Guide to Sports Drink :Before buying any Sports Drink read this…
Sports drinks like Gatorade, Powerade, and All Sport can give you a needed energy boost during your activity. They are designed to rapidly replace fluids and to increase the sugar (glucose) circulating in your blood
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Increasing numbers of dietary supplements are being marketed to the general population as health enhancers or Social Media influencers and to athletes as performance enhancers. Unfortunately, many of the products that advertise extravagant claims of enhanced health or performance are promoted by unscrupulous entrepreneurs, have no legitimate basis, and may be regarded as quackery.
The best means to evaluate claims of enhanced health or sports performance made by dietary supplements or other nutritional practices is to possess a good background in nutrition and a familiarity with related high-quality research. Unfortunately, most individuals, including most athletes, coaches, and physicians, have not been exposed to such an educational program, so they must either take formal course work in nutrition or sports nutrition, develop a reading program in nutrition for health and sport, or consult with an expert in the field.
Check for Yourself-Guide to Sports Drink
- Go to a health food store, peruse the multiple dietary supplements available, and ask the clerk for advice on a supple- ment to help you enhance your sports performance, such as increasing your muscle mass or losing body fat.
- Write down the advice and check out advertisements on the Internet.
- Then, research the supplements on the Websites noted above and compare the findings. Nutritional Quackery in Health and Sports
Sports drinks are fluid-replacement beverages that contain water, carbohydrates, and electrolytes. They can be a quick and convenient way to hydrate and fuel for optimal exercise performance.
12 Questions to ask yourself before buying any Sports Drink
1. Does the product promise quick improvement in health or physical performance?
2. Does it contain some secret or magical ingredient or formula?
3. Is it advertised mainly by use of anecdotes, case histories, or testimonials?
4. Are currently popular personalities or star athletes featured in its advertisements?
5. Does it take a simple truth about a nutrient and exaggerate that truth in terms of health or physical performance?
6. Does it question the integrity of the scientific or medical establishment?
7. Is it advertised in a health or sports magazine whose publishers also sell nutritional aids?
8. Does the person who recommends it also sell the product?
9. Does it use the results of a single study or dated and poorly controlled research to support its claims?
10. Is it expensive, especially when compared to the cost of equivalent nutrients that may be obtained from ordinary foods?
11. Is it a recent discovery not available from any other source?
12. Is its claim too good to be true? Does it promise the impossible?
Guide To Sports Drink:Which Sports Drink Is Right For Me?
| Type of exercise | Examples | What do you need? |
| Low- intensity exercise | Walking to work, walking the dog in the evening, leisurely bike ride or swim | Water |
| Moderate- intensity exercise | Brisk walking or jogging, recreational cycling, swimming | Water in most cases will be fine. If you are exercising for well over an hour, you may consider a sports water |
| High- intensity exercise | Fast paced running, cycling or swimming, high- intensity gym class or spin class etc. | If this is under an hour, water may be adequate but in some cases a sports drink can be helpful. When training for over an hour a hypotonic or isotonic sports drink would be ideal |
Are all sports drinks the same?
- Sports drinks aren’t all the same. The ideal sports drink to be used during high-intensity exercise will have between four to eight per cent carbohydrates (that is 4-8g per 100ml). Similarly, the amount of electrolytes in each drink can vary. Typically, the sodium in sports drinks is between 23-69mg per 100ml. Athletes who lose a lot of salt in their sweat will chose products with a higher sodium content.
- Sports drinks labelled ‘isotonic’ have between six to eight per cent carbohydrates. This concentration of carbohydrates is similar to the amount in body fluids and promotes a smooth flow of fluid into the bloodstream. These are ideal for those training for a prolonged period at higher intensity.
Examples: Powerade, Gatorade, Replace, Mizone Isopower
- Sports drinks labelled ‘hypotonic’ have a lower carbohydrate level than the fluids in the body (less than six per cent carbohydrates). These are also helpful to assist with hydration and are lower in kilojoules than isotonic sports drinks so can be useful for those who need to use a sports drink but need to be mindful of their energy intake as well.
Example: Mizone Low Carb
What are sports waters?
- These are often found in the same section of the supermarket as sports drinks but they aren’t the same.
- They do contain some carbohydrate and electrolytes and are often flavored to make them taste nice but they don’t quickly hydrate you like sports drinks.
- They can be helpful when you are tramping or on a long recreational bike ride if you struggle to drink enough plain water.
- But remember: with 350-400kJ and about five teaspoons of sugar in a bottle they are not ideal to grab along with your lunch when you’re not exercising — particularly if you are watching your weight.
Who Should Use Sports Drinks
- Sports drinks are designed for athletes who do regular, high- intensity training.
- Sports drinks can help people who are exercising at high intensity for an hour or more, particularly if they are sweating a lot.
- They have been shown to delay fatigue and improve exercise performance in numerous scientific trials.
- With anywhere between 600 and 1100kJ and 10 to14 teaspoons of sugar in a bottle, however, it is very important to only use them when and if you really need them.
- If you are going to the gym a couple of times a week exercising at a moderate intensity, doing a few spin classes or doing short runs and you are trying to lose weight, sports drinks really aren’t for you.
- Water is all you need. Drinking sports drinks, you could end up drinking more kilojoules than you have burnt off!
For additional tips on identifying nutrition quacks, check www.dietitian.com/quack.html.
What is nutritional quackery?
- According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), quackery, as the term is used today, refers not only to the fake practitioner but also to the worthless product and the deceitful promotion of that product.
- Untrue or misleading claims that are deliberately or fraudulently made for any product, including food products, constitute quackery.
- The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND), formerly the American Dietetic Association (ADA), in its position statement on food and nutrition misinformation authored by Wansink, notes that such misinformation can have harmful effects on the health and economic status of consumers.
Where Can I Get Sound Nutritional Information To Combat Quackery In Health And Sports?
Excellent Website for nutrition information from the Harvard School
of Public Health.
Website for the Gatorade Sports Science Institute, providing detailed reviews on various topics in sports nutrition.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Website for information on various health topics, including nutrition.
www.healthfinder.gov
