Do You Really Need To Drink Sports Drinks?

I have you happen to wander into a convenience store looking for something to drink, perhaps after exercising, you'll certainly find no shortage of choices. Ever since Gatorade came on stage several years ago, the market has literally exploded with so called sports drinks that claim to quench your thirst in ways you've never imagined. In this article, you'll learn some basics of sports drinks, when you should drink them, and when to just drink water.

To begin with, all sports drinks are designed to serve a couple different purpose. The original, Gatorade, was designed for the Florida Gators football team as a recovery drink. First to replace lost water due to perspiration, and second to replace lost electrolytes. Electrolytes are chemical that are needed by your body for many functions. You lose them while you sweat, and you can imagine how much you'd sweat playing football in the Florida heat and humidity.

As sports drinks became more and more popular, different kinds of carbohydrates were added. This was to give you a quick burst of energy while you were exercising. Generally, these energy delivering carbohydrates were in the form of sugar, which could quickly give you a boost. These sports drinks were designed to not only replace water and electrolytes after you exercised, but to provide energy while you exercised.

So do you really need all this advanced chemistry when you get thirsty? Let's take a look at the electrolytes. Sure, you do lose a certain amount of electrolytes whenever you perspire, but unless you are completely drenching a couple of T-shirts in every workout, you aren't really losing any electrolytes that can't be replaced through normal dietary intake.

What about all the water you lose while sweating? Obviously, drinking water is the best way to replace water. And some sports drinks have such high concentrations of electrolytes and sugars that these may require more water just to help break them down in your system. So by drinking sports drinks, you may even be increasing your body's water requirements. However, some people just absolutely hate the taste of water. If this is the case, then sports drinks may be your only option.

The last reason, because they provide sugar for energy, is something to consider. If you are doing some long distance or endurance training, and are spending several hours exercising, then you may benefit from the sugar in sports drinks. If, however, you are like most people and train thirty minutes to an hour a day, then you are likely getting plenty of calories from your normal diet, and extra sugar is not really necessary.

To be honest, unless you are an endurance athlete who spends hours a day in training, then sports drinks are likely not necessary. However, if you just can't stand the taste of water, and easily drink plenty of sports drinks, then by all means, drink up.




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