Sports drink are convenient options for us to simultaneously fuel our bodies while replenishing our fluid and electrolyte losses before, during and after certain exercises.
In the previous article, we know that there are various types of sports drinks. In this article, we will be learning about when to use which types of sports drinks.
Traditionally, sports drinks are made with glucose as the form of carbohydrates and sodium. Newer sports drinks contain a blend of carbohydrates such as glucose and fructose that is easily absorbed since they use different transporter molecules in the intestine to overcome the usual bottleneck transport system. For an analogy, think of it as everyone only able to take one road to get to your destination (using one transport) versus being able to take two roads. You would expect to be stuck on the only road for quite a while, making it hard to reach your destination on time. It becomes frustrating when you are late for the appointment.
In the market, we have various types of traditional sports drinks. One with glucose and sodium and another with a blend of carbohydrates and sodium. Both have their own scenario for use. Even though the composition of sports drinks provides us with a generic balance between fluids and carbohydrate needs across the various sports, we have sports drinks that provide us various amounts of carbohydrates which again have their own use in the specific scenarios.
So, you need to ask yourself these questions before buying a sports drink.
What type of training/exercise are you going to have?
Exercise | Type of Suggested Fluids |
Rest Day/ Non-exercise Day | Water |
< 45 min exercise/ training/ gym session | Water |
45 - 75 min sustained high intensity exercise + sweating profusely | Choose Traditional sports drinks based on the typical carbohydrate, sodium and potassium composition stated in the previous article. |
1 - 2.5 hours endurance exercise including soccer match, half marathon, running, etc. | Sports drinks with a blend of carbohydrates - to make sure that carbs are fast to be absorbed. During hot and humid environments, make sure that the sports drink contains electrolytes similar to the traditional sports drinks to replenish the electrolyte losses. |
> 2.5 - 3 hours Ultra-endurance events | Sports drinks with a blend of carbohydrates - to make sure that carbs are fast to be absorbed. During hot and humid environments, make sure that the sports drinks contain electrolytes similar to the traditional sports drinks to replenish the electrolyte losses. |
What are the possible scenarios would you be in?
The choice of the composition of sports drinks also depends on which scenario you are in
Possible Scenarios | Suggested types of Fluids |
Non-exercise Day where you sweat excessively (in the hot and humid climate) | Sports drinks with lower carbohydrate content or diluted sports drinks may be used. |
Non-exercise Day where you are not sweating | Water |
Short duration of exercises in the Hot and Humid climate where you would sweat excessively | Sports drinks with low carbohydrate content or diluted sports drinks may be used. You can also use the hydration Isotonic Ice bar/ Sports drinks slushies to cool yourself down before warm-up and after the exercise/training. |
Exercising in the Colder climate/ in the temperate countries where you would be sweating less (excluding the scenario where you over clothe yourself in the cold climate while exercising) | Sports drinks with higher carbohydrate content may be used with other sports foods |
Competitive individuals/ athletes who periodise their carbohydrate intakes to help with training adaptations | Depending on which periodise phase you are in, the choice of sports drinks changes. E.g. when Sports Nutritionist strategize for you (based on your prescribed exercises by the coach) to be on a high carbohydrate diet/ carbohydrate loading, sports drinks with higher carbohydrate content may be used. |
When is it unnecessary?
Sports drinks are not needed during every training session/ exercise routine/ competition event. It may not give you additional benefit when you consume them every day. It can affect your physique goals and performance goals as it will unnecessarily increase your energy intakes when you overconsume sports drinks and take them at every training/ exercise session.
How about those that contain Protein?
The consumption of such sports drinks may provide some benefit with time to exhaustion which may be from a generic effect of an additional energy intake rather than a unique benefit from protein.
It is possible to consume such sports drinks during prolonged lower or intermittent intensity exercise. It may help with protein synthesis goals. It can also be consumed during intensified training or competition to recover better. However, other everyday foods and sports foods sources can be consumed instead to achieve this. In addition, protein-containing sports drinks may cause gut discomfort for some competitive individuals.
Any concerns about drinking Sports Drinks?
Dental erosion
Like any other carbohydrate-containing fluids, sports drinks have been shown to contribute to dental erosion.
To prevent this, please follow these steps:
only use sports drinks in the specified scenarios stated above. Consider your primary needs which are hydrating and fuelling (from carbohydrates)
minimize the contact time with sports drinks with your teeth by avoiding the swishing of the drink around the mouth & using a squeezy bottle/ straw to direct the fluids towards the back of the mouth.
consume water immediately after consuming a sports drink to rinse the mouth out when able to.
where practical, consume dairy products after the session
avoid brushing teeth for at least 30 minutes after consuming sports drinks to allow the tooth enamel to reharden.
Gut discomfort
Some athletes feel that sports drinks can cause gut discomfort or make them feel unwell. Here are some strategies to help you minimize these problems:
Start your training/ exercise well-hydrated. Dehydration can increase the risk of gut discomfort during exercise. This is often the cause of such complaints.
Do practice fluid intake strategies during training to be familiarised with the volume and composition of the sports drinks. Remember the composition of the sports drinks may differ so you would have to specifically familiarise with the particular composition.
Go through 'gut training' where you would allow the gut to develop better capacity to absorb carbohydrate and feel comfortable.
For endurance exercises and ultra-endurance events, sports drinks with blended carbohydrates may assist in helping with gut discomfort especially when carbohydrates are consumed at a higher rate of intake. Just take note that not every athlete/competitive individual can tolerate fructose especially those with fructose malabsorption or FODMAP intolerance.
Interference with training adaptation
We help athletes periodise their carbohydrate intakes to support their training adaptations. The choices of sports drinks are made based on the prescribed training plan by your coach during the week. For some training sessions, you may be told to lower the carbohydrate intakes to help increase some important adaptive responses to the exercise/training. So, choosing the wrong type of sports drinks and wrong timing of consuming sports drinks could interfere with how you adapt to your training and improve your training.
Key Takeaways
Choose the right sports drinks based on the type of training you have and what scenarios you are likely to experience.
Read the food label carefully to identify which only contains sugar / sugar-related ingredients and which contains a blend of carbohydrates.
You may experience high energy intakes and dental erosion when you take sports drinks unnecessarily.
You may experience gut discomfort after consuming sports drinks when you are not well-hydrated.
Let the sports nutritionist know the details so that she/he is able to help you select the type of fluids and plan when to consume them.
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