You are rounding the corner into mile 13, and instead of feeling light and fun you are feeling slow and sluggish. You’re beginning to think those 3 gatorades on mile 10 may not have been a great idea. Some of us have been there before, but unlike runner’s trots and other nearly unavoidable ailments, bad hydration isn’t something we need to suffer; it’s something we can avoid.
As any endurance athlete knows, sports drinks can have a positive effect. After poring over research seeking the optimal sports drink, physiologist Susan Sheriffs noted:
“Clear evidence is available that drinking during exercise improves performance, provided that the exercise is of a sufficient duration for the drink to be emptied from the stomach and be absorbed in the intestine.”
Sports drinks are an important item to consider while training for your next big race. Let’s take a closer look to understand why they work, which ones we should avoid, and which ones we should drink.
Why do we drink sports drinks?
At the most basic level sports drinks are a mixture of water, sugar, and electrolytes (primarily sodium). That’s it. Pretty simple for how much fuss there is around them. When we exercise, our bodies expend water, carbohydrates, and electrolytes. In order to keep exercising, our bodies need to replenish those resources. We could replenish those resources in any number of ways including solid food and water, however, for convenience and ease of digestion, many athletes choose do so in liquid form. They turn to sports drinks. Sports drinks rehydrate; they are water based. Sports drinks replenish depleted sources of carbohydrates; they usually contain lots of sugar. Lastly, sports drinks provided needed electrolytes: all or nearly all of them contain sodium.
An electrolyte is a substance that produces an electric charge when dissolved in water. For the purpose of energy drinks, they are usually sodium, potassium, or magnesium. According to Sheriffs, the inclusion of sodium in sports drinks is sufficiently support by scientific research. Sodium allows the hydration process to function properly, and if it is present in insufficient amounts blood plasma can become diluted. It may be beneficial to include potassium, because potassium may help with the appropriate retention of water. The necessity of including magnesium is undetermined.
So, when engaging in serious exercise for over 90 minutes, like when you are preparing for that next marathon on a treadmill, a sports drink can certainly be beneficial for maintaining hydration. It is important to consume an amount of liquid at least much as the amount of sweat lost in exercise. It is also important to consume a drink with the appropriate composition.
7 Freebies To Avoid
1. Gatorade
If you’ve never glanced at the ingredient label on the back of a Gatorade bottle, you may be surprised to see this on our “Avoid” list; however, if you have examined that ingredient label, you know very well why it is on this list. Gatorade is the pioneer and dominator of the sports drink market, controlling 75 percent of the market as of 2014. It began at Florida University under the direction of the physician Robert Cade. It rose to popularity after Yellow Jackets coach Bobby Dodd blamed their loss to the Gators in the Orange Bowl on the lack of Gatorade. He exclaimed: “We didn’t have Gatorade. That made the difference.” Since then Gatorade has been acquired by Pepsi Co., and now it is full of controversial ingredients like brominated vegetable oil and is backed by what some would call questionable research. Avoid.
2. Powerade
Powerade, Gatorade’s closest competition, commands 20 percent of the ssports drink market, and suffers many of the same ailments.
Ingredients: Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Less than 0.5% of: Citric Acid, Salt and Potassium Citrate and Magnesium Chloride and Calcium Chloride and Potassium Phosphate (electrolyte sources), Natural Flavors, Modified Food Starch, Calcium Disodium EDTA(to protect color), Medium Chain Triglycerides (contains coconut oil), Brominated Vegetable Oil,Vitamin B3 (niacinamide), Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride),Vitamin B12, Red #40
3. PediaLyte
PediaLyte is for hydrating kids with diarrhea, but believe it or not some athletes use it for hydration while exercising.
Ingredients: Dextrose, Citric Acid, Natural & Artificial Flavor, Potassium Citrate, Salt, Sodium Citrate, Sucralose, Acesulfame Potassium, Zinc Gluconate, and Red 40, Blue Dye 1 or Yellow Dye 6 depending on the flavor.
4. Propel
Propel is no simple water, and it again has several questionable ingredients such as sucralose.
Ingredients: Water, citric acid, sodium hexametaphosphate, natural flavor, salt, potassium sorbate, sorbate, potassium citrate, sodium citrate, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), sucralose, acesulfame potassium, calcium disodium EDTA, calcium pantothenate (vitamin B5), niacinamide (vitamin B3), vitamin E acetate, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6).
5. Vitaminwater
Vitamin Water came under question in lawsuits for its misleading advertising marketing itself as a healthy drink, which it is not.
6. Lucozade Sport
Lucozade is a sports drink similar to Gatorade, mostly found overseas. It includes aspartame.
Ingredients: water, glucose syrup, acid (citric acid), acidity regulator (sodium citrate), stabiliser (acacia gum), preservative (potassium sorbate), antioxidant (ascorbic acid), sweeteners (aspartame, acesulfame K), flavouring, vitamins (niacin, pantothenic acid, b6, b12), colour (beta-carotene). Contains a source of phenylalanine.
7. Accelerade
Accelerade is a poor combination of sucrose, fructose, and protein.
Ingredients: Sucrose, whey protein concentrate, soy protein isolate, citric acid, fructose, natural flavors, soy lecithin, magnesium carbonate, salt, red beet, xanthan gum, maltodextrin, potassium phosphate, vitamin E acetate, ascorbic acid.
3 to Drink
1. Saltstick Electrolyte Capsules
Saltstick is clean and provides essentially only what the body loses during exercise. It is the go to for endurance athletes and the favorite of many Ironman World Champions. Saltstick was even shown to provide a 26-minute edge in a double-blind study.
Ingredients: Sodium chloride, potassium citrate, potassium chloride, calcium citrate, calcium gluconate, magnesium citrate, magnesium gluconate, vitamin D3. Other ingredients: Magnesium stearate, stearic acid, hypromellose (vegetable capsule).
2. Hammer HEED Sports Energy Drink
HEED is optimized for endurance athletes because it delivers the needed carbohydrates and electrolytes in an efficient way. It also receives rave reviews.
Ingredients: Maltodextrin, Xylitol, Natural Flavor, Calcium Chelate, Salt, L-Carnosine, Stevia, Glycine, Magnesium Chelate, Potassium Chelate, Tyrosine, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Manganese Chelate, Chromium Polynicotinate.
3. Homemade Sports Drink
Last but not least, let’s not forget that in essence, a sports drink is just water, sugar, and salt. Why not make your own?
- 4 cups filtered water
- 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
- 1/4 cup raw honey or maple syrup (or to taste)
- 1/4 tsp. sea salt or real salt (no table salt!)