Ah, there’s nothing worse than coming doing with a sickness bug; it sucks.
You’re hot, sweaty, yucky, and dehydrated more often than not! So what do you do? Do you grab water or sports drinks?
Maybe even a Gatorade. Let me get to the point if the latter is your thinking.
What is the Best Gatorade to Drink When Sick? or if you have nausea or are vomiting?
When sick, there are several options to drink. However, in my opinion, the best Gatorade options are the Thirst Quenchers, like cool blue, and including the Zero Sugar option.
Drinking Gatorade in powder form is also a good choice.
People choose to drink Gatorade when sick because Gatorade can replace vitamins and other nutrients that are at risk of running low when you’re ill.
Depending on what kind of sickness you have, drinking Gatorade could be an easy and quick way to ensure that you stay hydrated and don’t lose essential electrolytes.
Due to the amount of sugar in Gatorade, sticking with Gatorade when sick is not the best option. Drinking plain water and various teas when sick will keep you hydrated while also helping you feel better.
One of the most important things to remember when sick is to stay hydrated. If you have a choice about what to drink, it is always the best bet to go for plain water.
Even Gatorade and other sports drinks without sugar are not the best first choice to have when sick.
The artificial flavors, ingredients, and sweeteners in Gatorade, like cool blue, can upset stomachs further.
There are better beverages with original flavors to have when sick that will help you feel better and help treat the symptoms of your illness.
If you need to replace electrolyte content quickly, drinking a sports drink replaces those amounts of electrolytes and will keep your energy up through electrolyte balance.
So, sports drinks help to cope with electrolyte imbalance.
Lucozade is another sports drink that is very similar to Gatorade and works as an oral rehydration electrolyte solution when sick.
Since the two are so similar, they also have the same drawbacks.
Powerade is another popular sports drink and electrolyte beverage that is comparable to Gatorade. Since the two are so similar, using either when sick has the same results.
They can help you recover lost salt and electrolytes when running the risk of being dehydrated when sick, but they both also have a lot of sugar.
When sick, it is common to reach for anecdotal remedies.
Digging deeper, though, it is easy to see that there are healthier alternatives to drink when sick.
Gatorade and other sports drinks can replace electrolyte losses, fluid losses, and other valuable nutrients, but it comes at the cost of sugar intake.
Healthy Alternative to Gatorade When Sick (Fever, Nausea, Or Vomiting)
Does Gatorade help with nausea?
One of the simplest at-home treatments for sickness is simply staying hydrated by drinking lots of fluids and liquid drinks.
Not all liquids are the same when it comes to helping you feel better and get better.
When sick, it’s important to know what to drink so that you feel back to normal quicker.
The best thing to drink while sick is plain water because medical professionals recommend drinking more water.
Water does the best job of keeping you hydrated and getting better when sick due to severe dehydration.
Water provides simple hydration without all of the extras that sports drinks have.
Water also helps manage fevers and recover from vomiting and stomach irritation.
Another great and refreshing drink to have on hand while sick is hot tea. Many different herbal teas are great for helping you manage your symptoms.
Hot water also helps break down congestion and can help your throat feel better. It acts as an oral rehydration solution.
Depending on your illness, different teas can also help treat the source.
Even plain hot water with lemon can help you feel better. Hot water helps break up congestion, and the lemon provides your body with an immune boost.
It will also reduce inflammation and cleanses your body of toxins. If there is no tea on hand, just hot water with lemon will help.
Pedialyte is a great choice when you think you need to replace any electrolytes you have lost while sick. It was designed for this purpose and does not have all the sugar that Gatorade and other sports drinks have.
It also comes in packet form, so you can control how much Pedialyte you get in each drink if you’re concerned about keeping it down.
There are several healthy options to drink when sick. Staying hydrated is important all the time, especially when you’re sick.
When cold and flu season starts to get underway, be sure to stock up on these drinks to feel better quicker.
Many of them are cheap, or even free, and will work better at helping you recover from an illness. However, you should go to your healthcare provider if you don’t feel improvement.
Gatorade vs Lucozade When Sick or Nausea
Both Gatorade and Lucozade are sports drinks.
Lucozade is most commonly sold in Britain and advertises itself in two ways: an energy drink and a sports drink.
The company boasts that this drink will help keep your energy and replaces lost nutrients after working out.
The sports drink variation is the same kind of sports drink as Gatorade, and thus they have a lot of similarities.
Like with Gatorade, many people want to reach for Lucozade when sick.
The benefits seem simple and straightforward at first, especially if you’re vomiting a lot.
If you need to replace lost nutrients quickly, Lucozade can help with that, just like it can help replenish lost nutrients after an intense workout session.
These similarities occur when used when sick.
Since both products list similar ingredients, they will have the same problems when people use them to treat an illness.
They both work to replace electrolytes and other nutrients, but with the cost of a lot of sugar and artificial sweeteners.
Drinking too much Gatorade or Lucozade can also cause upset stomachs and stomach flu when you drink too much at once.
While this may not happen while you’re sick and vomiting, an already upset stomach can react quicker than a non-upset stomach to something that can cause damage.
Getting your electrolytes replenished doesn’t mean too much if you vomit them back up.
Since Gatorade and Lucozade are so similar, drinking both has the same effects. Neither one will help you feel better quicker or will help you recover from vomiting any faster.
If one of these drinks is the only drink you can keep down, then it is fine to sip in moderation. But if you have a choice, it is better to have water or hot tea.
Gatorade Vs Powerade When Sick
Gatorade for fever
Gatorade and Powerade are two similar sports drinks.
The only major differences between the two are the flavors and the small differences in vitamins that Powerade has over Gatorade.
Similar to Lucozade, Powerade will be very similar to Gatorade when consumed when sick.
The additional B vitamins and other micronutrients might be beneficial, but those benefits will be outweighed by the negative reactions your body can have when drinking a sports drink when sick.
Similar to Gatorade, Powerade does replenish electrolytes and other nutrients that your body can lose when you have something like the stomach flu.
Replacing these nutrients can help you from getting sicker and keep your energy up for the physical activity.
Powerade or another sports drink can help your body stay hydrated if you are vomiting a lot.
Overall though, drinking either sports drink is not as good as drinking water or tea when sick.
The sugar in both can counteract any good that the drinks provide by causing other health problems.
The benefits from either drink can be brought on by other drinks and supplements that don’t have as much sugar.
It is tempting to think that a drink designed to replace nutrients after a workout would be the best option when sick.
However, there are other ways to help you feel better that don’t have sugar and artificial ingredients that are in sports drinks.
Water is always the best choice to stay healthy and feel better, as per the prescriptions of healthcare providers.
Hot water drinks, like herbal teas, are good as well.
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