Anonymous
Years ago

Sports drinks (Gatorade etc)

Are these drinks good for basketballers to drink? Or should players be drinking water?

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Anonymous
Years ago

Elite level adult basketballers might actually need it. That's about it.

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Anonymous
Years ago

Please explain?

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Barry Ballbag
Years ago

Kids love it - dentists even more.

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Jack Toft
Years ago

Basically just full of sugar. I think a 600 ml bottle has 17 sugar cubes (?)

Essentially they started off as a salt drink to replace electrolytes, but they are not as salty as they used to be in the early 80's.

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Anonymous
Years ago

Yes, but a very watered down version, or only drinking a little with lots of water.

The carbs and sugar in them are beneficial, but the commercial ones you buy actually have too much of both in them.

I learnt about it in a nutrition unit when doing PE studies at school.

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Anonymous
Years ago

If you don't know anything about the sodium and potassium pump then best stay away from them.

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D2.0
Years ago

Like a lot of things, I think marketing, commercial drive, hype, and cost-control, tend to overtake the actual science.

They can be good for a bit of a sugar rush if you NEED it, but for "energy" muscles use different elements (protein, fat, glucose) in different ways, at different times, and differently by types of muscle. So you really need to have a full and property understanding of nutrition and energy loading, (which I don't) rather than simply relying on glucose.

Yes, they also replace electrolytes lost through perspiration, but unless you are going hard for several hours or over several days, that's unlikely to be a problem if you have a healthy diet. Plus you need to know that you're getting the electrolytes you really need, rather than just what is cheapest (ie common salt).

You also need to be careful that you're not exacerbating dehydration.

People who have got through days of sustained effort and perspiration (usually in the topics) and used only water, have actually died from loss of electrolytes. But for a couple of hours, water is probably fine.

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Anonymous
Years ago

A pharmacist mate of mine reckons the best product on the market to replenish electrolytes from excessive sweating/ vomiting etc. is Hydralyte in tablet form.

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Curtley
Years ago

Basketball question aside, are they any good for hangovers or a waste of time?

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Anonymous
Years ago

"Basketball question aside, are they any good for hangovers or a waste of time?“

In addition to B vitamins lost to alcohol metabolism.

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D2.0
Years ago

Berrocca and "V", the choice of champions.

and lots of water.

Alcohol dehydrates, so I'm not sure excessive electrolytes would help?

A mild stimulant, ie caffeine, also helps

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Shayno
Years ago

Water is best but 0 sugar and low sugar gatorades also good and taste better.

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Anonymous
Years ago

It's just sugar water with a bit of salt in there. Can easily make a homemade batch.
All it is is clever marketing. Michael Jordan drinks it so all social players thinks it's a magic potion that will suddenly turn them into a player. Just the same as a red bull, just caffeine and a bunch of South American ingredients like guarana. Suddenly extreme athletes think it gives them an edge, but you see kids guzzle it because it's cool.

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Sweet and sour pork
Years ago

I find when I drink Gatorade a get a big belly. Gives me the feeling that there's some not so healthy stuff in there

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Hoops

Sports drinks (Gatorade etc)

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