Opinions on sports drinks vary widely. But which ingredients are really useful and which mixing ratios are recommended? triathlon.de explains.
Avoid water loss
Sports drinks serve to supply the body with liquid, which the athlete sweats out during sport. A slight lack of water can lead to limitations in endurance performance. In addition, the lack of water in the body causes muscle cramps. It can even cause headaches, dizziness, and confusion. For example, you wouldn't survive the Ironman in Hawaii without water.Top up electrolytes
Sports drinks also contain electrolytes. Electrolytes are minerals that are essential for the body. These are sweated out with the and must therefore be refilled. Trained athletes sweat faster and more and that's a good thing, because the body is cooled earlier and better and is therefore more efficient. However, the proportion of minerals in sweat is lower than in an untrained person.
Sufficient sodium and chloride is important for the body, since in the event of a deficiency, the metabolic processes take place much more slowly and the athlete's muscles are therefore only supplied with energy very slowly.
Fill up energy storage
Individuality with digestibility
It is very important: As an athlete, you should always listen to your body and try out for yourself which drinks and food you get during sport. It is also important how quickly the body can utilize the liquid and how quickly it is available to it.
4-8% short-chain carbohydrates (glucose, maltose) in a sports drink is ideal. In addition, the drink should have a temperature of 10 degrees, since the body metabolizes warmer and colder drinks more slowly.
maltodextrin
Maltodextrin is a product of glucose and is absorbed more slowly. The body has energy for longer because no insulin is released and the osomolarity (particle density) in maltodextrin is very low and can therefore also be used in larger quantities.
Photos: triathlon.de, Ingo Kutsche
