Are Sports Drinks Useful For Professional Athletes?

There are many risky drinks that should be avoided by professional athletes. Sodas should be banned, because they contain only water, high amount of sugar and various chemicals that bring no benefits to our body. Sports drinks, such as Powerade and Gatorade, may also be avoided. They may contain less sugar than average sodas, but can be risky when consumed regularly. It is important for professional athletes to set up proper nutritional standards. There’s still a debate on whether sports drinks are safe or just another junk food. However, manufacturers continue to argue that sports drinks are lower in calories and sugar than regular sodas, and they can improve the performance of any athlete. Even so, nutritionists have warned that regular consumption of sports drinks will add unnecessary calories to our body and we may gain weight as a result. In fact, drinking sports drinks after performing light activities will result in a weight gain. We shouldn’t be surprised with this allegation, because athletes should obtain calories only from real food.

Sports drinks typically consisted of water, as well as sugar, sodium and acid flavour enhancers. These products are relatively simple, but manufacturers are spending billions of dollars in advertising campaigns. They want consumers to believe that these sports drinks are essential for their performance and healthy. They believe that it is necessary to replenish any of the lost electrolytes, after performing intense physical exertion. However, there’s no valid scientific evidence that can support such theory. Manufacturers don’t want people to link their products with obesity and other similar problems. Professional athletes know that they need enough water and nutrients to support the physically demanding and long activities. They also know that they need to get enough calories, but it is not a good thing to gain calories from dextrose, glucose and high fructose corn syrup or HFC. The elevated level of insulin will result in a spike in overall energy level, but professional athletes will also be able to experience sudden energy crash.

It means that high sugar drinks could result in sluggish athletic performance. High level of sugar could corrode teeth. During high physical activities, our mouth could become dry and not enough saliva in our mouth to fight off the acidic effects of sugar. If professional athletes are fit enough, they don’t really require short term energy boost, due to the elevated level of insulin. Quick game of hoops and a short run doesn’t qualify as vigorous physical activities, so it doesn’t really necessary for us to consume energy drinks. Worse, many people tend to lead high sedentary lifestyle and they often have ongoing problems. Sports drinks could be helpful after a person perform vigorous physical exercises for more than an hour. If someone sweats profusely in a humid and hot weather, they will need extra fluid and simple carbohydrate that can be burned more easily. This should be a good time for you to treat yourself with a moderate amount of sports drinks.