Might not last long, but currently trying to avoid aspartame – I’ve come to believe that it was aspartame intake that was likely to be responsible for my brain tumour in the first place and for a recurrence of it last year.

So are there any aspartame free electrolyte drinks out there? I’ve tended to use powdered stuff like Lucozade sport on longer rides, and if I don’t then usually end up cramped at the top of climbs. I’m riding the London to Paris ride next June and will be doing a fair bit of indoor training on the turbo and spinning classes so am thinking that keeping the fluid & electrolyte intake up will be quite important for the longer road rides at weekends.

Anyone out there use those Nuun tablets, do they have the dreaded aspartame in them? Or are there any handy home brew concotions that people use? I’d prefer the convienience of a none-home brew, but that depends if there is a none aspartame over the counter preparation.

250ml water, 250ml fruit juice of your choice and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. sorted. seriously. as good as it gets.

Looks like the High5 ones don’t use aspartame http://www.highfive.co.uk/zero.php

Any commercial drinks will be no more effective than the recipe I suggest, they just cost more. You could use what you save to buy whiskey.

http://www.eletewater.co.uk/

Nothing but praise for this stuff. I’ve been using it in my Camelbak for months now and not suffered with the cramps. given I sweat like a fat lass in a chocolate factory, I tend to notice cramp quickly. This stuff has almost no taste and works for me.

TORQ

Torq doesn’t have any artificial sweeteners at all.

and they’re very tasty & easy on the stomach.

[edit] though they have calories as they are an energy drink as well… rather then ‘just’ electrolytes.

Yep, if you’re really just after an electrolyte replacement drink, the Elete drops seem to work well. For a carbohydrate “energy” drink, I also avoid aspartame in my diet & have used Torq powder for years. I quite like iDave’s idea though, will try that out.

OK, thanks for that information guys, I’m glad there are some “convienience” products out there, will track down & try some during the winter – anyone used any of the above & experienced bad stomachs etc?

I’m thinking electrolytes, especially for indoor training as I want to avoid excess calorie intake that might jeopardise weight loss progress too – will probably use an “energy” drink on the outdoor rides to try and avoid hunger knock.

Any commercial drinks will be no more effective than the recipe I suggest

Except yours lacks magnesium, calcium, potasium, carbonate and a few other ions I can’t recall of the top of my head.

myprotein.com sells electrolyte powder at a fraction of the cost of the various tablets/bottles/branded stuff, 1 small scoop per litre is the recomended dose, but that seems quite strong IME, but then I dont like the taste of salt.

They also sell maltodextrin so you can alter the electrolyte/carb mix in your drink for different conditions (no carbs on the turbo, lots on a winter all day ride for example).

High5 Zero still contain three artificial sweeteners – Sorbitol, Saccharine, Acesulfame K. I see they’ve removed the bragging page claiming that their products contain no artificial crap though still claim “We Do Not Use Artificial Sweeteners” elsewhere on the site.

Nuun tablets contain Acesulfame K.

No artificial sweeteners or other trash in Torq or Bikefood energy drinks or Elete electrolyte.

@missingfrontallobe

What makes you belive that your aspartame intake was responsible for your tumour?

I was under the impression that the few studies claiming a link between aspartame and cancer had been largely discredited.

high5 zero seriously upsets me!!!! AVOID…

I used to be a large consumer of diet drinks Dan, and between diagnosis & first surgery and diagnosis of recurrence I didn’t make many changes. Since second surgery & a clear scan in august I’d started to modify lifestyle somewhat.

I’m aware that aspartame links are very dubious, as are links to mobile phone usage etc, but the problem with brain tumours is thast the causative factors are still pretty much unknown. The way i figure it is that if I avoid aspartame then I’m avoiding shitty carbonated drinks as well, but then shouldn’t really be loading up on aspartame in energy drinks.

Any commercial drinks will be no more effective than the recipe I suggest, they just cost more. You could use what you save to buy whiskey.

Just now and then, I am pleasantly reminded why I even bother to view this forum.
😉

Excellent.
😀

Torq gels/bars/drink seems better in every way to the others to me – I started buying it ages ago in neutral energy only version, as it was certified organic and I was riding & drinking rather a lot (it worked out cheap and effective) – I had a very nice email detailing why the electrolyte drink then wasn’t certified although it was very close. The good attitude of their race and support teams is always nice, and Matt’s articles in ST are a good read too – worth supporting I think.

Don’t think they do an electrolyte only product yet though.

While there is plenty of evidence that Aspartame has no harmful side effect, for me, its journey into being approved for food use seems a little suspect:

Administration (FDA) denied it approval, effectively keeping it off the world market. This caution was based on compelling evidence, brought to light by numerous eminent scientists, litigators and consumer groups, that aspartame contributed to serious central nervous system damage and had been shown to cause cancer in animals. Eventually, however, political muscle, won out over scientific rigour, and aspartame was approved for use in 1981

and

30 SEPTEMBER 1980
The FDA’s PBOI votes unanimously against aspartame’s approval, pending further investigations of brain tumours in animals. The board says it ‘has not been presented with proof of reasonable certainty that aspartame is safe for use as a food additive’.

JANUARY 1981
Rumsfeld states in a Searle sales meeting that he is going to make a big push to get aspartame approved within the year. Rumsfeld vows to ‘call in his markers’ and use political rather than scientific means to get the FDA on side.

20 JANUARY 1981
Ronald Reagan is sworn in as president of the US. Reagan’s transition team, which includes Rumsfeld, nominates Dr Arthur Hull Hayes Jr to be the new FDA commissioner.

21 JANUARY 1981
One day after Reagan’s inauguration, Searle re-applies to the FDA for approval to use aspartame as a food sweetener.

Thanks Tom, someone had told me it struggled for approval by the FDA. Interestingly it was after 1981 when the world went diet drink mad wasn’t it?

I do as iDave but also add a teaspoon of sugar, then use torq recovery drink, otherwise the cost get’s a bit out of hand. I also read an interesting article about good old milk being a perfect recovery drink.

Just take iDave’s advise.

His diet advise worked, this drink advise will too.
😉

@rewski IMHO milk is overrated and definitely not a ‘magic bullet’ recovery drink, but from what I’ve read it does contain a reasonable mix of carb and proteins.

Regardless of the mix of evidence about Aspartame I’m not keen on putting something so obviously artificial into my body. The fact that there was underhand stuff going on to get it approved in the USA does not bode well.

Artificial sweeteners can screw up the body’s response, as I believe the sweet taste in the mouth triggers an appropriate response (I forget where I read this now).

250ml water, 250ml fruit juice of your choice and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. sorted. seriously. as good as it gets.

I really don’t like watered down fruit juice. Seems to end up tasting very acidic and upsetting my stomach.

I also like Torq. I was using plain maltodextrin for years but I seem to have noticed lately that the flavoured Torq works better, much to my surprise.