The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
They have names that make you feel like you're working out just by drinking them ? Gatorade, Accelerade, Cytomax, Endurance, Raw Dawg, SoBe Adrenaline Rush, and Red Bull. According to Beverage Digest, the sports drink market in the United States is 4.7 billion dollars and energy drinks are at about one billion, compared to the 63 billion dollar soft drink business. But I have to admit it ? I was confused about sports, recovery, and energy drinks. I wasn't sure if they had any real value beyond increasing my calorie intake. I wanted to know when you should choose a sports or energy drink and why, and here's what I found. High Intensity Athletes Only Almost all the experts agree that sports drinks are particularly helpful if you are involved in high intensity activity for long durations, and/or if you sweat a lot. "We don't believe everyone should be drinking sports drinks. These drinks were formulated for those who would most benefit from them, such as soldiers, construction workers, and professional athletes. These are the individuals who should be considering fluid replacement during activity," says Robert Murray, Ph.D., FACSM, director of the Gatorade Sports Science Institute. According to Leslie Bonci, R.D., M.P.H., director of sports medicine nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, if you're exercising occasionally for less than 45 minutes, you're probably not a candidate for sports or recovery drinks. So the first question to ask yourself is, do you exercise five days per week for 45 minutes or longer at a high intensity (more than just a stroll)? "Sports and recovery drinks are useful for competitive endurance athletes because of the difficulty of actually consuming calories from whole foods during the event," says Nancy Clark, M.S., R.D., a sports nutritionist who works with athletes and the author of Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook (Human Kinetics, 2003). "So, yes, if you're on the tennis court for four hours you might need a sports drink, but if you're going to the gym for an hour or so, assuming you've had a snack beforehand, you'd be better off just drinking water during your exercise." "The main question you need to consider is, 'Are you depleting your body of certain nutrients?'" says Clark. When you sweat, you lose more than just water; you also lose electrolytes, such as sodium, potassium, and magnesium. Replenishing the body's electrolytes during activity is a major selling point for sports drinks. But while it's true that these electrolytes are important to help regulate your body's fluid balance, you can get much of your replacement from foods and fluids post exercise. In fact, according to Clark, if a marathoner who has just completed a 26.2-mile run drank a quart of orange juice and ate a bag of salted pretzels, he or she would have replaced the necessary potassium (from the OJ) and sodium (from the pretzels). Still not sure if you need a sports drink during exercise? Bonci suggests asking yourself a few more questions before you start drinking anything other than water: Do you sweat excessively? Does your skin feel a bit gritty when you're done exercising? Are you exercising in very hot climates? Have you eaten anything before exercising? (If not, a sports drink before you work out is better than running on empty.) These all may be clues to determine if you need a sports drink. But, Bonci adds, "if you don't already know that you need a sports drink ? you probably don't." See 'What' P.# Con't from P.# On the other hand, there are some key benefits to having a sports drink. If you like the taste, it will encourage you to drink more (some people don't like drinking water). In addition, the sodium also causes you to drink more (because salt makes you thirsty), while helping with the absorption and retention of fluids. What to Look for in a Sports Drink Although there is no legal definition, a sports drink is typically a fluid replacement drink such as Gatorade. Bonci recommends looking for a drink that contains no more than 50 calories, 100 to 150 milligrams of sodium, 100 milligrams of potassium, and about 14 grams of carbs, per eight ounces. Avoid carbonated and caffeinated beverages. The carbonation can decrease fluid intake and the caffeine can act as a laxative and diuretic, both of which can lead to dehydration. Recovery Drinks A recovery drink, as the name implies, is to be drunk after you finish exercising, to replace nutrients you may have lost. Typically, recovery drinks contain carbohydrates and protein, and although you can get these nutrients from eating a snack after you exercise, not everyone does that. So some experts suggest that even after a two-mile walk, you can benefit from a "recovery drink" such as Endurox R4, Countdown, or even Ensure. "A recovery drink helps in a number of ways, including reducing your appetite (if you have something right after exercise, you won't be as hungry later on), tissue repair, fueling your muscles, and even boosting your immune system," says John L. Ivy, Ph.D., professor of kinesiology and health education at The University of Texas, Austin, and author of The Performance Zone (Basic Nutrition Publishing, 2004). They're also designed to be absorbed more quickly than solid foods. Ivy recommends having no more than 40 grams of carbohydrates and 12 grams of protein or about 200 calories in total. However, some experts say most people don't really have to worry about "recovery" or rehydration. "If you're not a professional athlete or concerned with top performance, being a bit fatigued after exercise doesn't really matter," says Priscilla M. Clarkson, Ph.D., professor of exercise science at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. "As soon as you eat your next meal, you'll feel better." Energy Drinks Banned in certain European countries (e.g., Denmark and Sweden) because of their high caffeine content, these drinks typically contain more than 100 calories for about eight ounces, and are basically sugar and caffeine. Actually, they have as much caffeine as a cup of coffee, and almost twice as much as a 12-ounce can of soda. Yes, they also have assorted other goodies. Red Bull, for example, contains taurine, an amino acid whose benefit to athletes, according to Clark, is still controversial. And even though there have been a few studies supporting the use of these energy drinks, most experts agree their usefulness is limited. "They are overkill. They have way too many calories and caffeine for the average person," says Ivy. "Maybe, if you're a competitive cyclist they'd be necessary, but really they're nothing more than souped-up soda." "Yes, energy drinks have caffeine, which does give you the feeling of being more energetic, and if you're sedentary and that stimulates you to get out and exercise, well then, that's great," says Clarkson. "But make sure you don't take in more calories by drinking than you burn by the exercise itself," she adds. If you are looking for a shot of caffeine and sugar to give you a boost, there are other ways to get them. "How about having a piece of fruit, which not only fills you up but has antioxidants and vitamins? Pair it with a cup of coffee or unsweetened iced tea," suggests Lawrence J. Cheskin, M.D., F.A.C.P, professor of medicine and human nutrition at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland. "These energy drinks have not demonstrated their effectiveness and are not well studied ? so be wary," he adds. And, says Clark, "If you need quick energy to get yourself through a high endurance activity, you're probably not fueling yourself correctly throughout the day. If you're not an endurance or competitive athlete, you don't need an energy drink, and you're just spending a lot of money on sugar, caffeine, and dye." See 'Energy' P.# Con't from P.# What about those sugar-free energy drinks, like EAS Piranha? Yes, you are getting a caffeine jolt, and caffeine has been shown in studies to boost activity level, but "you're certainly not getting much 'energy' from them. Energy means calories ? so if it only has five or 10 calories, where's the energy?" says Bonci. Packing on Pounds And what about those calories? If you are a trained athlete, you might want extra carbs. But if you're just someone who is doing moderate exercise for fitness and to help with weight loss, is this really a good way to spend your limited calorie budget? Although many sports drinks are low in calories (Gatorade, for example contains 100 calories in 16 ounces while soda has more than 200), they do still contain calories, mainly from sugar. Water, on the other hand, has none.
