very quickly. You need a variety to keep up your mental health. Now there is a distinct medical reason for validation.

Here is an alternative people might find useful. With more and more of the powdered drink mixes being packaged in plastic containers you can save them (the containers) for other purposes. Ever found your TP is one soggy blob somewhere in your pack? These containers are great for keeping a half roll or so. I haven't done a float test, but I am thinking of sealing the container with electrical tape to waterproof it. This has worked with pharmaceutical bottles.

 

I just posted this in the other thread mentioned, but it will go good here too:

Electrolyte Solution
1 Qt Water
½ tsp baking soda
1/4 cup Karo Syrup or Black strap molasses
½ tsp salt

You could substitute honey or granulated sugar if needed.

Here's another good drink that serves the same purposes:

Switchel Recipe
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon sliced fresh gingerroot

Instructions:

Pour 2 quarts of water into a large pitcher. Combine the honey and apple cider vinegar in a bowl and stir well to combine. If either ingredient is cold, you might need to warm them slightly or the honey will not mix well. Add the mixture to the water. If you like a sweeter drink, add more honey. If you prefer a less sweet version, add a bit more vinegar.

Google "switchel" and you can find lots of variations on the mix.