The following was on the Associated Press blog, but is not longer there, and can only be found via search engine caches, so I don’t know how accurate it is...

CAMP ANACONDA, Iraq

Friday, July 28, 2006, 2:17 p.m. local time

One of Command Sgt. Major Lawrence A. Halls biggest worries in Iraq is Gatorade. Too much Gatorade, to be precise. The problem started with making sure the troops were hydrated in the hot July sun, when the low temperature is still in the 90s and the high often goes well above 110. And in this case, hydrated doesnt mean seven to eight glasses of water a day as is recommended by many beauty magazines to keep your skin glowing. It means seven to eight liters of water a day. But liter after liter of water obviously doesnt have a lot of taste to it, so troops like to mix up what theyre drinking, and Gatorade is an obvious choice.

Then Hall, of the Army’s 1st Squadron, 167th Cavalry, learned that the medical staff is starting to notice an increase in kidney stones and gall stones in troops. They believe its because the guys — and gals — are drinking a lot of Gatorade and at the same time, not getting enough exercise. So soldiers are encouraged to either exercise more or drink water instead of Gatorade. Theyre also rationing the amount of Gatorade troops can pick up at the dining facility to two bottles per person, whereas in the past, troops could — and often did — fill up every pocket with a bottle of the green or orange liquid.

Cutting back on the amount of Gatorade also means fewer convoys on the highways bringing the stuff in and, as a result, fewer people dying from roadside bomb attacks. Hall said he didnt know whether it was the medical reasons or the aim of limiting convoys that originally led to the 2-bottles per person rule, but the end result has been a Gatorade crackdown. "Who would have thought that wed come to Iraq and my biggest problem would be too much Gatorade?" said Hall. "Little things that you would think never matter, are a big deal around here."

Rebecca Santana

I can’t find any other references to gatorade and kidney stones. Given that your daughter is SWCAH I’d say a couple of gatorades a day, during hot weather would be a reasonable minimum, and not something to worry about. You’d get a lot more salt in a typical meal.

Spoke too soon, I did find the article, still available, here. (second story down) and also here.