What's your recovery drink?

[fiddlehead]

I heartily agree with Sgt. Rock that the best thing you can drink out there is cold fresh water.
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I used to think so too. But found out from that the water alone just didn't help the cramps i would get in my legs and feet at night. I went to the running world for help and was told, "you need to replace some minerals that you sweated out."

Water alone won't stop the cramps that i got from not replacing them.

I tried a few different things including gatorade, powerade, emergenC, bananas, etc.

I found that a tablet of magnesium does it for me.
Others swear by potassium or just salt tabs.

If it's hot, and you did some big climbs or had a sweaty day, and tend to cramp up at night, that's when you might need help replacing minerals.

I believe that's what the OP was asking.

[JAK]

It depends on the food you are eating too. Most foods have sodium and potassium and stuff already in them. Its a good idea to see what mix of vitamins and minerals are already in you hiking food before you decide what you need for supplements, if anything. Skim milk with tea is an excellent recovery drink, with honey if needed for energy recovery. It is good to be able to vary the sugar, salts, and perhaps vitamin C, independantly. It is also good to drink a litre of straight water now and then.

Soup is an excellent recovery drink/meal at night, depending on how you make it.

[Vagrant Squirrel]

I was thinking about this exact thing, since I use supplements for the gym. My recovery drink for the gym is just Glutamine powder that I've gotten from GNC. Glutamine is an important (and natural) amino acid within your body that helps in muscle recovery and various immune functions. When you perform strenuous physical activity, these natural stores of glutamine can become easily depleted by your muscles, which means that other areas will not get the Glutamine they need or that your muscles themselves may not be getting as much as they need depending on the level of your activity. It's relatively cheap to buy and when mixed in water, the powder has very little taste (reminds me of the "chalk" stick from Fun Dip).

Also another supplement I use for the gym is a Nitric Oxide/Creatine mix called NO-Xplode (also available at GNC). This stuff has some mixed reviews, it doesn't work for everyone... But if it does work for you it will be an absolute godsend. I mix 2 scoops in water and drink before going to the gym and do an hour of intense cardio where I completely zone out and feel like some sort of cyborg soldier marching off to war. Afterwards I'll go straight to a full body weightlifting routine and by the time I'm done my muscles are still begging me for more abuse, lol. Also, from a guy whose motto is, "I only run when I'm being chased," believe me when I say that I HATE exercise and without this stuff I would have quit a week after joining the gym.

[JAK]

Really good source for details on food contents...
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/

USDA recommendation for normal diet...
Sodium < 2300 mg ( ~ 1 teaspoon) this is usually exceeded with processed foods
Pottassium 4500 mg ( ~ 2 teaspoon) this is easily obtained from natural foods

Sodium(Na)/Potassium(K) in various foods and sports drinks:

Powerade: 1000g~1litre = 320 kcal + 220 mg Na + 180 mg K ( no vitamin C)
Gatorade: 1000g~1litre = 260 kcal + 390 mg Na + 150 mg K ( + 4 mg Vitamin C)
Thirst Quencher: 1000g = 110 kcal + 350 mg Na + 100 mg K ( + 63 mg Vitamin C)

Which is best? It might depend on what you are already getting from your hiking food...

Skim Milk: 1000g = 340 kcal + 420 mg Na + 1560 mg K

Plain Oats: 100g = 389 kcal + 2 mg Na + 429 mg K

Raisins: 100g = 299 kcal + 11 mg Na + 749 mg K
Currants: 100g = 283 kcal + 8 mg Na + 892 mg K

Peanuts, unsalted: 100g = 585 kcal + 6mg Na + 658 mg K
Peanuts, salted: 100g = 585 kcal + 813mg Na + 658 mg K
Lentils, 100g = 353 kcal + 6mg Na + 955 mg K.


So it seems like we need to add sodium salt to our diets, unless it is there already in salted foods. If we sweat alot, and drink alot, we might need some extra sodium, and perhaps some extra potassium also, but we might already be getting it from our food.

[JAK]

Beef jerky: 100g = 410kcal + 2213mg Na + 597 mg K

Now that's alot of sodium.
If you are taking beef jerky while hiking you probably only need to drink water.

[JAK]

I understand certain plants like Labrador tea is a traditional source of sodium, but most inland plants are high in potassium, and very low in sodium because it interferes with their fluid transport. Some plants must be an exception though. Humans have been trading salt from the sea of from salt mines like in Salzburg Germany for tens or hundreds of thousands of years. Makes you wonder though, where animals get their salt. I would guess that they get it from certain plants that we don't eat, like tough grasses, and a few that we do eat, like Labrador Tea. Deer do go looking for salt of course, but have a tough time of it in the winter, unless salt licks are put out for them. I suppose blood would be a traditional source of salt for hunters.

In general, most people exceed their daily recommended sodium limit by about 100%.

Sea water is on average 3.5% salts, of which 1% sodium, so our total normal requirement is the equivalent of about 0.1 litres of sea water. Blood is 0.9% sodium choride, of about 0.35% sodium, so we normally require the equivalent of about 0.3 litres of blood. Something to keep in mind if you even have the opportunity or need to drink blood or mix sea water with fresh water I guess. I understand sea water can be mixed with fresh water in about 2 parts to 3 parts, in survival situations, but for you daily needs if sea water is your only source of sodium then 1 part in 25 makes more sense.

[Petr]

Ok, so I've had a few tonight (I'm celebrating), but here are my thoughts:

In normal situations, the majority of Americans have excessive amounts of sodium in the diet. For the overwhelming rest of Americans, they have an adequate sodium intake. Mostly, the same is true for potassium. The truth is, even for people on a thru-hiker diet, is that the kidney is an amazing organ which regulates electrolyte balance in the blood over an impressively wide range of diet/intake. People advising a well-balanced, traditional diet with robust water consumption are the most correct in terms of maintaining health. Basically, what I'm saying is eat what you crave and drink more water than you're used to and you'll be fine.

Also, if you feel like drinking ginseng tea or (most) other herbal "medications" helps you, then look up potential drug interactions/side effects via google, and go right ahead. It's my personal opinion that you're probably paying money for a placebo effect, but for most herbal substances the research to prove they work/don't work doesn't exist. Furthermore, if you perceive it to work for you, who cares (as long as it's not meaningfully dangerous) if it's scientifically "true" or not...if it makes you FEEL better, than it doesn't really matter if you are or aren't better. I err on the side of scientific evidence, but I won't criticize those who err on the side of subjective experience.

[dmax]

My ginseng is free and there is no placebo effect. Just the real thing.

[Highway Man]

My ginseng is free and there is no placebo effect. Just the real thing.

Well, good ginseng certainly is not free. Yours may not be real.
The prices in the store range from $40 per pound to over a hundred dollars per pound. I beat the young kids in the office wearing only a T-shirt today. Hot water is the better way to get things out of the roots. 6~7 slices of one eighth an inch thick each seems to suffice for a day.

[McKeever]

It's harvested locally, legally (or it's supposed to be). Quite a few ginseng hunters make their living in the Appalachian mountains.

[dmax]

You're right. my ginseng is not free. I have to purchase a licence to hunt for it during the picking season. I do gather enough for myself and for a few friends. The biggest root I found last year was 14". I haven't sold any the last three years so I have a pretty good stock pile. I don't have as much as my friends though. Some of them have a few, 5 gallon buckets full of ginseng. Just make sure if you hunt it to have a licence. The poaching fine is very high. Possible jail time involved too.

[Billygoatbritt]

lots of water, a good hot meal, and a little gatorade

[Highway Man]

You're right. my ginseng is not free. I have to purchase a licence to hunt for it during the picking season. I do gather enough for myself and for a few friends. The biggest root I found last year was 14". I haven't sold any the last three years so I have a pretty good stock pile. I don't have as much as my friends though. Some of them have a few, 5 gallon buckets full of ginseng. Just make sure if you hunt it to have a licence. The poaching fine is very high. Possible jail time involved too.

That's cool. I never realized ginseng grows in the wild in the south. The ginseng is usually graded by the number of years of growth. Arguably the wild ones are the better. Get a piece of land and farm it. People will be getting to believe the benefit of it. I'm actually now making chicken broth with sliced ginseng in it.

[rickb]

Met the late Del Doc (a retired physician, thru hiker and friend of the AT) in Aquaosuc, ME shortly after I got married. He was in great shape and moving about the town at light speed.

When he came back to the B&B, Del Doc extolled the benefits of beer after a long day on the Trail to my wife and I.

My wife was a virtual non drinker, but considering the source she took special note.

I am grateful for that conversation!

[Wags]

same as when i get home from the gym. a quart of skim milk

[JAK]

That was my recovery drink for many years also. Skim milk, sometimes with a banana.
I would even drink skin milk while sailing, or paddling, or hiking. Then got into skim milk with strong tea in it, and gradually more into tea with less milk. My appetite for milk used to be huge, but might pickup again as I lose weight and get more active again.

[Wags]

it's been working for farmers for hundreds of years

[jb-]

Chocolate milk is my favorite recovery drink, but I only use it after running. For backpacking, pack the right foods and carry some electrolyte additives for your water and you should be fine.

[omegaman13]

There is a powdered drink out there called Accelerade. It has a 4:1 carb/protein ratio which is perfect for recovery. I add powdered unflavored glutamine to mine.

[drastic_quench]

Water and a handful of salty nuts (HEY, NOW!) or chips are all you ever need. You can't beat water, and a little bit of a salty snack helps out on a day when you've perspired a lot. You don't need to eat an entire bag of chips or anything because there's sodium in so many trail foods.

Sports drinks are for the birds and for wasting money in my opinion. Caffeine has it's place as an eye-opener, but it's only going to work for the short term. Workers in rural South America still keep a cud of coca leaves in there mouth to keep them going strong all day - but that can't be good for you either - legalities aside.