Sports Drinks

Do they give you the edge you’re after?

When it comes to competitive sports, professional athletes are always looking for the magic way to get an advantage over their competition. And why wouldn’t they? Their livelihood depends on it!

In fact, a lot of people go so far as taking steroids and strength enhancers to compete in school and recreational sports as well. Perhaps it’s human nature to want to be the best. However, we’ve come to learn that steroids aren’t the way to go and neither are the majority of other illegal substances. They can be dangerous and, if you get caught using a banned substance, you can say goodbye to your career as an athlete. So, if you want to be a superior athlete, do you just put your wheel to the grindstone and work hard at it? Well, if you want to legally get a leg up on the competition, you might consider a legal sports drink.

Sports drinks are often used by athletes before, during and after competition to replenish their bodies of the nutrients that they sweat out. They are basically designed to rehydrate and replace electrolytes (sodium levels), essential sugars and other nutrients that you need for muscle repair in order to perform again in top gear. Sports drinks are also able to keep your energy levels topped up. They are usually filled with carbohydrates, which are essential for energy production. The common carbohydrates you’ll find in energy drinks are glucose, fructose and sucrose and potassium salts and sodium. These give you the shot of energy you need.

Isotonic sports drinks go even further. Isotonic means these drinks contain the same nutrient proportions that your body produces and requires, so they’re safe to drink immediately following exercise to quickly replenish your stores.

Sports drinks are not carbonated, but they come in a boatload of fruit flavors. So, not only are they more nutritious than energy drinks, they’re just as tasty as well. However, you have to be careful: some brands contain high levels of sugar and salt. Learn to read the nutritional labels so you can choose a sports drink with low sugar and low sodium.

Much of the confusion surrounding sports drinks is attributable to mass-marketing campaigns. This means that the average person believes that he should be drinking them. However, if you’re a person who’s trying to lose weight, sports drinks might actually be hindering your weight-loss efforts because they contain a lot of carbohydrates and are designed to replenish an elite athlete who burns a lot of calories during exercise.

The average person won’t burn more than 500 calories during a 1-hour workout. That means when you consume that sports drink and return to your desk job, your body is storing those excess calories and turning them into fat. If you want to lose weight, the key is to expend (burn) more calories than you consume.

The most well -known sports drink in North America is currently Gatorade, and it’s been enjoying success for the past 40 years. If you’re saving for the Olympic tryouts and can’t afford to keep yourself in a yearly supply of Gatorade, you can always make your own homemade sports drink concoction by combining the proper amounts of salt, water and sugar. You can also add fruit juice for flavoring.