Carbohydrates are a required ingredient in Oral Rehydration Solutions (ORS) and Sport Drinks. Carbohydrates are the energy source and help your body absorb sodium. Most sports drinks use simple sugars that are 1-2 molecules in length. Glucose and fructose are each one molecule. Sucrose, cane sugar, or sugar are two molecules made of 2 glucose or glucose plus fructose.

Cera uses rice syrup as our carbohydrate source. Rice is a complex carbohydrate source providing short, medium, and long chains of glucose linked together.

Simple sugars are popular to use because they are cheap and sweet, but they can have a negative impact how well they rehydrate you. This is because of the science of Osmolality.

Osmolality refers to how many particles are in a solution. The osmolality of our blood is about 280 mOsm/L. When you are training or when you are sick, you want to consume a product that has an osmolality lower than this. If you consume a product with a high osmolality (>310 mOsm/L), two things can happen:

1. High osmolality will delay how quickly the fluids leave your stomach. This can also lead to you feeling bloating, cramping, nausea, vomiting, burping or bubble gut.  
2. High osmolality will pull fluid from the blood into the intestine. Fluid going INTO the small intestine will result in diarrhea.

Products with simple sugars have many more particles and a higher osmolality. The longer chain of glucose in our rice-based carbohydrate has fewer particles and a lower osmolality. This offers an incredible benefit to our ORS formula. See “Ceralyte - ORS” tab for more information.

The other benefit to rice is it is absorbed throughout the entire small intestine. The small intestine is 20 feet long and is divided into three segments. Simple sugars only use the top two segments.

What if I have diabetes or want a product with 0 carbohydrates or 0 sugar?

Your body needs a certain amount of carbohydrate to absorb the electrolytes and provide energy for exercise. Zero calorie sport drinks are not as effective if consumed during exercise or when dehydrated. If you have diabetes and are exercising, our low sugar, rice based carbohydrate will sustain your blood sugar levels without causing a spike in blood sugar.

When your body loses high amounts of fluid from exercise or illness, you lose electrolytes. Electrolytes are minerals that help you absorb fluid and carry water to your cells and your bloodstream. The electrolytes you need for hydration are sodium, potassium and chloride. Cera formulas only adjust the levels of each electrolyte to match the levels of dehydration or dietary restrictions of your patient or your sweat loss.  

How much of each electrolyte you need depends on how much fluid you lose. If you are exercising or working outside your loss may be less severe, Cerasport or Cerasport EX1 are ideal. If you are sick and are vomiting or have diarrhea, our Ceralyte product family has the right solution to correspond with how sick you or your patients are.

Don’t be fooled by fancy marketing, extreme messaging, and complicated food labels. You only need carbohydrates, fluids and those electrolytes to rehydrate your body.

Citric acid, which comes from citrus fruits, is a required ingredient to control the acidity of an ORS or sports drink. It also helps you absorb sodium, and improves the taste.

Chloride is an electrolyte often left out of sport drinks. Chloride helps absorb potassium. Chloride, like sodium and potassium, is critical in muscle contraction and nervous tissue function. Inadequate chloride means cramping you may cramp.

We use rice as our only carbohydrate source, our products are certified gluten free.  

Cera flavors and colors are 100% natural. We sweeten our product with Stevia, so you get natural sweetness without the simple sugars.

Ceralyte is scientifically formulated to replace electrolytes and reduce fluid loss due to cases of medically severe dehydration. Research and field studies with cholera patients have shown Ceralyte re-establishes fluid quickly, minimizing fluid loss by 18 to 30 percent. Ceralyte is so effective, it shortens acute diarrheal illness by as much as two days!

Ceralyte exceeds the World Health Organization's standards for an ORS. Ceralyte has been shown to be so effective, every member of the US Air Force has it as part of their Individual First Aid Kit (IFAK) as their emergency rehydration solution while on mission.

Most ORS products can only add 13-30 grams of carbohydrate because they use simple sugars and need to keep the osmolality low. Ceralyte has 40 grams of carbohydrate. Even our Ceralyte 90, that has 2,000 mg sodium per liter, has 40 grams of carbohydrate per liter and an osmolality of 260 mOsm/L. Cera gives you more nutrition for your patients without irritating their gut. Far exceeding the World Health Organization formula.

Ceralyte’s ability to utilize the entire small intestine is important for your short gut patients who must maximize the use of their functional intestine.

Ceralyte comes in 4 formulas, Ceralyte 50, Ceralyte 50 without potassium, Ceralyte 70 and Ceralyte 90. The 50, 70, and 90 refer to mEq sodium per liter. The 50 has 1,150 mg, the 70 has 1,610 mg and the 90 has 2,070 mg sodium per liter.  

Cera’s rice-based carbohydrate and low osmolality make Cerasport the absolute best sport drink on the market. Most sport drinks that have 50-75 grams of sugar per liter and osmolality well over 300 mOsm/L, this seriously increases your chances of having an upset stomach during your workout.   Cerasport has an osmolality of 135 mOsm/L so it will sustain your energy levels and absorb sodium and fluids you need without giving you bubble gut.

Cerasport is great for kids who need a sports drink during athletics but your don’t want to give them all the sugar in other products. Cerasport is so low in sugar, it is less likely to cause cavities. This is also important for tactical athletes who may not be as diligent about dental care during a mission.

For activities that you do sweat from intensity or weather, our Cerasport EX1 formula has more sodium to help you absorb the fluids better. Cerasport EX1 is best for hydrating you in extreme heat where sweat losses are higher. From the acclimation process of training in a new environment or the first few weeks of summer when athletes are not acclimatized to the heat. Cerasport EX1 is an excellent choice for firefighters and first responders, as you go out for hours in extreme heat and need to replenish sweat losses. Cerasport EX1 is perfect to replenish after a race that induced a high amount of sweating and the individual may not have properly replenished during exercise. If your sweat losses exceed 3% of your body weight, regular sport drinks will not fully rehydrate you. Cerasport EX1 provides more sodium to enable athletes to hold onto more water when rehydrating.

Cerasport EX1 is lower in carbohydrate as its main purpose is to hydrate. Cerasport EX1 has just enough carbohydrate to help your body absorb the sodium. When athletes sweat more than 3% body weight, they need a higher sodium product to replenish the fluids. Plan to consume at least 1 liter of Cerasport EX1 after any athletic event that induced high sweat losses. Simply mix 2 packets per liter of fluid.

Cera is a truly unique hydration solution. All of our formulas are Non-GMO, gluten-free, with only 100% natural flavors and colors. Our rice-based Ceralyte formulas work with the body’s natural hydration processes, unlike IV therapy. You do not have to worry about the cramping or nausea you can get from a sports drink made from simple sugars. Cerasport and Cerasport EX1 help competitive athletes and weekend warriors every day train harder, go farther, and rehydrate more effectively and efficiently.

Cera Hydrates Fast: Cera gives you low osmolality from our rice based formula so they leave your stomach quickly and are absorbed into your bloodstream much faster than high osmolality product that use glucose and fructose. These simple sugars have many particles and a higher osmolality. This will take longer to leave the stomach and be absorbed from the intestines into the bloodstream.

Well-tolerated: Cera's rice-based carbohydrates are naturally gluten free. Cera’s low osmolality formula means there is minimal risk of your stomach cramping or getting diarrhea.

Retained: During exercise or when dehydrated, sodium relies on carbohydrates for absorption. Products with too little sodium or too little carbohydrate are not retained and just make you pee more. Rice is also absorbed throughout the entire small intestine, to include the ileum, which is not utilized by your body for simple sugars. By using all 20 feet of your small intestine, more sodium and more fluid is absorbed and retained by your body.

Our family of products are optimized to replace the sodium, potassium, chloride and fluids lost while sweating. No extra junk or gimmicks in the formula. When you want the best hydration source, you need to reach for Cera’s patented rice-based, all natural hydration products.