The terms ‘sports drinks’ and ‘energy drinks’ are often confused, but in reality are two very different things. If you’re training to run a marathon or just hitting the gym for a couple of hours, sports drinks, such as Lucozade and Powerade, are your best choice as they are designed to meet specific sporting needs. All sports drinks can be arranged into three categories:
Hypotonic sports drinks are designed to replace water, vitamins and minerals lost during exercise, but they have a low level of carbohydrate and are best drunk after exercise.
Isotonic sports drinks also replace any water lost through sweat while exercising. They have a high carbohydrate content and so provide the body with an energy boost during exercise.
Hypertonic sports drinks contain high levels of carbohydrate to provide maximum energy intake, and are best drunk after exercise as they help to replenish the body’s glycogen levels.
Energy drinks like Red Bull and Rockstar can be put into two categories: glucose-based drinks and caffeine-based drinks. They are designed to increase alertness and energy because of the sugar or caffeine rush they generate, but are not recommended for use during exercise as they do not provide the body with essential vitamins and minerals lost during a workout.
But why not just drink water to stay hydrated while exercising? Put simply, water suppresses thirst and if you’re not thirsty, you don’t keep drinking. This is not good when practicing sports requiring a high fluid intake as your performance will deteriorate if you don’t drink enough liquids. Also, unlike sports drinks, water contains no carbohydrate and therefore does not provide the body with any extra energy.
So, if you’re an active type of person, you should choose a sports drink over an energy drink or plain water every time you work out.
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