Gatorade - not a healthy option for electrolyte replenishment

Often, when dehydrated or after lengthy, rigorous workouts, AF symptoms surface and often, the advice is to add electrolytes and plenty of pure water which definitely can help. Many think that Gatorade offers a good solution.

Just a reminder that Gatorade, while labeled as being high in potassium, also has other ingredients that are not health-promoting. If you’re in a pinch, certainly, it can be an option, but if the store also has organic veggie juice or even Low Sodium V8, it’s a far better and healthier option than Gatorade.

We’ve discussed this in the past, but it’s worth mentioning again for benefit of all our new readers. Gatorade has multiple unhealthy ingredients, but this alert is on Gatorade’s content of brominated vegetable oil or BVO.

This is the intro from one weblink on the topic:
Bromine is a chemical compound frequently used in flame retardants, baking ingredients, cell phones, plastic, dye, soda, and prescription drugs. Despite the warnings from the Centers for Disease Control about the serious, long-term health effects from constant exposure, use of the chemical shows no signs of slowing down. [1] Why should you care? Because research has identified the following 10 dangers of bromine as the most damaging to human health.

1. Disrupts Thyroid Function
Exposure to bromine severely impacts the thyroid gland and causes hormonal issues. Bromine competes with iodine, an essential nutrient that supports the health of the thyroid. Bromine and iodine are absorbed in similar fashion and animal research has found that bromine exposure limits availability of iodine to the thyroid and interferes with hormone production. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] The flame retardant PCBE, for example, has specifically been fingered as a thyroid and endocrine disruptor. [7] This is a HUGE problem — an impaired thyroid can lead to hypothyroidism, goiter, and hormonal imbalance.
Continue - 10 Health Dangers of Bromine
[www.globalhealingcenter.com]

David Brownstein, MD on the toxicity of bromine
[www.newsmax.com]

[www.iodine-resource.com]


We know that healthy thyroid function is paramount for those with arrhythmia and a whole lot more. Bromine is known as a goitrogen and can promote hypothyroidism.

This clip is a good example of what is typically written about Bromine:

Bromine is a halogen and displaces iodine, which may depress thyroid function,” reads the BVO health disclaimer on the nutrition website. “Evidence for this has been extrapolated from pre-1975 cases where bromine-containing sedatives resulted in emergency room visits and incorrect diagnoses of psychosis and brain damage due to side effects such as depression, memory loss, hallucinations, violent tendencies, seizures, cerebral atrophy, acute irritability, tremors, ataxia, confusion, loss of peripheral vision, slurred speech, stupor, tendon reflex changes, photophobia due to enlarged pupils, and extensor plantar responses. In one case, a man who drank eight liters of Ruby Red Squirt daily had a reaction that caused his skin color to turn red and produced lesions diagnosed as bromoderma.”
[www.ibtimes.com]

Read labels carefully… Mountain Dew and Fresca also contain BVOs… along with other types of sports drinks.
Be aware. Stay Healthy.

Jackie

A family member has a grade IV glioblastoma, in the hospital I was shocked to see they used Gatorade to replete the electrolytes after brain surgery. Glios are very glycolitic (meaning feed on glucose) tumors. When this person got home, gave him bags of sodium chloride and potassium bicarb to make water solutions with the same electrolyte concentrations as Gatorade.

Per Wikipedia, PespiCo took BVO out of Gatorade a few years ago.

[en.m.wikipedia.org]

That being said, Gatorade also contains too much sugar. The G2 brand uses other sweeteners and may be better.

Regardless of BVO, Gatorade and all "sports drinks" are total crap you should avoid. If you're looking for electrolyte replacement then things like coconut water and low-sodium V8 are much better choices. Or better yet, plain water with a little high-potassium, high-salt snack like peanuts accomplishes the same thing in a much healthier way, besides being cheaper and tastier.

Just a comparison of Gatorade G2 and low sodium V8. 12 oz. container.

G2 Sodium 160 mg
G2 Potassium 45 mg
G2 Sugar 7 g


V8 Sodium 200 mg
V8 Potassium 1180 mg
V8 Sugar 12 g

Thanks, Ken - I think the point on the sugar content is important. In natural veggie juice, the sugar is carbs and not added, but in Gatorade, there is sugar/dextrose and various food dyes added ...so the veggie juice is better and as you note, the 45 mg of potassium is certainly not going to be very helpful. You can get Low Sodium V8 which is a better option.

And ....
Yes, Carey, you’re right Gatorade is junk! I didn’t mean to imply Gatorade was a good option. I checked labels at the store today and didn’t see the BVO listed, but did note various food dyes, dextrose and a couple other non-food chemicals. Plus.. a whopping 22 grams added sugar in a 12 oz bottle and only 45 mg Potassium… so it truly wouldn’t be useful for boosting potassium….even in an emergency.

Certainly, an organic veggie juice would be preferable and definitely, if a low carb/sugar content coconut water is available, it’s ideal. May be difficult to find… but again in an emergency, any coconut water would be better than Gatorade or similar sports drink. I specify organic veggies because the processing methods don’t eliminate residues from pesticides or chemical fertilizers. For making at home, lots of organic K-containing veggies and a VitaMix produces a really nutritious drink.

As for sodium from peanuts, it’s better to look for another source of sodium – especially if sticking to Paleo or Ketogenic eating.

Peanuts are legumes and contain lectins which is a source of aflatoxin-- a known carcinogen. And, then there is how they are prepared… roasted, dry roasted, or cooked in oil. Again, if no other source of sodium is readily available, they might do in a pinch, but many side effects for some individuals.

Remember also, the ideal ratio for potassium to sodium is 4:1 so you don’t want to overdo the sodium on a regular basis.

Of course, don’t do this without healthy kidney function.

Jackie

One thing that is good/helpful with Gatorade is that it goes down fast and easy. When I do drink the G2, I can down 20 oz. in 5 minutes with ease. Water that quickly feels like you have a softball in your stomach. It seems to get into your system extremely fast.

G2 ingredients:

water, sucrose, dextrose, citric acid, natural flavor, salt, sodium citrate, monopotassium phosphate, gum arabic, glycerol ester of rosin, yellow 5, brominated vegetable oil, yellow 6.

There was a lady from Wales, Fran Ross, who posted here 13 and more years ago. By avoiding many things in processed food, she was able to reverse a 20 year afib history. (her story starts on p2 of this pdf <[www.afibbers.org] ) She pointed out that many times "natural flavor" was a euphemism for glutamic acid, which is MSG without the sodium. In reality, "natural flavor" can be anything from a list of 50-100 ingredients that are processed starting from a natural source and are recognized by the FDA as GRAS or generally recognized as safe.

I much prefer to make my own electrolyte drink from water, sodium chloride and potassium bicarbonate.