Monday, May 24, 2010

Oral Rehydration Therapyf

I first learned about Oral Rehydration Therapy from Team Rubicon when they were reporting good success using it after the earthquake in Haiti. I couldn't find the recipe from them again, but wikipedia was happy to oblige:

Oral rehydration solution recipe, to be mixed with clean water:
2.6g/L Sodium Chloride
13.5g/L glucose, anhydrous
1.5g/L potassium chloride
2.9g/L trisodium citrate, dihydrate

The stuff is available in ready-to-mix packages (just add water) and it has saved more lives than a civilized person would like to know, mostly children suffering from diarrhea.

A brother at my church said his wife was feeling pretty low for a while after spending too much time in the sun recently. Our home-brewed ORS is our go-to drink for such occasions. It's also good if someone is just plain dehydrated, especially if watery stuff coming out the nether regions is also involved. We're loath to spend money if we can DIY, and thanks God, we've so far always been able to get by with the somewhat less scientific version that goes something like this:

Big glass of cool water (REALLY BIG)
Tablespoon or so of sugar
Little bit of salt
Maybe with some orange juice, a cup or two, if we have any
Mix well

Try that next time you have overdone it and undersupplied your liquids and electrolytes, and you don't have any Gatorade handy.

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