Sports drinks: energy or empty calories?
Work It Out
Staying hydrated during your workout is important, but you might want to think twice before you toss aside $1.50 and 150 calories instead of hitting the water fountain.
Although energy drinks can help you push through a more intense workout, most of them thin your wallet, not your waistline.
The basic sports drinks - Gatorade (which now goes by "G") and Powerade - provide "aid" in the form of carbohydrates. These carbohydrates are made by sugar and though the different combinations of glucose vary from drink to drink, none carry natural "good" sugars.
The carbs in G and Powerade (and all their imitators) may not have any fat, but they sure do have a lot of calories.
For example, a 20 ounce bottle of G - the ones you can get from the Rec Center vending machines - carry 125 calories.
I thought I'd ask an expert endurance athlete to get another opinion.
"I'm not a huge fan of Gatorade or sports drinks in general. They have way too much sugar," senior cross country runner Mira Patel said. Patel has been named as one of the top runners in the Centennial Conference.
You know what else has 125 calories, tastes a whole lot better than Gatorade and can also be bought with your JCash? A serving of frozen yogurt from Nolan's. Not to mention you might also sneak in a little calcium and protein.
But what about vitamins? This is where another competitor enters the ring of the beverage battle. Its name is VitaminWater and you shouldn't let its pretty colors and witty labels trick you into thinking it's harmless.
VitaminWater's yummy taste, unfortunately, doesn't come from vitamins. It comes from sugar. I suppose this sugar may be a little less processed than the strict sports drinks, but that still doesn't make 125 calories thrown in with some vitamins and no juice "healthy." Not to mention that vitamins A, D and K won't be absorbed by your body unless they are taken with food.
All things considered, it seems like the best route is to keep vitamins and water separate. Eat half a banana and absorb some vitamin A, and wash it down with some zero-calorie water. Same vitamins, half the sugar!
Although energy drinks can help you push through a more intense workout, most of them thin your wallet, not your waistline.
The basic sports drinks - Gatorade (which now goes by "G") and Powerade - provide "aid" in the form of carbohydrates. These carbohydrates are made by sugar and though the different combinations of glucose vary from drink to drink, none carry natural "good" sugars.
The carbs in G and Powerade (and all their imitators) may not have any fat, but they sure do have a lot of calories.
For example, a 20 ounce bottle of G - the ones you can get from the Rec Center vending machines - carry 125 calories.
I thought I'd ask an expert endurance athlete to get another opinion.
"I'm not a huge fan of Gatorade or sports drinks in general. They have way too much sugar," senior cross country runner Mira Patel said. Patel has been named as one of the top runners in the Centennial Conference.
You know what else has 125 calories, tastes a whole lot better than Gatorade and can also be bought with your JCash? A serving of frozen yogurt from Nolan's. Not to mention you might also sneak in a little calcium and protein.
But what about vitamins? This is where another competitor enters the ring of the beverage battle. Its name is VitaminWater and you shouldn't let its pretty colors and witty labels trick you into thinking it's harmless.
VitaminWater's yummy taste, unfortunately, doesn't come from vitamins. It comes from sugar. I suppose this sugar may be a little less processed than the strict sports drinks, but that still doesn't make 125 calories thrown in with some vitamins and no juice "healthy." Not to mention that vitamins A, D and K won't be absorbed by your body unless they are taken with food.
All things considered, it seems like the best route is to keep vitamins and water separate. Eat half a banana and absorb some vitamin A, and wash it down with some zero-calorie water. Same vitamins, half the sugar!
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