The best sports drink is water. No need for sugar etc.

It's got electrolytes !

(aka salt)

BRAWNDO! IT'S WHAT PLANTS CRAVE!

I'm sticking with the report that said chocolate milk was just as good.

Depending on the sport... For some sports, beer is the best sports drink! Two that come to mind:

Golf. Riding around in a little cart chasing a white ball around with a stick sure builds up a thirst!

Watching NASCAR. Sittin' out there in the heat and humidity of a 150 degree southern racetrack sure makes you thirsty! I think racetrack vendors operate on a quota of 3-4 gallons of beer for every fan in attendance. :)

@Slottsherre: Not necessarily. Water is great up to a point and I'll agree that for most people who typically do a low intensity sport water is the best thing. But if your sport is very intense and involves sweating for several hours straight the sugar (carbs) helps provide some energy and the salt is a necessity. I mountain bike and usually burn about 2000-4000 calories in a single ride. I typically burn those sugar calories in minutes and if I don't get the salt I'll start cramping in about 4 hours.

Actually, the sugar and salt enhances the absorption of the water. Water follows both of these. This is my the IV that the hospitals give you contain glucose (sugar). Otherwise, it goes right out the body because the body will eliminate the water to maintain homeostasis.

This is why folks who drink large amounts of water spend a lot of time running to the bathroom. The body is fighting to maintain homeostasis, but the person in constantly putting it off kilter.

@floraposte: Chocolate milk is the perfect exercise recovery drink.

One of the things my running coach taught me was that sports drinks are way too sweet. They should be diluted one part sport drink two parts water.

If it's sweet, keep diluting to the point where you can still drink it.

This also saves money! :-)

Water's fine unless you're exerting yourself for an hour or more; then you should consider a sports drink.

Most commercial sports drinks are junk and should be avoided. Gatorade's proportion of sodium to potassium is the opposite of what it should be. If you must use commercial drinks, do not dilute them; prepare them as recommended.

Glucose is the only sugar that enters the bloodstream directly from the stomach and is necessary for muscle cells to contract. All other sugars are converted to glucose for this process.

I've tried the above recommended "sports drink" and it tastes terrible.

Try this ~ it contains potassium:

[www.webmd.com]

Gatorade is bottom of the barrel as sports drinks go. Simple sugars are not the best fuel for someone who is exercising for extended periods of time (too much sugar can upset your stomach) and there are other electrolytes that the human body needs to replenish than just salt.

Plain water, as previously mentioned, CAN be a "sports drink", but only for periods of exertion of less than an hour and a half; periods longer than that require some carbohydrates to enable the body to continue efficiently burning fat stores.

Higher-end sports drinks use maltodextrin as a carb source, contain an entire spectrum of electrolytes, and also contain a small amount of protein and fat as well as some trace elements. If you really want to make your own sports drink that's effective and won't sour your stomach, plain maltodextrin powder is available from health food stores for $10-12 per 16 servings, supplying 52.5 grams of complex (but high GI) carbohydrate, to which you can add whatever flavorings and electrolytes you want to round it out. Stuff will keep you going all day long if you need it to.

@cortana: It's got electrolytes.
What *are* these electrolytes? Do you even know?
They're... what they use to make Brawndo!
But *why* do they use them to make Brawndo?
Because Brawndo's got electrolytes.

@Slottsherre: Sorry, no. While most probably don't need the sugar, the electrolytes are usually crucial. They help rehydrate you much quicker than water would, and keep your body in balance. Your kidneys can easily filter out the excess, but you're in trouble if you have too little of most things.

@MPB_WY: The warning at the end sounds ominous "Small variations can make the drink less effective or even harmful." Looks like something I want to try (water doesn't seem to cut it for me when I'm biking, but sports drinks are too sweet and too caloric.) Is there some way to add flavor without upsetting the balance here? Like, maybe those Crystal Lite packets or something?

I really wish I could enjoy drinking plain water, but the lack of flavor turns me off. I think I'll try this recipe.

@floraposte: I had a friend who used beer as her exercise recovery drink.

I like me some beer, but that was a little much for me!

@bugsnbre: Stupid homeostasis, makin' me pee!

@floraposte: And I thought it was not going to be possible to out-"i make my own at home" this article.

@morethannoise: I keep a big bottle of "ReaLemon" lemon juice in my fridge door and squirt a bit of lemon in my water. I like just a *touch* of sweetness in my water (unless the water's really really cold) and that provides it easily and cheaply.

Emergen-C and similar products can be sources of less expensive sports drinks. Emergen-C makes a product called Electromix that is a sugar-free electrolyte drink. A box of 30 (1 qt) packets costs about $10-$12, or 30¢-40¢ a qt. There's no reason you couldn't use their regular Emergen-C product as a sports drink, diluting a packet with a quart of water, for a cost of less than 30¢ a quart.

@mmmsoap: Welcome to the land of the disclaimer. What can you possibly do to a homemade sports drink to make it harmful? Humorous suggestions accepted.

Something I was thinking: Why are sports drinks usually higher in sodium than potassium, when the recommended Na:K dietary ratio is about 1:2?

@TurboWagon00: It's what plants crave!

I'll go the opposite of most of the posts here and talk about value. If you are interested in buying Gatorade on the cheap, my local Lowes had a case of 12 bottles for $10.99. The case also included a $10.00 gift card for use at Lowes on a future purchase (the gift card was included in the case, nothing to mail in, no activation required), so if you enjoy Gatorade, and you regularly shop at Lowes, pick yourself up a couple of cases if it is also in your local store.

@ken2148: @mmmsoap:
Ditto on that. I don't like the taste of sports drinks, but they are a necessary evil during my weekly long run. Water is fine for the rest of the week's workouts.

@floraposte: Milk is better after you excercise. Sports drinks are for while you are exercising. The difference is that you need water and electrolytes (and possibly sugar) during, but you need protein afterwards. Also, protein will slow down the absorption of sugar (which is why there isn't any in sports drinks).

Coconut water is a natural alternative- and has about 600 milligrams of potassium per cup along with some calcium, magnesium, sodium, and sugar.

Apparently coconut water has the same electrolyte balance as blood.

I just like the taste of it, mostly.

If you're going to make your own sports drink, I'd recommend using a 'lite salt' or a mix of salt and salt substitute to get potassium as well.

Years ago Runner's World magazine suggested that after a workout you drink diluted orange juice: 50% OJ and 50% water. They called it "the poor man's Gatorade."

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): Exercising AND getting drunk???!!

Please shake your friend's hand for me, she's a genius.

@zacox: AMEN BROTHA! (making sure my stock of Bud Light is ample for today's race at the Glen...)

@mmmsoap: I think most people will suffer from energy depletion faster than from electrolyte shortage

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): You know what else lemon is good in?? LIQUOR. Lots and LOTS of liquor.

(...So completely happy I can have a drink here and there again :)

@bennilynn: @zacox: You forgot rugby. Almost a necessity to play.

@mike: I actually find that's a good way on a ride to figure out if I'm too dehydrated. Sports drinks don't taste really sweet (compared to other sugar-water beverages of the non-sport kind) until your body is out of balance by too wide a margin.

While I won't dilute it while I drink them, I usually drink two bottles of water for every sports drink bottle, so I guess I wasn't all that far off!

@Ssscorpion: I was thinking along the same lines, wouldn't a big bottle of water and 3 or 4 orange wedges work. A little sugar, a tiny bit of salt and lots of water. YUM.

@morlo: Hence the article's point that MOST PEOPLE DO NOT NEED ENERGY DRINKS. That is very different from Slottshere's suggestion that NOBODY needs energy drinks.

@morethannoise: A peeled cucumber slice or two in a tall glass of ice water tastes great.

@Ssscorpion: Why would it be the poor man's Gatorade? Unless you're squeezing oranges from the tree in your backyard, Gatorade is probably cheaper, especially if you get the store brand versions.

go buy generic sports drink powder from Walmart or CVS or somewhere. Save yourself the buying of lemons, oranges, etc. Sometimes, companies have gotten it better than you can at home, and you're not saving yourself that much, and instead costing yourself time. A big jar of powder that can make 50 drinks will cost what, $5? And how much will you spend on fruit?

@Ssscorpion: With the cost of OJ, that combo (which I like) can still be pretty expensive, but it includes lots of much-needed potassium, so that's a good thing.

This site has some home made gatorade recipes, that include Morton's Lite Salt so that it very closely mimics the electrolyte content of actual gatorade.

[sportsgirlsplay.com]

I'm still a big fan of coconut water as a sports drink, as its isotonic, and full of potassium (about 6x as much as banana per cup), but I don't exercise enough for it to really make a difference.

@kepler11:

"How much can one banana cost? Ten dollars?"

@Slottsherre: Strangely enough, some studies have shown that the best sports drink is chocolate milk.

The problem with plain water is it doesn't always clear the mouth out. When I'm panting between fencing bouts, I need that.

@Verucalise-WelcomeBethany: And congratulations!

@morethannoise: I've been throwing a few slices of lemon and some mint into a pitcher of water and stashing it in the fridge. Change lemon & mint daily - but even though I can't drink plain water, the pitcher goes pretty fast, and changing the stuff inside is no problem! Mmmmm.

@mythago: The reason I went to the lemon juice is that at first I was cutting up lemon wedges but that got to be a lot of freaking work!

@Verucalise-WelcomeBethany: LOL, Amen sistah!

@MostlyHarmless: I'm thinking of making homemade chocolate milk the official response to the credit card and computer posts, too.

Tang?
Its what astronauts crave

@subtlefrog: Thanks!!