About Pocari sweat

[MMM]

Originally Posted by edelweiss

Considering the way the OP phrased her question and mentioned her child won't drink water my concern is not so much that the drinks are "bad" for children if treated like a soda/juice/other beverage but that she may be hoping for a water substitute. In that regard, there is no decent replacement for water.

To my way of thinking, children have quite enough extra sugars, food additives, food colorings, etc. being introduced into their developing internal systems. The needless extra processing of waste in their kidneys should be reduced if possible. Why add another dose of chemicals from a source that is not essential? I'm not talking about a dehydrated child who is ill or playing active sports and sweating, just a three year old sitting around the house or out shopping with mom. Why more chemicals when there are other natural options?

I guess I was specifically asking why electrolytes would be bad for kids.

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by edelweiss

To my way of thinking, children have quite enough extra sugars, food additives, food colorings, etc. being introduced into their developing internal systems. The needless extra processing of waste in their kidneys should be reduced if possible. Why add another dose of chemicals from a source that is not essential? I'm not talking about a dehydrated child who is ill or playing active sports and sweating, just a three year old sitting around the house or out shopping with mom. Why more chemicals when there are other natural options?

I think that assuming that all children are given extra sugars, food additives, etc etc is jumping to conclusions - particularly when talking about Asia. There is a huge culture of processed foods for children in the US and I assume also in the UK, but not nearly as much in Japan and the rest of Asia. Kids tend to eat the same things as adults, and those things are generally cooked from the raw ingredients.

I am willing to be a bit more lax on the water issue as there really are children who will not drink something they dislike no matter how thirsty they are. And before anyone jumps to say that if they really do get thirsty enough they will drink it and love it.... Just wait until your kid has to have an IV for dehydration like mine did. (Although in our case it wasn`t simply a refusal to drink water, it was a refusal to drink or eat anything at all.)

The thing I would be most concerned about with Pocari is the sugar - but there are children`s versions with very little sugar. Saying that Pocari is adding chemicals is a bit like saying you shouldn`t eat vegetables because of the "chemicals" they contain - they`re all naturally occurring things that your body needs. If you don`t need them, they leave your body in your urine.

Even inactive children sweat quite a lot - I believe 2 to 3 times as much as adults - so keeping them hydrated is a big deal. Heat stroke and dehydration aren`t things that only happen to people outside doing strenuous activities... If you are in a hot climate without AC you can easily become dehydrated just sitting inside your house.

[steven]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

Off topic, but I could never drink Sunny D when I was little because for some reason it gave me incredible circles under my eyes. Drink some and then an hour or so later it would look as if I had huge bruises under my eyes. A bit of a mystery.

They had sweet commercials though! I remember I went for like half a year... if that of drinking that stuff. Even as a kid I got sick of it because of how sweet and unnatural it tasted. My older brother used to love that stuff.

Given the alternatives, I'd think Pocari would be pretty good for young kids.

Although the young handsome golfer, Ishikawa Ryo, endorses Citric Amino I haven't really heard about it or seen anyone drink it.

I have noticed an influx of "health drinks" lately which I suppose could be due to me winning about 8 bottles in a game of bingo. The health drinks are supposed to be good to drink before you work out. I didn't really notice any of their effects... but I remember they didn't taste very good. I think they contain caffeine and other substances that would give you an energy boost and change certain proccesses making your workouts more worthwhile. I wouldn't give those to my kid for sure.

Straying a little bit from pocari, what's the deal with all these "elixers" and things I see in Japan. I know Ribotan D has been around for a while, so that seems like it could be safe, but some of these other ones make some crazy claims and go for quite a bit of dough. I'm always wondering about the long term effects of those things. I've noticed a lot of them seem to be targeting women these days too... some of them claim to increase certain hormones that would increase bust size. That all sounds awfully suspicious to me.

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by steven

Straying a little bit from pocari, what's the deal with all these "elixers" and things I see in Japan. I know Ribotan D has been around for a while, so that seems like it could be safe, but some of these other ones make some crazy claims and go for quite a bit of dough. I'm always wondering about the long term effects of those things. I've noticed a lot of them seem to be targeting women these days too... some of them claim to increase certain hormones that would increase bust size. That all sounds awfully suspicious to me.

They`re pretty much always infusions of 漢方薬 (Chinese herbal medication? I don`t really know what it would be called in English...) combined with vitamin supplements and caffeine or something similar.
I would actually say they`re actually surprisingly safe, all in all. Some of the herbal claims are true, some are traditional (like snapping turtle as an aphrodisiac), but in the end they generally fall back on vitamins. The "hormone" ones are really just herbal drinks using herbs with naturally occurring components that either (supposedly) boost hormone production or are similar to those in the human body.

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ETA; You probably haven`t heard much about Citric Amino as I believe it only comes in powdered form, which kind of blocks it from the combini scene and makes it something that isn`t a casual drink. It`s the type of thing sold in sports goods stores, not with the normal drinks.

[steven]

That kind of clears up the "elixer" mystery for me I guess. I always wanted to know where they were coming from with these claims. Thanks for the info.

Yea I checked out the Citric Amino website and all I could find are powders which does explain why I don't usually see them. I feel like I've seen them somewhere... but it's one of those things. I might not've and just thought I did. I certainly haven't heard people talking about it so as far as what I've seen it's not really popular. Although I don't know how much people like to talk about that kind of thing haha.

I'm sure the increase in alcohol consumption hasn't helped... but I've decidedly become more unhealthy since I came here. I hardly ever drink any more and am still a bit heavier than I'd like to be and my cholestorol rose since last year. I'm starting to really not buy the whole "Japanese food is healthy" argument (I'm aware that there is a lot of unhealthy stuff... but it's not like I eat Tonkatsu and Yakiniku every day). So I've become a little bit weary of all these products available that have to do with health in Japan lately. I can't even remember what it was... but my wife had heard about some new product and we went to check it out at the drug store... it was like a powder you put in a pill and drink or something (if I remember correctly it was like a glorified garlic pill). I remember it was like 6000 for a month's supply. Some of it just seems like a ripoff to me.

There seem to be a lot of Japanese people who get away with sitting at a desk all day, who drink and smoke and don't really concern themselves about what they eat and they are like super skinny. It amazes me to be honest. Getting health advice because I'm "fat" from people like that is sometimes frustrating. I'm about 155lbs at 5'11". I guess I should look at the bright side by knowing that I'll be forced to take care of myself because apparently everyone is staring at me all day... lol.

[edelweiss]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

I think that assuming that all children are given extra sugars, food additives, etc etc is jumping to conclusions - particularly when talking about Asia. There is a huge culture of processed foods for children in the US and I assume also in the UK, but not nearly as much in Japan and the rest of Asia. Kids tend to eat the same things as adults, and those things are generally cooked from the raw ingredients.

From what I understand from your posting here I would assume that you take extra health precautions with your child. You are well informed and cautious. You also have a child with different needs. Not knowing anything else about the OP I can't say the same thing.

Given some of the food scares happening in China I can't assume every food item being produced in Asia is automatically healthier than everything in the U.S. Even in Asia there are parents who do not pay attention to the ingredients in packaged foods. Or they can rely too much on food companies wanting to provide nutrition more than they want to make a buck. I think it is best to be cautious.

I was raised on a fairly unhealthy diet. My mom really trusted food companies, didn't really understand labels and didn't watch our sugar and chemical intake. I had a slow metabolism and rotten baby teeth. I stopped eating things with non-naturally occurring sugars three years ago and I lost 20 pounds in six months, so perhaps I am sensitive to the subject.

I am not saying you should never give a kid an electrolyte boosting drink. I think juice or milk is a healthier alternative but that water is best. I am certainly not condemning anyone who has ever given a sports drink to a kid. But what is the healthy restriction? One a day? One a week?

Just checking, but nobody here is actually saying that they would prefer to give a kid a sports drink rather than water in normal circumstances?

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by steven

I'm sure the increase in alcohol consumption hasn't helped... but I've decidedly become more unhealthy since I came here. I hardly ever drink any more and am still a bit heavier than I'd like to be and my cholestorol rose since last year. I'm starting to really not buy the whole "Japanese food is healthy" argument (I'm aware that there is a lot of unhealthy stuff... but it's not like I eat Tonkatsu and Yakiniku every day).

If you didn`t grow up eating tons of rice every day... Then it`s most likely the rice. Rice isn`t really all that healthy - it`s just an efficient way of taking in calories. It converts very quickly to sugar in the body and adds on the weight.
I gained an incredible amount of weight after coming to Japan and couldn`t figure it out for the longest time... I don`t eat very much and hate fatty/oily food. Then I tried cutting rice out of my diet for a week - weight loss was pretty immediate.

However, I still weigh quite a lot more than I should as I`m sure you can imagine how easy it is to cut rice out of your diet in Japan...

I can't even remember what it was... but my wife had heard about some new product and we went to check it out at the drug store... it was like a powder you put in a pill and drink or something (if I remember correctly it was like a glorified garlic pill). I remember it was like 6000 for a month's supply. Some of it just seems like a ripoff to me.

For price, yes, I think it`s a ripoff too. But if you`re talking about the garlic and egg yolk ones, then apparently they do have incredibly benefits. Grandmother-in-law makes her own and swears by it. And having watched her make it and then gag it down in non-capsule form made me think that if you really do find it invaluable - a month`s supply for 5000 or 6000 would be worth it to not have to go through that.

A note about the weight thing - for Japanese people, apparently even being a little bit overweight has very dire health consequences. I guess that the Asian body just isn`t good at dealing with extra weight so usually doesn`t put it on, but when it does it`s VERY bad. I recall reading that a BMI of 25 in someone of Asian background (just borderline "overweight" on the regular BMI charts) is equivalent to a BMI of 35 in someone of northern European background when it comes to the health issues. So even a little bit of extra weight is a big deal.
Knowing this has allowed me to be a lot more forgiving of people being concerned about weight in Japan - 20 extra pounds isn`t just an irritation as it is to someone of European background, it`s literally cutting your life expectancy by a third.

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by edelweiss

From what I understand from your posting here I would assume that you take extra health precautions with your child. You are well informed and cautious. You also have a child with different needs. Not knowing anything else about the OP I can't say the same thing.

Other than paying attention to the artificial sweeteners thing - which started mainly because I have a severe allergic reaction to one of the common ones - I don`t think I do anything all that much differently than the average parent in Japan. And I was talking about the average parent here. You just don`t get the levels of prepackaged foods as in the US - they simply don`t exist.
What I am trying to say is that you are pointing out food companies and their ingredients... but in reality, most people make their own food from raw ingredients so this isn`t the issue you see it as. You would be VERY hard pressed to find a parent who was feeding their kid any amount of prepackaged food. The parents who don`t really care just make whatever and feed it to their kids without thinking about balance or nutrition - but the raw ingredients thing is pretty much true even then.

I think it is really hard to try to grasp this if you`ve lived in the US your entire life as the food culture really is different. There are no TV dinners. There are very few of the "time saving" prepackaged foods, and those that do exist tend to be of the freshly made deli style. Artificial colors are generally pretty sparse, particularly in things for children.
Home cooked meals (from raw ingredients, not packaged things) are the norm for families, and eating out comes after - fast food as anything other than an occasional thing is pretty much unthinkable.
You can make poor choices in balance and nutrition with a home cooked meal but it is very hard to load it with chemicals, processed fats, sugars, etc, like you find in processed foods.
I have been to Korea and to China, and things struck me as being the same in those countries - food is mostly freshly cooked from raw ingredients.

Just checking, but nobody here is actually saying that they would prefer to give a kid a sports drink rather than water in normal circumstances?

Of course not. But you started against it because of "more chemicals" - which is what I was commenting on.

[MMM]

Originally Posted by edelweiss

Just checking, but nobody here is actually saying that they would prefer to give a kid a sports drink rather than water in normal circumstances?

According to a friend in Japan that's exactly what doctors on TV in Japan said. It was because of this year's record heatwave.

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by MMM

According to a friend in Japan that's exactly what doctors on TV in Japan said. It was because of this year's record heatwave.

But "It was because of this year's record heatwave." It`s not "normal circumstances".

I believe that was said in regard to children playing outdoors - instead of the typical mugicha it would be better to give them pocari and make sure they stay hydrated.

The local elementary school has posted that they will allow pocari in the thermos bottles of children coming to school because of dehydration concerns. But this is because all the kids walk to school.