Researchers found that consuming carbohydrates gradually through the consumption of sports drinks may help to prevent blood sugar crashes while exercising. Sports drinks provide the carbohydrates (sugar) and fluids needed to feed the muscles and keep them hydrated.
Sports drinks have high concentrations of sugar in order to give drinkers a feeling of energy shortly after consuming them. This is a common expectation or drinks that are meant to improve physical performance. But the sugar high they cause is temporary, and people experience a crash shortly afterward.
Fueling your muscles with carbohydrates or sugars allows you to work the muscles harder, due to the energy it provides. Carbs (sugars) help keep your blood glucose levels steady and also supply energy for your working muscles.
Research suggests that the performance benefits of consuming carbohydrates (sugars) while exercising may be due to maintaining blood glucose levels, providing additional fuel for the body, and the effects on the central nervous system. Carbohydrates may provide benefits to performance across an array of sporting events, providing fuel sources to muscles and the brain.
Carbohydrates, like simple sugars, provide energy to muscles and aid in muscle recovery. These drinks provide carbohydrates (sugars) that may provide an immediate energy source during times when your body stores are depleted.
Water and Sports Drinks Compared
The difference between sports drinks and water is that, generally, sports drinks will contain carbohydrates in the form of glucose (a simple sugar), along with electrolytes like sodium, potassium, magnesium, chloride, calcium, and phosphate. In short, sodium is an electrolyte source that helps to regulate the body’s fluid balance, whereas sugars or carbohydrates give energy to the body. Electrolytes help regulate the fluid balance in the body while carbohydrates provide energy. Electrolytes such as sodium and potassium keep your body’s fluid levels balanced and keep your muscles working correctly.
When we exercise, our bodies burn through their stores of carbohydrates, and also lose important electrolytes via sweat. For less than 90 minutes of training, the body may use sugars to help replenish its carbohydrate stores.
When exercising for less than 90 minutes, only small amounts of carbohydrates/sugar are needed (about 1 – 2 grams, either as dextrose or glucose) to help make sure the fluids and electrolytes that you are consuming are being absorbed. That is, you want rapidly digestible carbohydrates (simple sugars) throughout the exercise session and afterward, to maximize performance and recovery.
Maltodextrins and other complex carbohydrates provide other important benefits for performance compared with simple sugars, including allowing the body to extract up to double the amount of energy in one hour. Sports drinks containing complex carbohydrates rather than simple sugars may have almost double the amount of energy at isotonic conditions as drinks that are 100% simple sugar.
The carbohydrates in many popular sports drinks are just sugar, which is fine for times when you need sustained energy for activities such as running a marathon, but it is less ideal as a hydrator during regular training. The carbohydrates in sports drinks are usually in the form of sugar. A single 32-ounce sports drink may have 56-76 grams of sugar — which is equivalent to around 14-19 teaspoons.
Sports Drinks Have Electrolytes
Sports drinks may replace the water and electrolytes lost through sweat for athletes and individuals working out for longer periods, but on the downside, sports drinks may also contain large amounts of sugar. According to the University of Illinois Extension, sugars found in sports drinks delay absorption of fluids, thereby slowing hydration. High-sugar drinks often raise the risk of dehydration and cause bloating nausea or stomach discomfort.
Excess sugar in sports drinks can cause many complications, including digestive (GI) discomfort, decreased athletic performance, decreased muscle function, cramping, etc. When carbohydrate concentration is too high (above 4%, or 4 grams per 100ml of liquid), your body needs to work harder to try and draw fluids and nutrients into your small intestine, where they can be absorbed.
Carbohydrate concentrations higher than that may inhibit gastric emptying, leading to upset in your bowels while exercising and impaired performance. In contrast, concentrations of 10 to 12 percent carbohydrates found in sodas and fruit juices inhibit gastric emptying and raise risks of cramping and another gastrointestinal discomfort.
Taking sports drinks while exercising for a longer period may help keep your blood glucose up and provide extra fuel for working muscles, which delays fatigue and enhances end-of-workout performance. Sports drinks that contain electrolytes and carbohydrates may help to keep hydrated for longer types of exercise (such as longer-distance running/cycling, school football tournaments, longer hiking, etc.
Water Is Better for Hydration
Water is a great option for hydration, however, sports drinks with sugars and electrolytes (sodium or potassium) can help replace what is lost throughout long-term exercise, particularly when it is hot. Sodium (salt) is a major electrolyte substitute, thus helping with hydration, but it also helps absorb sugars and stimulates thirst, encouraging an athlete to drink more. If time is tight between practice sessions or races, drinks that contain more sodium can facilitate more efficient rehydration.
It is recommended athletes consume smaller amounts often (rather than large quantities all at once) and try variations throughout their workouts. A sports drink with little to no sugar or sports water will help hydration, and may therefore be an appropriate option for athletes exercising less than 60 minutes, or for endurance athletes who would rather consume carbohydrates through a solid meal. Sugar provides carbohydrates in sports drinks, which can improve performance in endurance sports (90+ minutes) and higher-intensity sports (60+ minutes).
Research has unequivocally shown that the sugars in sports drinks enhance athletic performance substantially, and there is no evidence that the consumption of sports drinks solely within an athletic context causes weight gain and metabolic disorders, as overall sugar consumption is known to do. Consuming sugars in sports drinks can be harmful only if they fail to perform that function better than substitute ingredients, or if using sports drinks for their intended purposes causes significant adverse health problems outpacing their performance benefits.
One study found that sports drinks that contained faster-acting sugars, glucose, and fructose, increased performance on cycling time trials substantially more than sports drinks with galactose, precisely because galactose takes too damn long to get into your muscles.
During an intensive workout, the only thing causing blood glucose levels to drop is the depletion of your liver’s glycogen reserves, and this happens faster if you do not eat enough sugar, or you mistakenly eat the long-lasting complex carbohydrates that provide sustained energy. Glycogen may run low if you work for a long enough period, so marathon runners and other endurance athletes will often opt to down a small gel containing lots of carbohydrates: it provides essential fuel to their muscles.