Do sports drinks really work?

[Les The Gnome]

Now for a bit of science! An interesting report on episode 3 of the Channel 4 programme "The Food Hospital". It was called "The Truth About Sports Drinks".

They did a test on some Oxford University rowers who were training for the Boat Race. They cycled on stationary bikes for 75 mins at 60% capacity, followed by another short test at near maximum capacity.

In the report, the scientist doing research at Oxford Brookes University said that if you are exercising "for maybe 45 mins or longer in a continuous fashion, it's likely to enhance your performance"; also later, "Carbohydrate drink tends to increase endurance by around 10% to 20% typically".

Rather than using any commercial sports drink product, he made his own sports drink out of low calorie squash, sweetener, glucose powder, a little salt and water - costs about 10p for what looks like 500ml of drink. Nowhere in the programme does it mention that the sports drink he made is isotonic.

You can view the programme on 40D, the Channel 4 catch-up service, on-line until about the middle of December. The report starts after 16mins 20sec and is about 3 mins long, but you'll have to watch a few mins of adverts to get there!

[kennyforster]

We've been making our own "sport" drinks for a while now using the same ingredients that you mentioned. We buy boxes of glucose powder from Superdrug (I've always thought that's a great name for a high-street shop). Works out much cheaper and is probably just as effective as the ready-made brands.

[Scorchio]

How do you find your homemade drinks Kenny in comparison to shop sold, branded ones? It'd sure save a considerable sum over the course of a season to make my own as opposed to buying ad hoc.

[kennyforster]

They work fine and you get to choose your favourite flavour of squash to mix it in. The stuff we use is called Glucose Plus C from Superdrug. I don't know how much it costs (it's usually Karon who buys it as it was her idea to do this) but it will work out far cheaper.

[u1tr4ch4rl13]

I rarely use anything more than an occasional 'nuun' tablet although when i do i dilute some pure fruit juice (red grape is nice) 50;50 with water. Personally i don't like strong oversweet flavours of sports drinks.

[Les The Gnome]

More science!... There are three basic types of sports drink:

• Isotonic: Similar concentration of salts and carbohydrate as in the human body - about 6%.
  
• Hypotonic: Lower salts/carbo (i.e. more water). Best for maintaining hydration.
  
• Hypertonic: Higher salts/carbo (i.e. less water and more concentrated). Best for post run recovery.
  

If I understand correctly, the higher the concentration of carbo in the drink, the slower the fluid is absorbed by the body.

I've tried various and find that isotonic suits me best. I only tend to use it in long training runs & races (more than around 90 mins). I used to make my own (like Karon & Kenny). I don't use that much these days so I find the supermarket own-brand for about £1.25 for 4x500ml bottles is OK. Try the various ones to see what tastes good for you.

Many people prefer just water - good for hydration but has no carbohydrate content for an energy boost.

Do a bit of research, try the various ones and find what suits you. But beware; there's a lot of quasi-science out there!

[cheatin]

They work in my head,but that means nothing,lots of strange things work in my head,but i'd better not go into details here,people may not understand.

[Les The Gnome]

I think that staying out of the inside of cheatin's head is a very good idea...