I am often asked whether sport drinks such as Gatorade are necessary or worthwhile for active people. The short answer is that sport drinks are very useful in some situations and unnecessary in others. When I speak of sport drinks, the 3 most common ones you'll find include Gatorade, Powerade, and Allsport. Most are readily available in corner stores, vending machines and even recently have appeared at movie theatres. All of these drinks are designed to be used during sports or exercise however many people simply drink them as an alternative to pop or water. All the aforementioned sports drinks contain a dilute concentration of sugars and salts to encourage rapid absorption while exercising. Are they any better than water during exercise? If you exercise longer than 90 minutes the sport drinks will provide you with a needed boost to your blood sugar level and help to increase your endurance. For example, if you are training for a marathon, doing long workouts at the gym or competing at a weekend event, a sport drink will help to keep your blood sugars stable, stay hydrated and avoid “hitting the wall”. “Hitting the wall” is a term used to describe running out of muscle “fuel” and reaching a state of complete exhaustion. If you exercise under 90 minutes, your body's supply of stored sugars should be sufficient to get you through to the end of your workout. In other words, water will suffice and sport drinks are unnecessary if you are doing workouts under 90 minutes. If you are not a fan of drinking water and you find the sport drinks more palatable, there's nothing wrong with using a sport drink to help you stay hydrated for your short workout. Keep in mind it is simply “sugar water”. A more nutritious choice would be fruit juice diluted half and half with water. You need to dilute any beverage you drink during exercise to make it easier to absorb. The ideal concentration of sugar for absorption during exercise is about 5-7%. Most fruit juice has a concentration of about 15-20% sugar as compared to 5-8% sugar in sport drinks. That is why it is important to cut your juice in half with water. Another thing to keep in mind is the type of sugar in your drink. The sugars in fruit are called fructose. They are a little slower than simple sugar (glucose, sucrose) to absorb through the digestive system. If you try dilute juice during a workout, watch for stomach cramping or even diarrhea as a sign that you are not absorbing it effectively. If your stomach gets upset, you should stick to water or sport drinks containing sucrose or glucose. If you would like to make your own simple sport drink you can use this recipe. Mix 500ml of water with 5 teaspoons of sugar or honey. Add a pinch of salt to help replenish sodium lost in your sweat. That will provide you with a sport drink containing about 30 grams of carbohydrate (sucrose) and about 150 mg of sodium. Compare those stats with the nutrition label on your favorite sport drink and you'll find you have a comparable substitute. I'll warn you now, the taste is nothing compared to the sophisticated flavours of the commercial sports drinks. You may have a hard time convincing your teenager to drink this homemade concoction at the next soccer game. Just remember that water is your best bet for short activities and splurge on the sport drinks for those longer events. And as for sport drinks in the movie theatres, they certainly won't affect performance, but they are still half the sugar of pop. Not a bad choice if you don't feel like water or juice.
Heidi Smith is a Registered Dietitian from the Health and Performance Centre. She is the author of the book “Nutrition for the Long Run - A nutrition handbook for runners, walkers and active individuals”. Her column runs every Thursday