Sports Drinks

The problem with some sports drinks is that they have too much carbohydrate(CHO)
and that can slow down gastric emptying (and cause you stomach distress).The
recommendation has been to keep to drinks that are 8% or less CHO load (or
dilute down to that point) to avoid this problem.  You can also make your
own, as most of these drinks provide fructose and sucrose along with sodium
to help you maintain electolyte balance. For instance, Gatorade provides 14g of
CHO per 8 oz serving, half of what you'd get from the same amount of apple juice.
A diluted mix (1:2 or 1:4 of fruit juice with water) with a few tablespoons
of table sugar and a pinch of salt would do it. I have used a mix of 50% apple 
juice, 50% water, and a squeeze of lime to improve the taste, to limit things 
to mostly fructose. I tend to mix gatorade 50/50 with water, or carry one bottle
of each. The key is that you want to like the taste of whatever you're drinking 
to be sure that you keep drinking - and stay hydrated! Here are some typical
products I have found some data on (some specialize in adding potassium,
calcium, chloride, magnesium, or vitamins):

              Values for 8 oz serving (~225 ml)
   drink         %CHO      sodium mg     potassium mg
 Quickick          5          115            25
 Gatorade          6          110            25
 Gatorlode         20         na("low")      na
 10-k              6           55            25
 Endura            6           90           180
 ThirstAde         6           110           25
 Everlast          6           100           20
 Hydra Fuel        7           25            50
 Exceed            7.5        50             45
 Exceed Hi Carb    26         115            na
 PowerAde          8          70             30
 Pro Motion        8           8            100
 Allsport          9           55            55
 Cytomax           11         100           200
 Gookinaid         12          70            70

The higher percentage products are often intended for after exercise
recovery of your lost glycogen stores (studies have shown that glycogen
levels in the muscles reach normal quicker if you do carbo loading after a
workout).

MarC

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