Expert explains why you should prefer ORS packets to liquid rehydration drinks in tetra packs or bottles
Representative image
CHENNAI: Many commercially produced ready-to-drink
liquid rehydration drinks
, marketed as 'liquid ORS' or 'energy drinks', are not substitutes for WHO-approved oral rehydration salt (ORS), Tamil Nadu director of public health Dr T S Selvavinayagam said. These products often lacked the correct balance of salts and sugar recommended by WHO and could worsen dehydration and diarrhoea, he added.
ORS is a special liquid mixture of water, electrolytes including sodium and potassium, and carbohydrates usually in the form of sugar, given to prevent and treat dehydration. This is particularly important for conditions such as excessive sweating caused by heat exhaustion or stress, diarrhoea, vomiting and other ailments where the body loses significant fluids and salts.
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WHO-recommended packets (20.5 g), containing sodium chloride, glucose, potassium chloride, and trisodium citrate, should be dissolved in one litre of well-boiled and cooled water and should be taken by adults within 24 hours.
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While sodium chloride and potassium chloride replace lost essential electrolytes, glucose facilitates the absorption of sodium and water, and trisodium citrate helps correct dehydration-associated acidosis.
"Glucose helps the small intestine absorb sodium, and water follows the sodium. This rehydrates the body and replenishes lost electrolytes," Dr Selvavinayagam said.
The WHO and Unicef recommend ORS as a simple, effective, and low-cost treatment that has saved millions of lives, especially in children suffering from diarrhoeal diseases.
ORS, available as a powder, is mixed with clean water according to specific instructions to ensure the correct balance of ingredients. "Often, people pick up tetra packs or bottles when they are prescribed ORS. These solutions will not adequately rehydrate and replenish salts and cannot medically correct the dehydration. So, there is a risk of worsening dehydration," he said.
ORS packets
are available free of cost in all govt primary health centres and govt hospitals and for sale in pharmacies and private hospitals, he said. (For inquiries call 108)
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