Energy Drinks and

Sport Drinks
Leonardus B.S. Kardono

 Energy drinks are mostly lightly

carbonated and non-alcoholic beverages that
provide the consumer a temporary energy
boost and increase in mental alertness by
the addition of a number of energy
enhancing ingredients, in most cases
caffeine.
You have probably seen these drinks
displayed alongside soft drinks and juices in
grocery stores, corner stores and gas
stations.

 Difference Between "Energy" &

"Sports" Drinks
Are Energy Drinks the same as
Sport Drinks?

 Do you know if there is a difference between

a "Sports" drink and an "Energy" drink?
Well, they are very different. However, there
seems to be much confusion over the two
terms with many people using them
interchangeably.
Energy drinks provide a mental stimulant
effect. Mostly they are soft drinks that
contain high levels of substances, such as
Caffeine, Taurine, Guarana and others.

 Sports drinks, on the other hand,

do not have a stimulant effect, and
although some contain caffeine, the
levels used are not high. Instead,
Sports drinks are specifically
designed for people who are
undertaking physical activity.

 Sports drinks are designed for high-performance

athletes who need to add carbohydrates and
replace electrolytes during and/or after their
training or competition. But if you're not involved
in more than an hour of activity a day or sweating
profusely, Sports drinks simply add to your daily
kilojoule (a unit of energy measurement) intake.

Therefore, Energy drinks should not be confused

with Sports drinks, which are intended to
replenish electrolytes, sugars, water and other
nutrients and are usually isotonic (i.e. containing
the same proportions as found in the human
body).

 Sports Drink
A thirst-quenching beverage used in
sports and related activities, to
rehydrate, boost energy and replenish
electrolytes lost to sweating. All
sports drinks contain water, sugar,
salt, potassium; some contain extras
e.g., amino acidsmeant to build
muscle mass

 sports drink
Performance drink Sports medicine A
thirst-quenching beverage used in
sports-related activities, which may
boost energy and/or help build
muscle mass; water, sugar, salt,
potassium are common to all SDs

 Sports drink
True Isotonic drinks Replace fluid and
electrolytes lost during lengthy exercise
Carbohydrate drinks Contain glucose
polymers and are intended to replenish
energy reserves during and after exercise
Protein drinks Amino acid drinks Commonly
made of whey, a bovine milk product and are
used to help recuperate fatigued or overly
stressed muscles NY Times 7/12/94; C6

Effect of beverage osmolality

on intestinal fluid absorption
during
exercise
To determine
how osmolality
of an orally ingested
fluid-replacement beverage would alter intestinal
fluid absorption from the duodenum and/or
jejunum during 85 min of cycle exercise (63.3
0.9% peak O2 uptake) in a cool environment
(22C), seven subjects (5 men, 2 women, peak O 2
uptake = 54.5 3.8 ml kg1 min1)
participated in four experiments separated by 1
wk in which they ingested a water placebo (WP)
or one of three 6% carbohydrate (CHO)
beverages formulated to give mean osmolalities
of 197, 295, or 414 mosmol/kgH2O. CHO solutions
also contained 1718 meq Na+ and 3.2 meq K+.

 Nasogastric and multilumen tubes were fluoroscopically positioned

in the gastric antrum and duodenojejunum, respectively. Subjects
ingested a total of 23 ml/kg body mass of the test solution, 20%
(370 9 ml) of this volume 5 min before exercise and 10% (185
4 ml) every 10 min thereafter. By using the rate of gastric
emptying as the rate of intestinal perfusion (G. P. Lambert, R. T.
Chang, D. Joensen, X. Shi, R. W. Summers, H. P. Schedl, and C. V.
Gisolfi. Int. J. Sports Med. 17: 4855, 1996), intestinal absorption
was determined by segmental perfusion from the duodenum (025
cm) and jejunum (2550 cm). There were no differences (P > 0.05)
in gastric emptying (mean 18.1 1.3 ml/min) or total fluid
absorption (802 109, 650 52, 674 62, and 633 74 ml 50
cm1 h1for WP, hypo-, iso-, and hypertonic solutions,
respectively) among beverages; but WP was absorbed faster (P <
0.05) from the duodenum than in the jejunum.

 Of the total volume of fluid ingested, 82 14,

74 6, 76 5, and 68 7% were absorbed
for WP, hypo-, iso-, and hypertonic
beverages, respectively. There were no
differences in urine production or percent
change in plasma volume among solutions.
We conclude that total fluid absorption of 6%
CHO-electrolyte beverages from the
duodenojejunum during exercise, within the
osmotic range studied, is not different from
WP.

Do isotonic drinks work or are

they just another waste of
money?

An isotonic drink is essentially just water and

glucose (sugar) with some added vitamins
and minerals. Perhaps the most popular type
of such beverage is Lucozade Sport but there
are now dozens of similar drinks on sale.
In recent years, isotonic drinks have sprung
up all over the place promising to boost your
physical performance and help your body
recover from physical exertion. But are these
claims based in scientific fact?

 When we exercise, many of the

minerals contained in our body are
either burnt up or excreted through
perspiration. Isotonic drinks help
replenish these lost minerals as well
as topping up our energy levels. The
theory is, that you will therefore
recover more quickly from a workout
or a sporting activity.

 And, in fact, you actually will... to an

extent. The glucose will give you an
energy boost, and the 4 to 8%
carbohydrate content typically found
in such drinks can improve your
stamina. The added sodium
contained in most energy drinks is
also beneficial as it enhances fluid
absorption.

 However, despite their price, isotonic

drinks are in no way superior to
regular food. They don't contain any
magical ingredients or special
formula. A glass of water and a
banana are every bit as beneficial to
your body, if not more so.

 sotonic drinks are by no means bad

for you. Their practicality can, in
some instances, make them a better
choice than water and a selection of
fruit. Just don't expect them to
transform your energy or stamina
levels.

Scientifically designed to
rehydrate you faster
The majority of commercial sports drinks
(Gatorade, Powerade, Cytomax, etc.)
are designed to maintain proper hydration
and energy levels during a workout.
Assuming that you began your workout
properly hydrated, such beverages give
you everything you need to continue. They
are not, however, optimized to quickly
recuperate an athlete who is extremely
dehydrated. Rapid Rehydration is.

 All fluids consumed by the body can be broken

into three main categories: hypertonic,
isotonic, and hypotonic. These distinctions are
made based on the fluid's concentration of
water. A healthy human cell has a very finely
tuned water concentration. If your beverage
has a lower concentration of water than a
healthy cell it is called hypertonic, if the
concentrations are equal it is called isotonic,
and if the concentration is higher it is called
hypotonic.

 Most conventional sports drinks are isotonic,

having the same ratio of carbohydrates,
electrolytes, and water as your cells. Since
the fluids inside and outside the cell are
essentially the same, water flows freely back
and forth across your cell wall, keeping you
properly hydrated. This process of free flow
is actually quite slow. In a dehydrated state,
your cells are not healthy and need to
quickly absorb fluids from their surroundings.

 A hypotonic solution, will have higher

concentration of water outside of
your cells than inside. As a result,
there will be an osmotic pressure on
your cell walls that will want to force
water in until the concentration on
both sides in the same. In this way,
water is more rapidly absorbed by
the body.

 This might beg the question, "Why not just use plain water?"
Yes, plain water is the most hypotonic beverage that exists.
However, the human body is a complex system that likes to
maintain equilibrium. Fluids are maximally absorbed from
the gut if they contain a small amount of carbohydrates.
Further, the body's renal system regulates just how much
water will be absorbed from a fluid based on the
concentration of electrolytes passing through your kidneys.
Pure water drops this concentration, giving your body the
impression that water should stop being absorbed into your
bloodstream (you are less thirsty). The concentration of
electrolytes in Rapid Rehydration is formulated to forego
this problem, as well as help prevent muscle cramps and
other side effects of cutting weight before competition.

 But wait, doesn't protein help you

recover? Yes, protein is essential to
muscle recovery and maintaining
healthy energy levels. However,
proteins, along with fats and excess
carbohydrates, actually slow the
absorption of water. First, the addition
of such ingredients makes the
beverage hypotonic, lowering the
pressure that forces the water into

 A small object, such as an atom or water

(H20) molecule, will pass very easily through
your porous cell wall and into the cell. Long
chain molecules have difficulty passing
through the small holes in your cell walls and
therefore take much longer to pass into or out
of the cell. During this passage, they are
stealing precious real estate that could be
used for trafficking water or electrolytes. Our
formula is specially designed to prevent this
from happening.

Is more always better?

NO!
Osmolality is a term used to describe the
concentration of particles dissolved in a
solution. It is a measure of density and is
expressed in units of measurement known as
osmoles or milliosmoles (one thousandth of
an osmole), per 1000g of solvent, or
mosm/kg. The more particles a rehydration
beverage contains (such as carbohydrate,
electrolytes, amino acids, anti-oxidants,
protein or flavoring), the higher its osmolality.

 Optimal absorption of fluids within

the body happens when a sports
drink solution is equal in terms of
osmolality to what naturally occurs in
the body. The osmolality of our
bodys own fluids are approx
300mosm/kg water and are
regulated by the intrinsic
mechanisms within our own system.

 Fluids supplied with osmolality above

300mosm/kg, (i.e. hypertonic solutions),
cause not only delays in gastric emptying
but also more importantly will cause fluid
shifts from the body to the gut before
absorption occurs. Such delays in
rehydration introduce the real potential to
delay and reduce performance. (Alonso,
1998, Hargreaves, 1991, Sowka et al,
2000).

 Solutions that are isotonic, (having the

same osmolality as our own body
fluids), are without this effect.
Solutions, which are marginally
hypotonic, (that is are below the
osmolality of the body), are known to
be emptied quickly from the stomach
and have the potential to be absorbed
the most rapidly. (Leiper, 1998).

 As the osmolality of your sports drink

increases above 300 mosmol/kg, efficient
uptake from the GI tract is decreased. In fact,
solutions with high osmolalities (hypertonic)
can actually draw fluid out of the body. For
the everyday person, this is not a problem.
However, for athletes who are turning over
large volumes of fluids and electrolytes, it
could literally mean life or death. (Or,
perhaps at the least, finishing instead of a
DNF).