Sports Drink Vs Water
Gatorade and Powerade have become synonymous with hydration. Both brands sponsor a wealth of famous athletes and fitness influencers, but thanks to all their exposure and commercial availability, the brightly colored drinks from these two powerhouse brands are often regarded as magic potions thought to speed up rehydration after an intense workout and improve your overall fitness and health.
While many people and experts view sports drinks as a healthy addition for anyone who exercises, just as many will tell you to stick to water. So, who’s right, Team sports drink or Team water? Actually, they tie: YOU ALWAYS NEED WATER, but you only sometimes need a sports drink.
As an adult, your body is roughly 60% water and you are constantly losing it through waste as well as through breathing and evaporation. You need to replenish all that water loss by drinking water throughout the day, or you will suffer the consequences of dehydration. You only need a sports drink, however, when you've lost a substantial amount of compounds and minerals—called electrolytes—through sweat.
Electrolytes are minerals (ie: Sodium, Chloride, Potassium, Magnesium, Calcium, Phosphate, and Bicarbonate, etc.) in your blood and other body fluids that carry an electric charge. Your cells use these electrical charges to contract your muscles. Those same electrical charges also help with chemical reactions, especially when it comes to hydration and the balance of fluids inside and outside of cells. Without electrolytes, your body won’t work.
So the answer is: If you’re just working out for 45 minutes, drinking water throughout the workout and afterward will keep you plenty hydrated. But if you’re running a long distance, working out in hot weather, develop low blood sugar during exercise, or doing multiple hours of strenuous activity, Gatorade or some other electrolyte-enhanced beverage can aid you in your activity by replenishing the necessary electrolytes your body has lost but needs to function.
As convenient as sports drinks are, our ancestors did not have access to Gatorade’s Frost Arctic Blitz, they got their electrolytes through real food:
Fish: Salmon, sardines, and mackerel all have high concentrations of calcium.
Fruit: Bananas, as well as oranges and melons, are a good source of potassium. So are avocados, which are also technically in the fruit family.
Nuts and seeds: If you’re looking for food with magnesium, look to nuts and seeds. Almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, pumpkin and watermelon seeds are all a great source of magnesium.
Spinach: This leafy green is packed full of electrolytes. One cup of spinach contains 839 mg of potassium, 245 mg of calcium, and 157 mg of magnesium. Popeye was on to something!
The bottom line? Both water and sports drinks have their place in the fitness world. You just have to know when to drink them. If the idea of performance issues stresses you out, click the button below for a complimentary consultation. One of our Success Studio personal trainers would love to help answer questions like “Do I need to supplement my workout with electrolytes?”