Effects of sports drinks
In recent years the world of sport has seen athletes become increasingly more concerned with maximizing their performance and doing anything within the rules, and sometimes outside of them, to assure that they have any upper hand on their competition. Proper hydration is not a new concept to any sort of activity, but ever since Gatorade was introduced at the University of Florida in 1966 there has been a debate over whether or not sports drinks are superior to regular water for athletic performance. Today there are countless companies that produce sports drinks like Gatorade and the power of advertising can lead people to believe that these products will help them achieve the same levels as the celebrities that promote them, however there are many factors that must be taken into consideration when trying to determine if these drinks will actually be beneficial for the athlete. With the annual sales of Gatorade alone last year at about two-hundred million dollars (Waldie, 2003), it is no secret that the competition for sales is very intense, so proper knowledge of the products the athletes are buying is vital. The purpose of this study is to determine if sports drinks are more effective than water for overall athletic performan
Not all studies have shown that sports drinks are the optimal drink for rehydration. A study in 1994 by Hickey, Costell and Trappe, took a less scientific approach to determining what beverage is best to consume. In 1968, studies showed that 2.5% was the highest concentration of sugar that you could put in your exercise drink and still absorb it rapidly. This posed a problem because drinks taste best when they contain a 10% concentration of sugar. Coca Cola and all soft drinks fruit juices contain 10% sugar. Soon after these studies, manufacturers started to sell exercise drinks containing 2.5%. They didn't taste good because the concentration of sugar was too low, so some manufacturers added saccharin to sweeten the taste. Twenty years later, studies refuted those done in 1968 showing that only drinks that contained less than 2.5% sugar were absorbed rapidly. The 1968 studies were done on resting people. When the same studies were repeated on exercising people, 10% sugared drinks were absorbed rapidly. Other studies in the 1960's showed that carbonation and warmness delayed emptying into the blood. Several studies since then show that carbonated drinks are absorbed as rapidly as non- carbonated ones and that warm drinks are absorbed as rapidly as cold ones. When you exercise, drink any fluid that you prefer. The data clearly shows that the drink that will rehydrate you best is the one you prefer to drink at any temperature, salt concentration or carbonation (Hickey, Costell & Trappe, 1994). These results have also been supported by other studies. A palatable flavour is known to enh
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Approximate Word count = 1078
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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