jen's everyday blog

Water and salt

I’m fond of drinking Gatorade when it’s hot, since then I know I’m getting a reasonable balance of electrolytes. You might think that isn’t much of a concern, and usually it isn’t, but when it’s very hot, or you are exercising very vigrously in hot weather, it can be a problem. Especially since, when it’s hot, you tend to not want to eat much. Apparently, according to this site, this is somewhat of a problem in the military, since military rations are not known for their gourmet qualities, and as a result, military commanders have to command people to eat up all of their food, so as to have enough salt in hot weather. This kind of amuses me. I imagine the commander saying “Tom- you will eat your beans or you will clean the toilets, now!!!” On the other hand, it could be worse- at least they aren’t being forced to subsist on a diet consisting entirely of hardtack, (thanks for the link Erin!) a hardened cracker type product that soldiers had to eat before more improved rations came along.

posted at 15:21 on Tue, 30 May, 2006 | path: /living



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