In recent years, there has been a lot of controversy about whether
or not sports drinks can assist athletes in their performance. Some say
yes, they do, others say they don't at all, and still others say that they only
help after a certain level of activity. So who do we believe? Many people have
tried to answer this question with different studies. One study, which
was published in the Official
Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics in
May of 2011 stated that, "for the average child engaged in routine
physical activity, the use of sports drinks in place of water on the sports
field or in the school lunchroom is generally unnecessary." Keeping
in mind that this article is solely about children and adolescents, it points
out some good information. Many children, though maybe active, are
not active enough to qualify drinking sports drinks. Generally, these
types of drinks are most effective after being vigorously physically active for
at least two hours. The types of activities that last this long, such as
marathons and triathlons, are activities that not many children are involved
in. Activities such as soccer, baseball, and basketball that children and
adolescents are generally involved in usually give the participants a break at
the end of the inning, period, or quarter.
Certain studies show that sports drinks are only effective after certain
duration of activity. The question is, what is that limit? People
often give a definitive answer, such as two hours. However, I believe
that the time where the drinks become effective is different from person to
person. For example, two people could be in the gym working out next to
each other for the exact same amount of time. However, one could be
walking at 3.5 miles per hour, while the other is running at 6.5 miles per
hour. Though both workout for two hours, the person who is continuously
running is going to be working harder than the person that is walking.
Because of this, their body is burning nutrients faster, and therefore
could use the electrolytes and other micro-nutrients from the sports drinks
sooner. Another example is if two people were both walking at 3.5 miles
an hour for two hours. For one, this is the first day of physical activity in
nearly five years. For the other, however, it is simply an off day and
they are walking while their child is in gymnastics. In this case, the
beginner is going to work harder than the routine exerciser, and therefore will
be able to utilize the sports drinks earlier. This same idea is suggested
by a lady who was interviewed in an article published on ABCNews in August of 2012.
She stated, "Are sports drinks appropriate for everyone? Absolutely
not. Are they appropriate for some people? Absolutely so. And I think that
determination has to be made on an individual, case by case basis."
As with most things in life, we cannot set a certain time for everyone.
There may be an average or a suggestion, but in reality, the time will
vary from person to person.
Obviously, sports drinks can be beneficial when taken in the right
circumstances. After an intense, vigorous, and long-lasting workout, the
electrolytes and other nutrients in the drinks can be very rewarding.
However, many people abuse them by taking them to simply quench thirst or
to enjoy the beverage. In these situations, the drinks simply add
unwanted calories to the diet. We must learn to educate the public as to
when to take these drinks in order to get the true benefits of the drink.
(2011) Clinical Report-Sports Drinks and Energy Drinks for Children and Adolescents: Are They Appropriate? Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Retrieved July 5 from http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2011/05/25/peds.2011-0965.full.pdf+html
Avila, J. (2012). Study: Sports Drink Science Is Self-Serving. ABCNews. Retrieved July 4 from http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Exercise/study-sports-drink-science-serving/story?id=16939249#.UdeMqPk4uSo
Sizer, F., & Whitney, E. (2013). Nutrition: concepts & controversies (13th ed.). Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Michelle,
ReplyDeleteYou make a very good point that sports drinks are, at times, appropriate but they often are simply sources of additional calories for most people who drink them. You mentioned that a time frame of exercise is not enough to ensure that consuming sports drinks is necessary and I agree and the research I did supports that statement as well. I researched the same topic and found that sports drinks were recommended as beneficial to athletes participating in strenuous endurance activities for greater than two hours. For most people attending a gym to work out, sports drinks would not be necessary regardless of whether they are walking or if they are beginners because most of the time these people are not doing vigorous endurance activities for nearly two hours. I agree with your assessment that sports drinks appear to be most appropriate for athletes training for marathons or triathlons because of the extended time and endurance nature of these events. In general, the public needs to understand that, for most casual exercisers, water is sufficient for rehydration and sports drinks will only provide excess calories.
I definitely think sports drinks are misused and abused by children and adults. I see children drinking them every day for lunch or for a snack. I don’t think the 20-minute recess they have before lunch warrants the need for sports drinks. The children are not benefiting from them; they just add extra calories and sodium to their diets.
ReplyDeleteThere is no doubt that it would be more beneficial for the children to have 100 percent juice as part of their lunches. The children would probably enjoy the fruit juice as much, if not more, than the sports drinks anyway. I think part of the reason children drink them is because the parents are misguided and see the advertisements for these products and assume they are benefiting their children.
Recently, my three-year old daughter participated in an hour-long soccer camp, and parents provided snacks afterwards. I was a little surprised to see the number of parents who brought sports drinks for their children. I did not see the need for these products for young children who participated in an hour-long, far-from-strenuous activity. This was a situation of parental misguidance.
I know we have sports drinks in our house and drink them when they are not always necessary. My husband likes to drink them after mowing the lawn on a hot day, but he would benefit from drinking just water, too. People need more education and guidance on the benefits of drinking sports drinks.
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ReplyDeleteYour post forced me to consider a paradigm shift in my thinking. I suppose that if one considers the glucose provided by these beverages and not just the hydration and electrolytes, your scenario of the two people on the treadmill becomes all the more relevant. Though a sports drink may not be an ideal way to recover lost carbohydrates, intensity should be questioned when considering if a product like Gatorade should indeed "be in you?" Amy's post discussed a study where cyclists who were heat-acclimated participated in training sessions with various ergogenic aids. I think that it is wise that temperature be added to the mix for folks that aren't used to the heat. One summer when I was teaching cardio kickboxing, I was temporarily assigned to a room that wasn't air-conditioned. The room was usually about eighty degrees when class started and eighty-five when it ended. Unconscionably hot. After a sixty-minute class I was losing five to seven pounds of fluid and had an exponentially harder time recovering throughout the day. One serving of a sports drink or one of the sugar-free alternatives became a post- kickboxing recovery ritual as I tried to survive that brief teaching assignment. Of course, once I was reassigned to a climate-controlled room I dropped that drinks but many of my students continued to consume their calorie-filled Powerades and Vitamin Waters. I suppose some habits, unlike a sweat, can be hard to break.
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