DLN:Sports Drinks vs. Water

In the Dragonslist Newsletter (April) there was an article about drinking during training. Now, the author recommended drinking sportsdrinks. His argument was that you should drink sportsdrinks, because water makes you stop drinking before you have enough.
So, if you look at this at the cell level, what happens is this (in a very basic and abreviated form): Your cells all contain water and salts. A cell seeks to keep the same water to salt ratio as the others at all times. The thing is, water is lost for various purposes (i.e. sweating), so the concentration of salt may become imbalanced, the cells send a signal to your brain, you are thirsty. Now, if you drink sportsdrinks, you take in water plus sugar, which has the same effect as salt: it draws water. Therefore, you will need to drink more as if you drink plain water. Up to this point, the author would probably agree with my reasoning. But I say that it is not necessarily a good thing to introduce sugar into the system to slow down the process of compensating inside the cells, but it is preferable to drink water, as this will not mess with the salt/sugar side of the equation, contary to what the author stated. I believe sportsdrinks are fine if you need a quick energy burst, but otherwise, water is preferable.
What are your opinions on this? Is my logic flawed somewhere? Or is this really a question of wether a nutritionist works for Coca Cola or Evian?

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You only die once. But it lasts such a long time.-French proverb

I learned conflicting theories while in nursing school, but I stand by my own beliefs that H2O is all that is needed.
Some nutritionists suggest that the best sports drink is diluted cranberry juice.
I think you need to drink whatever you like so that you get something into yourself.
Maybe hold off on the booze and caffeine.

".....I think milk was a bad choice..." - Anchorman

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“Lula; o assassino da vergonha."

Personally I try not to drink too much before I train, because if I do I feel like I'm going to explode. But while your theories and arguments are interesting to me, I just don't see the point of it. Try sportsdrinks if you don't like it do water. I drink water because it's cheap and I know it has to work.

Ah, hydration management! Always a fun topic!

Sports drinks that have salt in them as well as sugar are a little better than those with just sugar & flavoring. Diluted cranberry juice sounds OK. Undiluted juices will make your blood sugar spike & then crash, which is not good in the middle of a workout ...

I typically start hydrating about 1.5 hours before a workout. 20 oz. of water and then I refill the bottle & sip it for the rest of the time. If I feel like I need energy for the workout I will eat something that my system will work on for awhile, like nuts & dried fruit. Never juice or sports drinks beforehand. I have another full glass of water 15 minutes before the workout. During the workout (about a 1.5-hour class plus whatever extra time I can put in beforehand), I might take a mouthful of water or two halfway through, but I don't drink nearly so much. After the workout I have a sports drink, and if I feel hungry, another handful of dried fruit & nuts on the way home.

The important thing, esp. in summer, is to have the body well-hydrated before the workout; it will deal with the whole workout much better. Having something with sugar in it after the workout will help your body rehydrate (and give you energy to limp to the T for the ride home), but I haven't had good experiences with sugar drinks during a workout.

After I get home I eat some kinda protein. Eggs, fish, meat, whatever. Few or no carbs. In hot weather I make a home version of Tam Kar Gai (coconut milk soup) which has chicken broth, coconut milk, shrimp, chicken, mushroom & lemon grass; or I go to a Vietnamese restaurant near my school that serves a chicken soup with whole tomatoes and noodles. Both have lots of protein & sodium among other things and rehydrate & give energy very quickly.

Oh yeah and ... after all that, then the booze!

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"Pain can be a great teacher of compassion and humility."~ Unkotare-san

"Whatever the case, it proves that countless disasters can be prevented by simply assuming everyone you're working with is a moron." ~ Adam Brown, 5 Tiny Mistakes...

A couple of summers ago a Brit girl cycling in France in the summer killed herself by drinking only water. When you sweat you sweat out salts, you need those salts, if you drink just water then you encourage the body to sweat out more salts. Of course, if you're eating right and only working out for a couple of hours in normal conditions it's no big deal either way. I used to be able to wring a large puddle out of my shirt half way through class and drank only water to no ill effect, but if you're really training hard for long periods sports drinks containing salts are the way to go. Sugar and absorbtion and so on... most of us don't train at a level where it matters.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/st...492713,00.html

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Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you
High mountains are a feeling
I don't need to sell my soul, he's already in me

Interesting article. I did know about the salt part, but what I didn't know is that you can flush that salt out completly in such a short period of time as the article mentioned (about 4 hours) if you don't drink huge amounts of water. Then again, the amount of salt you lose also depends on how well trained you are, a trained athlete will lose much more water but also less salt than an amateur.

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You only die once. But it lasts such a long time.-French proverb

Geez guys, unless you are pulling some serious Lance Armstrong training, I think yall are worrying about this a little too much.

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"When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night he checks his closet for Cam McHargue"

“	Originally Posted By: StormMountain Geez guys, unless you are pulling some serious Lance Armstrong training, I think yall are worrying about this a little too much.	”

Agreed.

I'm all about finding what works for you. We have a thing about not eating eggs before workouts, particularly test days since those are so much more intense. Apparantly about 6 mos before I started one guy had a good breakfast of eggs before the test. About halfway through those eggs ended up on the mats. My last test I woke early to get a good breakfast and give it time to settle before the test started. My eggs, sausage, and toast stayed down quite well.

Point is as many have said and many more will say, different strokes for different folks. I tend to prefer Powerade over plain water while working out. During the day I easilly drink over a gallon of water though, and I prefer it then.

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Always fear the man with nothing to lose
- J

Nah, not too much ... but if I don't follow that schedule, esp. in the summer, there's a huge difference in my energy levels after class. And if I want to go out for a beer afterward, forget about it, one lousy Bud Light would knock me right out. That is a tragedy I try to avoid at all costs.

__________________
"Pain can be a great teacher of compassion and humility."~ Unkotare-san

"Whatever the case, it proves that countless disasters can be prevented by simply assuming everyone you're working with is a moron." ~ Adam Brown, 5 Tiny Mistakes...

“	Originally Posted By: Jaron We have a thing about not eating eggs before workouts, particularly test days since those are so much more intense. Apparantly about 6 mos before I started one guy had a good breakfast of eggs before the test. About halfway through those eggs ended up on the mats.	”

I thought you were going to say something about eggs causing "mud butt". LOL......

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It's all about the nitty gritty.......

“	Originally Posted By: Mr. Dragon Personally I try not to drink too much before I train, because if I do I feel like I'm going to explode. But while your theories and arguments are interesting to me, I just don't see the point of it. Try sportsdrinks if you don't like it do water. I drink water because it's cheap and I know it has to work.	”

Water is cheap ? it's a $1.50 for a 20oz bottle or its free where I live. Do you know what Evian spells backwards ?

“	Originally Posted By: jawsman I thought you were going to say something about eggs causing "mud butt". LOL......	”

No, no. That would be bran muffins and coffee.

__________________
Always fear the man with nothing to lose
- J

@openmind: America's water prices are extreme, but it's not that way everywhere...here in Switzerland, tap water costs next to nothing and tastes like american bottled spring water, and even better in the mountains.

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You only die once. But it lasts such a long time.-French proverb

London tap water is almost free and has been carefully purified by several sets of kidneys before it gets to your tap.

__________________
Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you
High mountains are a feeling
I don't need to sell my soul, he's already in me

My tapwater bill is about 30$ every other month. Spring water by the gallon costs about 1$ at the grocery store. It's like soda. A 20 oz. at a gas station and a 2 liter at the grocery store cost about the same. We have a functional well on our property. I need to get a hand pump for it.

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"When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night he checks his closet for Cam McHargue"