Sports Drinks or Water – Which Is Better?

Consumers spend millions of dollars on specialized sports drinks each and every year. Are you one of them? How do sports drinks stack up against hydrating with water during exercise?

During exercise your body runs low on fluids, salt and calories. Replace all three of these necessary ingredients and you’ll continue to perform and function well. Without even one of them your performance suffers; and in the case of hyponatremia (low salt stores in the body) you can spiral into a perilous funnel.

So which is better: sports drinks or water?

The answer lies in the amount of time you’ll be exercising, your drink preferences, and your pre-exercise hydration level.

Water hydrates best for people who are exercising between 25 and 45 minutes. Only the true endurance athletes really need sports drinks to replace their sodium loss from sweat. If you are exercising for 30 minutes you won’t need to hydrate during the workout. If you are going for 45 minutes water will hydrate you and maintain your performance.

If, however, you are exercising for more than 45 minutes you may benefit from sports drinks that have electrolytes added. Many people who hydrate with water find the flavor bland and will stop drinking before they are fully hydrated. Are you one of those people?

You can chose to drink sports drinks to hydrate but also remember that they add unneeded calories that have no nutritional benefits. In other words if you chose to hydrate with sports drinks and you aren’t exercising for more than 45 minutes you won’t be able to count on the same calorie burn since you’ll be adding calories during the workout.

So what is best for hydration is what you will drink. If you won’t drink water then sports drinks are your next best option. Do not use drinks that have sugar or caffeine to hydrate. Sugar will decrease the emptying time of the stomach and therefore, cause stomach cramping.

Caffeine and alcoholic beverages are actually diuretics. Diuretics cause water to be drawn from the blood and intestines and then filtered out through the kidneys. You become dehydrated even more quickly when you use coffee, tea, caffeine colas and alcohol to hydrate.

If you use sports drinks to hydrate do not use them at other times since they add unwanted calories that have little to no nutritional value.

Have you made your decision? Sports drinks or water; only you can decide.

Article Source: http://www.content.onlypunjab.com

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