Sports Drinks - useless or worse? (TV alert: Marketplace)

[jonovision_man]

Decided to go with a provocative title there... but when you dig into the quotes it's a bit more subtle. Certainly many on this forum will fit into the tiny portion of the population that actually benefit from sport drinks.

Marketplace is taking on Gatorade tonight:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/sports-drinks-un ... -1.2517424

“Eighty-five per cent of Canadians don’t get enough exercise to begin with, so they don’t need sports drinks. The remaining 15 per cent that actually do exercise, you probably have one or two per cent exercising really hard, really intensely enough to really need those sports drinks. In that group, probably a small subset of them are exercising long enough to need it.”

“In the scientific community, we generally don’t recommend sport drinks for anything less than 90 minutes, if you are exercising really intensely, if you are exercising in the heat, if you are exercising for a very long period of time.”

jono

[MrBond]

Decided to go with a provocative title there... but when you dig into the quotes it's a bit more subtle. Certainly many on this forum will fit into the tiny portion of the population that actually benefit from sport drinks.

Marketplace is taking on Gatorade tonight:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/sports-drinks-un ... -1.2517424

“Eighty-five per cent of Canadians don’t get enough exercise to begin with, so they don’t need sports drinks. The remaining 15 per cent that actually do exercise, you probably have one or two per cent exercising really hard, really intensely enough to really need those sports drinks. In that group, probably a small subset of them are exercising long enough to need it.”

“In the scientific community, we generally don’t recommend sport drinks for anything less than 90 minutes, if you are exercising really intensely, if you are exercising in the heat, if you are exercising for a very long period of time.”

jono

Tonight, 8 pm EST on CBC - BE THERE !

[La]

I think my friend Duff is in this show (one of the runners they talk to).

[purdy65]

I can't remember the last time I had a sports drink - probably on the course at the Hamilton Marathon.

I'm notoriously skimpy on nutrition. 1 gel for a 25K run, 2 for anything more, and 0 for anything less. If I'm long run with race pace included, I will bump up the gels a bit.

[jonovision_man]

I can't remember the last time I had a sports drink - probably on the course at the Hamilton Marathon.

I'm notoriously skimpy on nutrition. 1 gel for a 25K run, 2 for anything more, and 0 for anything less. If I'm long run with race pace included, I will bump up the gels a bit.

That's really skimpy indeed!

I'm more of a bottle for anything much over an hour kind of guy. Two for two hours, more if it's hot, less if it's not. Almost never take water, Gatorade or nothing.

jono

[scrumhalfgirl]

I can't remember the last time I had a sports drink - probably on the course at the Hamilton Marathon.

I'm notoriously skimpy on nutrition. 1 gel for a 25K run, 2 for anything more, and 0 for anything less. If I'm long run with race pace included, I will bump up the gels a bit.

I drink nuun sometimes after a run in really hot weather, but I agree - I never drink sports drinks. Don't really like them, prefer water. My fuel intake is probably similar to you.

[Run26.2]

I heard Dr. Wells (along with Ray Zahab and Dr. Terry Orlick) speak at a lecture in Ottawa not too long ago. I was impressed by Wells, ended up buying his book, and will be watching tonight to see what he says.

[bruyere]

I saw the ad for this, too, and am curious about it.

I'm also in the non-sports drink camp if I'm choosing my own fluid and fuel. I'll go for water and Nuun and/or salt pills and other food, depending on how long the outing. I did drink the sports drink at every second or third aid station in the last marathon I did (way back in 2009). I also use Nuun for longer hikes and such, for example this summer, we did a 30k trail bike ride followed by a 7.5k hike on day one, and a 24km hike (including up and down Black Tusk) on day 2. The hiking parts were with large packs, of course. I felt the need for something more than water. That said, I tend to not eat or drink enough during activity. It's something I constantly have to work on.

My current plan is to be doing a rather long outing in the desert in a few months, so I'm intrigued about what this Marketplace has to say.

[turd ferguson]

The article is a little too all-over-the-place.

Where the article falls down (for me) is that it jumps back and forth between population statistics and individuals.

I can agree that Canadians on average smoke too much and drink too many sport drinks. If I don't smoke and run marathons, tell me why the population as a whole mattes to me?

I can agree that children shouldn't drink sports drinks as part of their diet. I'm not a child.

“An average person like you, during a workout, you need to be drinking a lot of water; that’s pretty much all your body needs.

That's pretty much all I need from the article.

[Spirit Unleashed]

I can't remember the last time I had a sports drink - probably on the course at the Hamilton Marathon.

I'm notoriously skimpy on nutrition. 1 gel for a 25K run, 2 for anything more, and 0 for anything less. If I'm long run with race pace included, I will bump up the gels a bit.

Given your tank being empty at your last marathon, and falling down several times, I'd up the amounts. The last time I ran a sub4 marathon, I had a gel about every 30 min.

[QuickChick]

I don't remember the last time I used a sports drink, but I haven't run long distances in awhile. It was probably during a half marathon, as I'd use water for anything less. I tend to use water for anything under 2 hours, and I'll bring powergel blasts if it's a 2 hour run AND I'm training for a half (because I'll take a packet during the race with water). I bought a jar of glucose powder awhile back at the grocery store (British section), and I would sometimes mix a glass of water, lemon juice, a dash of salt and a couple spoons of glucose after a long run in the summer. Coconut water has also been really satisfying to me during and after runs, but it's really expensive so I don't use it a ton.

That said, though, if I'm desperate for water/salt on a run, I always go for Gatorade over PowerAde, and NEVER anything with sweetener. BLECH!!!

[MrBond]

The fall down for me is the 45 minute time limit on the activity - most runners I know think that's just getting warmed up...

[Robinandamelia]

I can't remember the last time I had a sports drink - probably on the course at the Hamilton Marathon.

I'm notoriously skimpy on nutrition. 1 gel for a 25K run, 2 for anything more, and 0 for anything less. If I'm long run with race pace included, I will bump up the gels a bit.

This is similar to me.... I'm now running up to 16 miles with no fuel now. (training only...in marathons I start 5 miles in and take cliff blocks every 45 minutes)

I do like a bottle of orange gatorade after a marathon.... and I'll take some on course if I'm lazy to chew on a block but for the most part, I don't use the sports drinks too much anymore.

[Avis]

The only time I take a sports drink (and that is diluted one-half with water) is at the end of a race--helps keep me from throwing up. Oh, and I've used the same dilution when I've had a bad gastro bug--seems to go down better than plain water.

[Spirit Unleashed]

I know people who sit in meetings and drink Gatorade.

[jgore]

I know people who sit in meetings and drink Gatorade.

Those must be tough meetings.

[Joe Dwarf]

I seldom drink Gatorade, but when I want one, it's usually because I need one. 2 hour summer run, hard summer kendo practice (sweat a lot in the gear), etc... Body just seems to be craving something blue or orange.

[jonovision_man]

I know people who sit in meetings and drink Gatorade.

Ha me too. I expect this show will be largely aimed at them.

jono

[barebuns1]

I only drink Gatorade during my marathons. I usually switch that with water at the aid stations. I think if it was Powerade I would probably skip it. I don't wear a hydration system when I run. I usually take a cliff gel every 10kms during my long runs. It works great for me.

[jonovision_man]

Show was OK - a little all over the place with the shoe segment, but the stuff around sports drinks was neat. Especially on the electrolyte end, allegedly takes two hours before any kind of electrolyte deficiency is seen.

Clara hughes was interesting too, talked about being on a team with a sponsor that made powders and bars. She said she developed an eating disorder, figuring she had all the nutrients she needed from that stuff. Now she eats real food!

jono

[Midge]

Show was OK - a little all over the place with the shoe segment, but the stuff around sports drinks was neat. Especially on the electrolyte end, allegedly takes two hours before any kind of electrolyte deficiency is seen.

Clara hughes was interesting too, talked about being on a team with a sponsor that made powders and bars. She said she developed an eating disorder, figuring she had all the nutrients she needed from that stuff. Now she eats real food!

jono

agreed show was ok
I felt they held back from making bolder statements about injuries sustained from years of running in cushioned shoes I always get the sense they fear legal backlash and never quite say what they really want to

Sent from my SM-N900W8 using Tapatalk

[MrBond]

Show was OK - a little all over the place with the shoe segment, but the stuff around sports drinks was neat. Especially on the electrolyte end, allegedly takes two hours before any kind of electrolyte deficiency is seen.

Clara Hughes was interesting too, talked about being on a team with a sponsor that made powders and bars. She said she developed an eating disorder, figuring she had all the nutrients she needed from that stuff. Now she eats real food!

jono

If sports drinks are used for recovery, rather than during training/racing then they might make more sense.
I've always had to cut Gatorade 50/50 with water or use the powder sparingly anyway.

The sports bars have never made any sense to me, why not just have a Sweet Marie ?

The shoe segment didn't really seem to say much of anything, except maybe barefoot running is more natural (duh !)

Clara Hughes is Da Bomb !!!

[MrBond]

Question: Why is everyone here so down on Powerade ?
I haven't seen any significant difference from it to Gatorade or the other sports drinks...?

[MichaelMc]

Show was OK - a little all over the place with the shoe segment, but the stuff around sports drinks was neat. Especially on the electrolyte end, allegedly takes two hours before any kind of electrolyte deficiency is seen.

Clara hughes was interesting too, talked about being on a team with a sponsor that made powders and bars. She said she developed an eating disorder, figuring she had all the nutrients she needed from that stuff. Now she eats real food!

jono

agreed show was ok
I felt they held back from making bolder statements about injuries sustained from years of running in cushioned shoes I always get the sense they fear legal backlash and never quite say what they really want to

Sent from my SM-N900W8 using Tapatalk

Maybe they didn't make statements about injuries from cushioned shoes because there is ZERO evidence shoes cause the injuries. There is no evidence they help avoid injuries either.

Sports drinks (gels, beans, etc etc) are just simple carbohydrates and electrolytes with varying amounts of water. If you don't require an infusion of simple carbohydrates then they won't benefit you. If you take in more calories than you burn you will gain weight. Bodies have a very sophisticated mechanism to control electrolyte level and supplementation is rarely needed.

SO... chugging sugar and salt without regard to need is bad for a society that eats too much and adds salt to everything? Shocking

Companies selling us an item on image rather than on pure benefit? Double shock!

[La]

I forgot to watch, but it's on CBC Newsworld tonight at 9:30ET, so I've set my PVR.