SPORTS DRINKS: ARE THEY ANY GOOD?

One of my clients, an athlete training in MMA (mixed martial arts. That’s what you see in UFC) asked me what I think about sports drinks. Let me tell you.

First of all, what is a sports drink? A sports drink is a specially-formulated drink that is supposed to replace the nutrients that you lose when exercising.

Original source: here.

And by the way, sports drinks are not energy drinks (so a Red Bull and a Gatorade are not the same).

Anyways, what are the nutrients lost during exercise? Well, you lose sugar (glucose). You also lose electrolytes. What are electrolytes? They are 4 specific minerals: sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium. They help electricity move around the body (yes, there is electricity inside the body. And yes, you can take that as a compliment. I just called you positively electric).

These are all fairly well-established facts. Now, let’s delve into the nitty gritty.

What should a good sports drink have?

• Between 4–8% sugar. Most of the time, you don’t want added sugar. In a sports drink, you do. So for every 100ml of fluid, there should be 4–8 grams of sugar in it. For 1 cup (250ml), there should be 10–20 grams of sugar. That’s desirable.
• It should have added sodium, somewhere in the range of 110–180mg. What??? Added sodium??? Yes. You naturally lose sodium as you sweat. And unlike the devil that it’s made out to be in the media, sodium is an essential…