Should You Use Sports Drinks to Stay Hydrated?
Sports drinks provide the body with fluid, carbohydrates, and electrolytes.
First, let’s make sure we are thinking about the same types of drinks when we use the term “sports drinks”. By sports drinks, I’m referring to Gatorade, Accelerade, Powerade, Propel, and the like.
When you are in the grocery store and see the labels on some sports drinks you may be confused into thinking it’s something you would benefit from consuming. The variety of health benefits claimed can include such things as improved health and more energy.
When sports drinks we initially created, the whole point was to provide athletes the replacement fluid, electrolytes, and macronutrients (ie carbohydrates) they need to perform long term bouts of exercise optimally.
So think about that….do you perform long duration exercise where you want to replace carbohydrates burned? If you are like the average American or individual fighting heart disease, your goal is to lose weight. Replacing the calories you burn is not part of the ideal plan to achieve your goals.
In most cases, water is going to be enough for you to replace lost fluid during activity and keep core body temperature to an appropriate level.
Now, for workouts lasting more than 60 minutes, sports drinks do contain some nutrients that can be of value.
Carbohydrates
I’m going to include carbohydrates in this list, so we can differentiate for athletes versus you. When working out, your muscles utilize glycogen. Muscle glycogen levels are limited and become depleted. How quickly levels are depleted depend on exercise intensity and duration. Many sports drinks contain 10 to 20 grams (40 to 80 calories) of carbohydrates per 8 ounce serving. This is a 6 to 8% carbohydrate concentration. Due to high fluid losses during high intensity/duration activities you do not want the carbohydrate concentration to exceed 8% which can delay gastric emptying and lead to gastrointestinal issues.
As an FYI, soft drinks and energy drinks typically contain carbohydrate concentrations above 10%.
As I mentioned above, your goal is not necessarily to replace carbohydrates burned via the carbohydrates in sports drinks. However, there are now low calorie sports drinks on the market that also provide some of the below nutrients which may be beneficial to you.
Electrolytes
High Blood Pressure and Dehydration
When you think about water and blood pressure the link between dehydration and low blood pressure probably comes to mind. Dehydration is a potential cause of low blood pressure due to resulting decreased blood volume leading to reduced pressure against artery walls.
However, did you know not drinking enough water can lead to high blood pressure?
When you do not drink adequate water the body will compensate by retaining sodium. That should be a red flag. Sodium is directly related to high blood pressure.
While this sodium retention takes place, the persistent dehydration will lead the body to gradually ‘close’ some of the capillary beds. This leads to increased pressure places on arteries and a rise in blood pressure.
Here are three steps you can take to prevent high blood pressure that is caused by dehydration.
