Im often intrigued by the ethos surrounding the ‘Sports Drink’ as though it has some magical properties that somehow instil the user with an extra level of fitness and ability that they didn’t have before.
Whatever the label says in the way of ‘Power’ , ‘Speed’, ‘Muscle’ , ‘Performance ‘etc – at the end of the day all they contain is Water, Carbohydrates, Protein, Fats and Minerals.
So when do you need one ?
Well, you only really need one if you are at risk from running out of Water, Minerals, Protein or Carbohydrates.
There are basically three types and some try to combine more than one:
Electrolytes: These contain salts and minerals that are often lost during long periods of exercise or when it is hot. Its a good idea to drink these if you are exercising very hard for an extended period of time (e.g. an hour or more) or its hot.
Carbohydrate: Usually a mixture of sugars. You have enough sugar stored in your body as glycogen to last for about 1.5-2 hours of hard exercise (2000 calories). Its a good idea to use these if you are going to exceed 1 1/2 hours OR you have a need to recover that sugar reserve quickly (e.g. 2 or more hard training sessions a day). If you are trying to loose weight, avoid these as you will burn the sugar and not the fat. The other reason you might use these, is if you have a tendency of going hypoglycemic during exercise.
Protein: Usually in the form of shakes. These provide a high concentration proteins used for the rebuilding of muscles. Your body needs about 0.75-2 grams of protein per Kg of body weight an this can usually be achieved by a normal selection of lean meats and vegetables. Its a good idea to use these if you have an intense exercise regime that needs additional proteins to assist recovery and repair. As protein is absorbed more slowly than sugars these are sometimes used to assist weight loss.
With the unnecessary use of a sports drink, the surplus food will most likely be stored as additional fat. The other side effect is that continual topping up with sugary drinks will encourage your body to adapt in a way that over-stimulates sugar use, increased levels of insulin production and over a long period a risk of developing insulin resistance diabetes.
Use sports drinks if you have a need to replace sugar, protein, water and electrolytes.
Other than that, you will be flushing money away – (quite literally !) – and its better to stay with water.
