Are sports drinks superior to water?

In some cases — yes. For general types of exercise lasting less than one hour, water is still the best sports drink around. The nutrient you most need to replace during and after these types of workouts is water.

Glucose-electrolyte solution drinks (also known as sports drinks) do have their place — mostly for high-intensity intermittent exercise, for exercise lasting more than 45 minutes, and especially for use by endurance and ultraendurance athletes. These products are a mixture of water, carbohydrate, and electrolytes. Electrolytes are dissolved minerals that form a salty soup in and around cells. They conduct electrical charges that let them react with other minerals to relay nerve impulses, make muscles contract or relax, and regulate the fluid balance inside and outside cells. In hard workouts or athletic competitions lasting 45 minutes or longer, electrolytes can be lost through sweat.

Where glucose-electrolyte solutions may have an edge over water is in their flavor. A lot of people just don't drink much water because it doesn't taste good. When soldiers participating in a study at the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine were given the choice of drinking plain chlorinated water, flavored water, or lemon-lime glucose-electrolyte solution drinks, most chose the glucose-electrolyte solutions or flavored water over plain water. One way to sneak more water in and still get the flavor is to dilute your glucose-electrolyte solution or use one of the new flavored waters such as Propel.

If you're an avid water drinker and really like water, you'll benefit just as much from water as you will from using a glucose-electrolyte solution — unless you're exercising an hour or more. But if you don't like water, or tend to avoid it during exercise, try filtered water, which has an improved taste. Or try a glucose-electrolyte solution that contains less than 8 percent carbohydrate and some sodium. Another idea is to put some powdered sports drink mix into your water, although the powdered mixes don't taste as good as their pre-mixed counterparts. At the least, if a glucose-electrolyte solution encourages you to drink more, it has done its job.

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