Sugary Drinks May Worsen Diarrhoea — Here’s Why WHO-Approved ORS Works

Hyderabad-based pediatrician Dr Sivaranjani Santosh’s relentless eight-year battle against the Oral Rehydration Solution or ORS, which has been frivolously used by many brands as packaged beverages – mostly

loaded with sugar, saw a major breakthrough last week. While the FSSAI issued an advisory last week banning food and beverage companies from using the term in product names, labels, or trademarks, even as a prefix or suffix, a Delhi High Court judgement put a stay on it. This has met with strong reactions, but from doctors, as well as the general public. According to Dr Santosh, who began the movement after helplessly seeing children coming to her severely dehydrated despite taking ORS, the easily available tetra packs are loaded with so much sugar, and they become more dangerous for health, rather than providing any relief. “It leads to more dehydration and diarrhoea in already sick children — something that can turn fatal in the absence of timely medical care,” Dr Santosh told Times of India.

What is ORS?

According to Dr Santosh, the correct balance of ingredients that help in rehydration is the formula presented by the World Health Organisation (WHO which is an inexpensive mixture of water, salts or electrolytes, and glucose. It helps your body to immediately restore lost fluids and minerals – protecting against fatal outcomes. The WHO recommends a specific:

• Six teaspoons of sugar
• Half a teaspoon of salt
• Mixed in a liter of clean water

This simple mix can save lives—but only when made the right way. Using too much sugar or salt can make things worse. Also, using sugar substitutes or adding extra ingredients like fruit powders or spirulina stops the solution from working properly. WHO specified ORS also contains glucose, sodium, potassium, chloride, magnesium, and phosphorus ions, which form a balanced aqueous mixture. The consumption of ORS enables the body to extract fluids and electrolytes from the digestive system, which then enter the bloodstream.

How does ORS work?

It restores body water, carbohydrates, and mineral levels, which become imbalanced because of dehydration. The solution contains specific amounts of ingredients, which follow exact ratios to effectively treat dehydration. The ORS solution contains sodium chloride, sodium citrate or bicarbonate, potassium chloride, and glucose as its main ingredients. The intestinal cells use glucose to boost their sodium and water absorption process. According to doctors, your intestinal cells use a natural sodium-glucose co-transport system that absorbs sodium through glucose, which then draws water into the bloodstream. The treatment method restores body fluids at a safe pace for all dehydration levels, including those caused by acute diarrhea, cholera, and heatwave-related excessive sweating.