What’s Actually in a Sports Drink?
Sports drinks often contain carbohydrates — usually some type of sugar or a calorie-free artificial sweetener. These beverages also contain water as well as electrolytes — minerals like calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium. We need electrolytes to maintain proper fluid levels in our bodies, and we lose electrolytes when we sweat, according to Michigan Medicine.
Are Sports Drinks Really Full of Sugar?
It depends, and you really need to read the labels. Gatorade, for example, sells one 20-ounce (oz) sports drink with 34 grams (g), or 8 teaspoons (tsp), of added sugars and another one with 0 g of added sugars. Similarly, Vitaminwater has one 20 oz sports drink with 27 g (6.4 tsp) of added sugars and another with 0 g of added sugars. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends 6 tsp or less for women and 9 tsp or less for men of added sugar daily.
Who Should Be Drinking Sports Drinks and When?
Sports drinks may be necessary to help reduce fatigue and improve performance when you exercise continuously for more than an hour, says Jacqueline Shahar, CDE, a clinical exercise physiologist and diabetes care and education specialist at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston. Sports drinks can also help you stay hydrated during shorter workouts on exceptionally hot, humid days. “The primary reasons to consume sports drinks during exercise are to provide fluids and electrolytes to prevent dehydration, and to provide carbohydrates to maintain fuel availability to the muscles during prolonged exercise,” says Mike Saunders, PhD, director of the Human Performance Laboratory at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. “These events include marathon running, long-distance cycling and triathlons, and other events of similar duration and intensity,” adds Saunders. For endurance athletes, drinking only water while exercising might make them more likely to experience cramps or what’s known as cellular edema, which is swelling caused by fluid accumulation in cells, Shahar says. In addition, drinking just water can lead to hyponatremia, or low sodium levels in the blood, which can lead to symptoms like confusion and, in severe cases, seizures, she adds.
Can Sports Drinks Be Harmful?
Most people don’t need sports drinks, says Vasanti Malik, a doctor of science and an assistant professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto. “Hydration can be accomplished with water, and electrolytes can be replenished by consuming a diet rich in whole foods that naturally contain electrolytes,” Malik explains. Water is a healthier choice — especially when you aren’t doing an intense workout or exercising on a hot, humid day — because the added sugars and calories in sports drinks are associated with a higher risk of developing and experiencing complications from conditions like obesity and type 2 diabetes, she adds. And a study published in March 2019 in Circulation found that consumption of sports drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages like soda is associated with a higher risk of total mortality, especially from cardiovascular disease and, to a lesser degree, cancer.
Are Sports Drinks Only for Exercise, or Can They Help With a Hangover?
If you’re dehydrated due to drinking too much alcohol, sports drinks might help, even if you’re not planning any intense workouts, Malik says. That’s because they can help replace electrolytes lost in urine or from vomiting and help the body absorb water. “Alcohol is a diuretic that suppresses a hormone called antidiuretic hormone, which functions to help the body retain water and electrolytes instead of losing them through urine,” Malik says. This means, even if you don’t vomit, you lose more water and electrolytes when you drink alcohol.
What About DIY Sports Drinks?
This is absolutely doable, says Kim Spaccarotella, PhD, a certified personal trainer and biology lecturer at Kean University in Union, New Jersey, who teachers her students how to make their own sports drinks. This recipe, adapted from Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook, has about 120 calories, 31 g of carbohydrates, and 296 milligrams (mg) of sodium in a 16 oz serving, similar to what might be found in commercially available sports drinks, Spaccarotella says. Plus, making your own sports drink is easy, less expensive, and means you know exactly what you’re putting in your body.
Homemade Sports Drink Recipe
What you need:
Medium-size bowl or pitcherMeasuring cup
Ingredients:
2 tbsp sugarA pinch of salt2 tbsp hot water2 tbsp cranberry or orange juice1 tbsp lemon juice1¾ cups cold water
Directions:
