Sports drink
A sports drink is a functional drink that is optimized for use during physical exertion. It is used to supply water during sporting activity and as a source of energy during endurance performance.
It consists of a mixture of water , carbohydrates (usually around 30 to 80 grams per liter), minerals and often other additives such as vitamins , amino acids and trace elements . Fruit juices and flavors are used to create the taste. Some drinks are reduced in calories or made on the basis of milk serum , others also contain stimulating substances such as taurine or caffeine ( energy drinks ). Ready-mixed drinks and powder that can be mixed with water are available. The suitability of some of these drinks for sport, especially those with a high sugar content and added caffeine, is controversial.
Fruit juice drinks and lemonades are unsuitable as sports drinks: the high sugar content increases the time spent in the stomach and thus delays the absorption of water through the small intestine. In addition, the consumption of such drinks can even lead to dehydration for a short time , since the hypertonic solution in the small intestine must first be diluted before it can be absorbed. The German Olympic Sports Association , on the other hand, recommends apple juice spritzer made from equal proportions of apple juice and high-sodium and still mineral water as a sufficient drink for sports . Other self-made beverages can be mixed from different sugars with glucose , fructose , sucrose , maltose or carbohydrate mixtures and sodium, or you can use whey as the basis for the sugar and stock cubes for the sodium.
If sports drinks are to be used in competition, it is advisable to compare the subjective tolerance of different products with one another in advance.
However, isotonic drinks are only part of the story. Depending on the type and duration of physical exertion, the sports drink sometimes has to meet very different objectives. A supply of carbohydrates can be useful. The duration of exposure also determines which minerals should be supplied with the sports drink. In the case of a short exposure, the focus is on the supply of sodium , while in the case of a longer exposure, an additional supply of potassium can be useful.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Nutritional information : meet your fluid requirements! In: rightfit.de. German Olympic Sports Confederation, 2009, accessed April 7, 2009 .
- ↑ Kurt A. Moosburger: Drinking in Sport ( Memento of the original from September 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Innsbruck, November 1995, last updated March 2007 (PDF; 138 kB).
