Sports Drinks

It is important to distinguish between sports and energy drinks as the two are often confused. Sports drinks are designed to meet particular sporting requirements, whilst energy drinks usually contain high caffeine levels to stimulate alertness.

Sports drinks

Sports drinks may be categorised as hypotonic, isotonic or hypertonic and each have their own specific purpose.

Hypotonic

These are intended to quickly replace water lost during exercise. Rehydration is the major requirement during exercise as performance deteriorates rapidly with even low levels of dehydration. Minerals such as sodium and potassium are also frequently added to replace those lost through sweat. Hypotonic drinks have very low carbohydrate content and are best drunk after exercise

Isotonic

These also quickly replace the fluid lost by sweating. However, unlike hypotonic drinks, isotonic drinks have a very high level of carbohydrate to provide the body with an energy boost.

Hypertonic

These are designed to supplement the body's daily carbohydrate intake. They contain high levels of carbohydrate in order to provide maximum energy uptake.

They are best drunk after exercise as it is important to replace glycogen levels quickly after exercise and hypertonic drinks can help to achieve this. However, they can be drunk during exercise, alongside isotonic drinks to meet energy requirements.