Sports drinks such as Lucozade, Gatorade and the like are aggressively marketed, during sports events especially. When we see elite athletes in competition it is hi-tech sports drinks that they are swigging. Words like ‘hydration’ and ‘isotonic’ are bandied about. However, according to this investigation it seems that sports drinks may not be all that they claim to be.

Credit: Ed Yourdon

Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center have conducted an extensive investigation into the relationship between sporting performance at various levels and drinking sports drinks. What they found runs quite contrary to the message that the drinks companies want to put out.

For short periods of exercise or the kind that people would normally engage in, absolutely no benefit was found to be conferred to those who drank sports drinks rather than water. The scientists also found that for most people normal dietary sources would provide all of the trace sodium and potassium needed, without the pricey drinks.

Some sports drinks are geared towards recovery. The study found that these too would be largely unnecessary for most. Recovery focused drinks provide carbohydrates, electrolytes and also protein.  While all these things are needed by the body to recover from exercise the best way for these to be delivered is in the form of a post training meal.

The study did find however that sports drinks provided a legitimate benefit to certain groups. Those in training for endurance events such as the London Marathon could find that the use of sports drinks can help to “fill a gap” and provide a temporary boost. Essentially what the investigation concluded was that if you spend only a short time exercising you may as well just drink water.

The other group of people besides endurance athletes who can notice real advantages to drinking sports drinks as opposed to water are people who sweat a lot and whose sweat is particularly salty. You can tell if you are one of these people if you have lots of dried salt on your skin after you finish a workout. Having your sodium levels topped up if you are amongst this group can help keep you properly hydrated.

This was certainly a thorough study. It looked at many different levels of physical activity and also at different brands of sports drink. There was however one glaring omission in terms of the areas in which sports drinks really can help. That is of course the field of hangover recovery. Doubtless these sports scientist types don’t have to regularly deal with mornings after nights of massive alcohol abuse. For the rest of us drinks like Gatorade are a magical elixir that can even make dragging ourselves into work possible…