Gatorade causing cramps?

I have never had this problem or experinced with my patience are you sure its not something unrelated to the drink

doctorSpoc said:

has anyone else out there experience cramping/muscle pain due to use of Gatorade or other sports drinks?

about a couple of years ago I started using just pure Maltodextrin instead of sports drink... at first mostly because it was cheaper (a big tub of it cost me $20 and it lasted me 2+ years). but after using it i found that i faired much better with it than with the sports drinks i've used. from time to time on rides i would run out of water and stop at a store and get a gatorade, powerade etc at a store, but this seemed to almost always result in cramping. so i avoid sports drinks now like the plague. this weekend i was reminded of it again when i missed a feed and got a bottle from a team mate that was filled with gatorade... i was desparate so i used it and boom cramping... not really sure if it qualifies as cramping but muscle pain anyway.

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doctorSpoc said:

has anyone else out there experience cramping/muscle pain due to use of Gatorade or other sports drinks?

about a couple of years ago I started using just pure Maltodextrin instead of sports drink... at first mostly because it was cheaper (a big tub of it cost me $20 and it lasted me 2+ years). but after using it i found that i faired much better with it than with the sports drinks i've used. from time to time on rides i would run out of water and stop at a store and get a gatorade, powerade etc at a store, but this seemed to almost always result in cramping. so i avoid sports drinks now like the plague. this weekend i was reminded of it again when i missed a feed and got a bottle from a team mate that was filled with gatorade... i was desparate so i used it and boom cramping... not really sure if it qualifies as cramping but muscle pain anyway.

Click to expand...

A lot of the bottled energy drinks use high fructose corn syrup as their source of carbs. Powerade always used HFCS. I think Gatorade only moved to HFCS recently. The powdered Gatorade still uses sucrose I believe.

HFCS drinks don't give me cramps or anything, but I have always found that maltodextrin drinks work better for me. If I stop and buy a soda, it tastes good because it's cold and refreshing; but I don't seem to get much of an energy boost.

Maybe you are having an adverse reaction with the fructose that is added to most of the commercial drinks. Some people have stomach issues with fructose. Other possibilities are the dyes or artifical flavoring.

Gatorade has an extremely poor mix ( pathetic would better describe it ) of electrolytes. The HFCS vs. sucrose, etc., supply you with the carbs for energy during the ride, though in the form of simple vs. complex carbs, such as Maltrodextrin, but do nothing for the need for more diverse and better electrolytes, which could well be causing the cramping. Google products such as Hammerheed, Aftershock, Eload, Accelerade, Cytomax, Carbboom or Hammer Endurolytes and compare the difference in the electrolyte mix. I will cramp on every ride in the heat without sufficient electrolytes and I use both one of the drinks above combined with Endurolytes, and plenty of them-- Four or five 30 to 60 minutes before the ride and at least three or more every hour, depending on the intensity of the ride and the heat and humidity.
Tarbaby

Hmm, earlier this year I had cramping on my bike when drinking gatorade and I've not had it in a while, but I chalked it up to just not having been in the saddle enough this season. However, these days I am sticking to water or Heed (by Hammer). I suppose it's possible the gatorade was contributing to the cramping...I should give it a go on another ride and see.

The reason I stopped the gatorade is because it cost me time on a short race from substantial nausea, which took about 10 minutes to pass (kicked in near the hour mark and I was using somewhat diluted gatorade, I guess not diluted enough which would have been 100% diluted; i.e. none of that ****) and cost me I figure about two minutes while I recovered and watched the guys I'd been battling on the bike all vanish, never to see them again. The stuff is junk anyway. I think it's different from coke only because it's still drinkable when it's warm. It has almost no electrolytes in it and I think a person could find equal benefit drinking water mixed with brown sugar.

I am exhausting my gatorade supplies at home slowly, just using it sometimes for longer casual rides.

BTW, I've heard that powerade is way worse (lower quality). I know many do use gatorade to success. If a person's stomach can handle it, go for it, but there's nothing magical about it. Heed is very low in flavor and I cannot taste the sweetness. I drink it with similar ease to water. it's expensive but so far I really love the stuff. It can be **** warm and I can be on the tail end of a hard ride, when I am not in the mood generally for anything but water, and still easily tolerate it. Get it at your local bike/running store.