Are Sports Drinks Better for Athletes than Water?

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It is important for anyone doing physical activity to keep well hydrated, for performance to be at its best. Sports drinks are specially formulated to help people rehydrate during or after exercise. Drinks such as Gatorade and Powerade contain the main electrolytes and carbohydrates, which are used by the working muscles, to maintain optimal sports performance (Medindia.net, 2014). The acidity of sports drinks and the sugars, is raising health concerns, and creates unnecessary calories. (Nutritionwonderland.com, 2014) Sports drinks are proven to only be necessary when working intensely for over 90 minutes, so an athlete running a marathon may need a Powerade, but water is the best source of hydration for exercise of 90min or less. (Griffith-Greene, 2014)

Sports drinks contain electrolytes such as sodium and potassium, which carry an electrical current and aid in bodily functions as well as replenishing and rehydrating your body. (Griffith-Greene, 2014) Just as fluid balance is strictly regulated, the electrolyte balance in the body’s cells, must maintain at a certain level. When the body’s electrolyte balance is at the correct level, nerve impulses and muscle contractions, occur as intended. When, there is an imbalance of electrolytes in the blood, cell functions, physiologic function deteriorates and athletic performance is impaired. (Powerbar.com.au, 2014) Electrolytes are salts which are part of the body’s natural fluids, and so as an athlete or anyone who engages in physical activity sweats, electrolytes, are lost. If electrolytes are lost too quickly, the body is not able to restore them, which means, that deterioration begins to take place. Although drinking sports drinks means that the electrolytes are able to replenish...

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...re promoted as a positive element, to keep up your workout performance, and make the most of your workout. If someone is working for more than an hour at high intensity, then calories are not such a bad idea, as they will keep your performance continuous. Although, for the majority of people, who exercise, are doing it to lose weight and so drinking sports drinks, would cause the same effect as not completing the workout at all. (Nutritionwonderland.com, 2014) Sports physiologist Dr. Greg Wells says “Eighty-five per cent of Canadians don’t get enough exercise to begin with, so they don’t need sports drinks. The remaining 15 percent that actually does exercise, you probably have one or two per cent exercising really hard, really intensely enough to really need those sports drinks. In this group, probably a small amount of them are exercising long enough to need it.”

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