If You’re Leaking Brightly Colored Water, Seek Medical Attention
You’ve seen the commercials: The darkened silhouette of an athletic figure cuts across the screen. Hunched over, head hung low, hands upon the knees, gasping for air. The only visible color is that of the neon blue sweat leaking from every pore, dripping down appendages and pooling on the floor. The commercials are well produced with rhythmic soundtracks, are slickly marketed, full of catchy slogans and incredibly effective. But are the claims true? Or are we falling prey to a mass marketing machine?
The supplement industry is full of liars, fakes and charlatans. It is an industry worth billions of dollars and shows no signs of slowing down. The hydration corner of the market is no exception, as popular as fat burners, weight gainers and testosterone boosters. We have carbonated water, oxygenated water, de-oxygenated water, alkaline water, vitamin water, energy drinks, sports drinks and on and on. The list of ways to quench your thirst are endless, and the message has been sent loud and clear from the rooftops - “stay hydrated out there!”
Walk by any random soccer pitch, baseball diamond, football field, hockey rink, basketball court, octagon or boxing ring and you’re bound to find empty plastic bottles of hydrating liquid from a wide variety of companies littered about. Regular old tap water has seemingly become the red-headed step-child of the hydration world.
Replenish, Rehydrate, Refuel. Right? Wrong.
Don’t believe me? Ask Bobby Boucher. If anyone knows, The Waterboy knows.
Background
“Damn alligator bit my hand off!” -Chubbs Peterson-
The first and most popular commercial sport drink, Gatorade, was developed in 1965 at the University of Florida for the football team (Hence: GATOR-AID). It was designed to boost performance by promoting the replenishment of carbohydrates, water and electrolytes lost playing and practicing in the hot Florida sun. Makes sense, and the theory is sound: Spend considerable time working hard in the heat and you are bound to lose a significant amount of liquids and salts through sweat. It only makes sense to replenish these losses given everything we know about the devastating effects of dehydration on health and performance.
The Gators won the championship the year the brightly colored liquid was introduced by team officials. The product slowly picked up in popularity over the years, was eventually bought out (it is now owned by Pepsi) and has become a mass marketed phenomenon. Its global success has invited competition from other companies like Powerade, Lucozade, Vitamin Water and more. The sports drink market is now a global phenomenon, and in 2016, was estimated to be worth 4.62 BILLION dollars.
The Down and Dirty Nitty Gritty
Research points to a link between sugar consumption and diabetes. The average person should focus on zero-calorie liquids and limit processed sugar intake.
Ignoring Gatorade’s past follies, like spiking their beverages with known obesity-linked sweeteners like high-fructose corn syrup, a current bottle of Original Gatorade pulled off the shelf at any gas station or grocery store has 140 calories and 34 grams of sugar in a 591-ml bottle. Why is this a problem for the average person?
The Heart & Stroke Foundation recommends the average 2000 calorie-a-day diet contain 48 grams of added sugars. One bottle of Original Gatorade almost completely takes care of that on its own! The recommendation of added sugars for adolescents is even lower due to proposed links to type-2 diabetes, obesity and metabolic disease.
While there is no definitive cause and effect link between added sugars and diabetes, there is a very strong correlation. Those who regularly consume sugar-sweetened beverages have an almost 25% greater risk of type 2 diabetes and the link between sugar intake and diabetes is unrelated to total calories, body composition, alcohol consumption and activity levels.
Suffice to say, for the average desk jockey piloting a desk for a living, Gatorade is not required fuel for accomplishing your chosen vocation. Feeling thirsty? Reach for your water bottle. Add some fresh fruit (berries or cucumbers) or a squeeze of citrus (orange/lemon/lime) if you find it too boring.
For Our Athlete Friends
Now, what about athletes and those who train intensely, and in hot/humid environments?
Whether kicking ass in CrossFit, pounding out a marathon or competing in sport, we naturally lose sugar, water and electrolytes (potassium, sodium, magnesium, calcium) through sweat. Replenishing these losses through hydration is key to maintaining high levels of performance. Unfortunately, the science of how much we should drink is far from clear. Add in climate and environmental factors plus the fact that every human loses water and electrolytes from sweat at different rates, and it becomes extremely complicated to determine exactly how much liquid any one individual requires.
There is plenty of research from the fine folks at Gatorade Sports Science Institute promoting the case for sports drinks, and they are helping push boundaries within the field of hydration detection and replenishment, but the vast majority of this research is funded by Gatorade, and it has been demonstrated that industry-funded studies are significantly more likely to demonstrate favorable results. As much as we’d like to believe that major corporations have our best interests at heart, it can difficult to take the advice of a study sponsored by the people trying to sell you something.
If you’re out pounding the pavement for more than an hour in the heat, a sports drink can be valuable for your health and performance.
What we do know, is that for the average athlete competing in one hour or less of intense exercise, plain, old-fashioned H20 is more than sufficient for your hydration needs. The extra artificial sugars, food dyes and empty calories that constitute sport drinks are unnecessary. If you think of the average youth hockey game, there are roughly 45 minutes on the clock split between three periods. How many minutes are you actually exercising in those 45 minutes? Maybe 15? By following proper pre-game nutrition guidelines for food and drink, water should be more than sufficient for your hydration needs for the duration of the game. For those participating in long-duration (greater than one hour), intense and vigorous exercise, or those exercising in hot and humid climates, a sports drink can be beneficial for hydration, health and performance. And if you fall into the camp of those that exercise for long duration, are a heavy sweater, compete in humid/hot environments or just feel like you need a little something something during exercise and sport…read on!
DIY
“She put the lime in the coconut, she drank 'em bot' up.”
Just like the old folks say, if you want something done right, do it yourself! If you feel you perform better with some added sugar and electrolytes, make your own, free of empty calories, artificial sweeteners and added chemicals.
Use a combination of coconut water (fluid and electrolytes), frozen fruit of your choice (carbs), a small amount of natural honey (carbs), and a small shake of salt (salt!). Throw all that into a shaker cup, give it a vigorous up-and-down and off you go!
Note: Don’t get sucked in by the coconut water hype. Remember that the sports drink industry is worth billions and marketing gets out of control! There is no evidence coconut water contains ‘super-electrolytes’, can help control blood sugars or act as an anti-viral agent. Don’t fall for the hype.
Play around with home-made sport drink variations and experiment with what works best for you. There are endless variations and you can find some good examples here, here, here and here.
Enjoy!