Despite declining sales in sugary beverages such as soda and juice over the last decade, the US sports drink market is safe and here to stay. The sports drink market of $852.0 million in 2017 is projected to grow to $1,135.2 million by the end of 2023 at a CAGR of 4.3%. The market is overwhelmingly dominated by Gatorade, having 77% market share, with PowerAde in second with only 20% share. The millennial generation seems to drive the sports drink market exponentially with their interest in fitness and willingness to pay for health products. On the surface, sports drinks seem to provide the optimal method of quenching thirst with their convenient capacity to both re-hydrate and replenish electrolytes lost through sweat during a tough workout, however, a question lies in whether Gatorade’s clever marketing schemes demonizing thirst provide an accurate picture of when sports drinks are helpful in optimizing health and performance, and when they are just a waste of money.
The three main components of sports drinks are:
1. Carbohydrates
- This includes primarily sucrose, glucose, and/or fructose.
- The carbs are meant to replenish muscle glycogen, increase fluid absorption, and improve flavor.
2. Sodium
- The sodium is meant to enhance fluid and glucose absorption, replace electrolytes, stimulate the feeling of thirst to encourage more hydration, and help retain fluid.
3. Potassium
The potassium is meant to enhance glucose absorption and replace electrolytes lost through sweat.
ACSM recommends the use of sports drinks for moderate to high intensity exercise lasting anywhere from 60 minutes to several hours. This is in part based off of research that showed the added benefit of sugars and electrolytes in sports drinks can potentially improve performance by up to 20% during bouts of endurance exercise lasting 90 minutes or more. Their recommendation insinuates that sports drinks have their place in athletics and sports for athletes and heavily active individuals, however, they are not necessarily the best method of hydration for the everyday person working out for an hour or less each day. For the vast majority, normal meal and water intake are more than adequate in restoring euhydration and electrolytes. This should be great news for consumers, as the cost of sports drinks is continuously on the rise as the market continues to grow. This should also be great news to individuals working out to lose weight, as the calorie count of one 20 oz Gatorade amounts to 125 calories of sugar. Those extra 100 or so calories can quickly become a great source of frustration for someone who is hard at work in an attempt to lose weight who is struggling to see much progress.
So if just water is needed to stay hydrated when working out, how much water is necessary?
Prior to working out, it is important to ensure you begin well hydrated. Consider drinking 16-20 oz of water about four hours before exercise, especially if pre-exercise weight is reduced, or just go by thirst cues. After exercising, the recommendation is to drink 16-20 oz of water for every pound of body weight lost through sweat. Most people are not going to weigh themselves before and after every exercise session they partake in, so again, it is probably easiest to just listen to your body and go off of thirst cues.
For more information on water intake recommendations during exercise, refer to the references listed below.
Take-Aways:
Sports drinks may be the best method of hydrating when working out for more than an hour to boost performance.
When working out for an hour or less, plain water is adequate to stay hydrated. Just drinking water when thirsty is the easiest method to go by.
References:
Roy, Brad A. “Exercise and Fluid Replacement.” ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal, vol. 17, no. 4, 2013, p. 3., doi:10.1249/fit.0b013e318296bc4b.