Musings on ORS
Summer is rolling in, it’s getting hotter by the day, and soon enough we’ll spend all day lying on tile floors drinking ORS and regretting the decisions that lead us here. Luckily, we’re still a few weeks shy of that. Even so, as the heat rises, so does my ORS intake.
But first off: what exactly is ORS? Oral Rehydration Salts, or ORS, is a mixture of electrolytes and carbohydrates dissolved in water. It serves to rehydrate someone who has lost a lot of fluid, often due to illness, but around here sometimes from plain ol’ sweating. Rehydrating only with water doesn’t fix the salt and sugar loss and that’s where ORS steps in. If you’re out of the ORS packets you can make your own oral rehydration solution by mixing 6 tablespoons of sugar and half a teaspoon of salt with one liter of water.
Fortunately for us PCDR volunteers, we get free (flavored!) ORS from the medical unit and can be a little fancier. One volunteer shared she’s become so accustomed to our ORS she likes it more than Gatorade or other electrolyte beverages (while I appreciate the heck out of ORS, cannot relate). Obviously, I have very strong opinions on ORS and after (informally) polling a dozen other volunteers, I aggregated the data to learn how ORS feelings compare.
PCDR volunteers fall into two categories: those who have-tried-ORS-once-or-twice-I-guess and those who drink-ORS-at-least-once-a-week-live-and-die-by-their-favorite-flavor. Which begs the question: what is the best flavor of ORS.
After some (equally informal) rank-choice voting, these are the results:
- Strawberry
- Orange
- Apple
- Unflavored
- Pineapple
Pineapple is the most contentious flavor. A few volunteers listed it as a favorite while another stated, “[I] would rather drink ocean water than pineapple ORS.” Ouch. But hey, one volunteer’s trash is another’s treasure, so next R&R you can always trade ORS packets around.
Unflavored ORS is the most versatile. While it ranked low overall, those who prefer unflavored ORS shared their favorite ways to spice it up. The most common approach is to mix a packet of ORS in with another beverage, like the Té Frío packets you can pick up at any colmado. Other mixers include Gatorade for superpower-level electrolytes, a Presidente (if you dehydrate and rehydrate yourself at the same time, it comes out even!), or a cocktail as seen on the instagram page, @howapcvputsitgently. A simpler option is freshen up ORS with a splash of lime juice.
Across the varied ORS preferences, only one thing was agreed upon by everyone: ORS should always, always, be drunk cold. So here’s to hoping the luz doesn’t se fue and you can always enjoy a cold ORS. Stay happy, stay healthy, drink the Peace Corps kool-aid, and cheers!
