Isotonic Drinks

The number of people who are becoming health conscious nowadays is increasing. More and more people are exercising and working out and there are some who tend to work out to an extreme. For those who do vigorous exercise, they become healthier, and lose more weight. They also sweat more like athletes. I’m not implying that exercise is bad but what happens when you sweat too much is that you lose more water, minerals and electrolytes in your body. Sweating is the body’s way to keep us cool but sweating excessively can also cause dehydration and heat stroke.

With consuming sports drinks you can still exercise vigorously. There are three types; isotonic drinks, hypertonic drinks and hypotonic drinks. The difference lies in the concentration of particles in the solution. In isotonic drinks the concentration of sodium and sugar is similar to blood and plasma in your body, they’re also easily absorbed and you can drink it before, during or after an exercise. It’s the best choice among the three and also the most popular.

Athletes prefer isotonic drinks more than water because they contain around 8% glucose and sodium. When sodium is absorbed in the blood through the small intestines it takes water with it, where sodium goes water follows. Those who consume isotonic drinks retain and absorb more water, sodium, magnesium and calcium in the body. It can help hydrate without making you bloat, it can adequately compensate the fluids and electrolytes loss when you sweat excessively. Because of its glucose content it provides athletes more energy to work out. The muscles use glucose as its fuel during the exercise. Consuming isotonic drinks before, during and after an exercise helps prevent your blood sugar levels from dropping below the normal. Also during extraneous exercise the carbohydrate stores in the body can be depleted at the rate of 3 to 4 grams per minute this can lead to exhaustion and fatigue. Through drinking an isotonic beverage your body gets replenished allowing you to exercise longer. That’s why it’s also the best choice for sports that require endurance, for runners, cyclists and those who play team sports.

Furthermore, consuming isotonic drinks also reduces the risk of water intoxication. Water intoxication is rare but fatal and happens when large amounts of water is used to replace excessive amounts of water and electrolytes depleted during intense exercise and causes extremely low concentration of electrolytes in the body.