When athletes are exercising, they lose a lot of water and electrolytes in sweat. It is important to replace these substances, particularly during long-duration exercise. This is because if too many electrolytes are lost it can impair the functioning of the athlete’s body.
It can, however, be difficult to decide which would be more efficient in replacing these fluids: water or energy drinks. In this article, we’ll attempt to answer this question.
Does water really trump other drinks?
Water makes up the majority of your body weight and is critical for your body’s proper functioning. In fact, a whopping 70% of a human’s weight is made up of water.
When athletes exercise, they lose a lot of water through sweat, skin and the air they exhale. To replace these lost fluids, it is important to regularly drink water.
Clean, filtrated water is the best drink with which to hydrate the body before, during and after exercise. This is because it is easily absorbed by the body without filtration and contains the necessary minerals the body needs to replenish what it has lost.
It’s often thought that you can’t drink enough water because it doesn’t contain any calories. However, too much water can be extremely detrimental to you because it can end up washing out the essential minerals in your body and so cause deficiencies. So yes, water is extremely good for you but make sure that you don’t drink more water than you need to.
Are energy drinks a good substitute for water?
People use energy drinks to help with weight loss, increase endurance, and improve concentrations.
The main ingredient in energy drinks is caffeine. They also may contain extracts from the guarana plant (which is similar to caffeine), the amino acid taurine, carbohydrates in the form of sugar, and vitamins.
While this does sound like the perfect solution to your dehydrations needs, there are many concerns that accompany the popularity of energy drinks.
Too much caffeine
- There has been little research how the other ingredients, like guarana, may affect the body.
- You can get addicted to the caffeine.
- When your body is used to a lot of caffeine and then you stop using it, you can get symptoms including headaches, feeling tired, having trouble concentrating, and feeling grumpy.
- The caffeine in energy drinks may make it harder to sleep, which can lead to sleep deprivation.
- Energy drinks also contain a lot of sugar, which could lead to weight gain, diabetes or dental problems.
Try sports drinks instead
People use sports drinks to replace water and electrolytes lost through sweating after activity. They also restore carbohydrates that athletes use.
Water is the main ingredient in sorts drinks, but they also contain other substances like sugar, as well as electrolytes, minerals, some protein, vitamins, or caffeine.
The ingredients in sports drinks are each important for different aspects of an athletes’ performance. If you’re not an athlete and do enjoy sports drinks, you’ve got to realise that they may probably cause you to put on weight. This is because sports drinks are designed to replace nutrients that were lost during exercise. So if you haven’t expended this energy, you’ll be adding more calories into your body which will cause weight gain. So just be careful of this.
Energy drinks are definitely not an option for athletes who are looking to replace fluids they lost during exercise. While it may enhance performance in the shortterm, the long-term effects of caffeine and sugar that energy drinks contain can be dangerous for an athletes’ nutritionalhealth. What is particularly detrimental for an athlete is the lack of sleep that caffeine abuse can cause – athletes need to be well rested so that their bodies can function optimally. If they become sleep deprived they may probably end up causing themselves an injury.
Sports drinks are very popular among athletes and recreational people exercising for fitness, but it’s been a hotly debated topic whether they’re any better than plain water. Research supports sports drinks’ benefits in athletes, as they contain the main components that every athlete needs: water, carbs and electrolytes. However, water paired with the right diet can provide the same benefits, if not more.
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