Sunday, May 16, 2010

Drink Vitalyte Sports Drinks

Sports drinks are intended to keep you active and healthy. A majority of Sports men take in this kind of energy drinks that normally supplies them the required nutrients. In simple, Sports drinks help them to have a fine digestive health. The sports energy drink can help you in many ways.

• It can regenerate your psyche as well as body.

• It can recuperate your body due to over exhaustion.

• It contains useful minerals that your body requires like iron, magnesium, iron, calcium and potassium

• It helps in healing your wounds fast.

• It makes your skin glowing.

Sports drinks can be split into three major types.

* Isotonic sports drinks contain proportions of water and other nutrients similar to the human body, and typically are six to eight percent sugar.

* Hypertonic sports drinks contain a lesser proportion of water, and a greater proportion of sugar, than the human body.

* Hypotonic sports drinks contain a greater proportion of water, and a lesser proportion of sugar, than the human body.



Enhance Your Energy Levels

It is often said that health is wealth and many people follow this saying. Some people are really very conscious about their health and work hard to have a well balanced body build. Apart form doing workouts and having healthy diets these health conscious people even go for healthy sports drinks. All those who have great passion for sports must go for sports drinks, as these drinks help in providing extra energy to the human body. Sports drinks act as energy providers and always remain with sports persons to meet their thirst requirements.

It is advisable that a person must go for branded sports drink because some brands promise to come up with the effects of sports drinks at the earliest. Healthy sports drinks made naturally without using any chemicals are more beneficial for human bodies and a person must go for these drinks. Some of the champions have used home made healthy sports drinks and seen tremendous effects in terms of stamina, body build, energy levels etc. Human body requires more nutrients and energy supply to perform heavy works and for this sports drinks are really beneficial.

If you want to give your best shorts and develop a perfect tight body like a real sports person then take advice from a physician or coach and stick to the best energy drinks. It is also said that healthy sports drinks do not have any kind of side effects so a person need not worry while having these drinks.


Get a Healthy Sports Drink

Unlike earlier times, people have now more options to stay healthy and live longer. The immense improvements in health science has resulted in new stocks of healthy sports drinks being manufactured. Since sports are played with a lot of enthusiasm and the sportsmen have to expend a lot of energy, they need to be constantly fed with something that can keep their energy levels up. Healthy sports drinks contain the necessary ingredients that can energize their body cells and make them feel refreshed.

Sportsmen have to exert themselves physically, which takes a heavy toll on their bodies. Since physical exertion saps a lot of energy, sportsmen need something to supplement their energy needs. Sports drinks can work like an elixir for them.

Sportsmen sweat out a lot and face the risk of getting dehydrated. Healthy sports drinks help maintain optimum water level in their bodies. Sports drinks are also known to improve oxygen flow in their blood. Sportsmen need a lot of stamina to optimize their performance in various sports meets and competitions. Remaining physically fit has to be their prime goal.


Are Sports Drinks More Effective Than Water?

Experts tell us that water is the best liquid of all to hydrate you after exercise - but only if you drink it. Which brings us to taste. Sports drinks usually taste better than plain water, which means we will drink more. Any drink that is high in sugar will take longer to be absorbed into the body, therefore it will take longer to get re-hydrated. That is one reason that water is the best. It is absorbed very quickly.

Coffee, tea and alcohol should not be used for re-hydration at all due to their diuretic action; leave them to enjoy at a later date. If you don't like the taste of water, you are likely to stop drinking before your body is sufficiently hydrated. Of the up side, water is free and will not add any more calories, no matter how much you drink.

The greatest benefit of sports drinks is that they supply electrolytes which may have been lost if the exercise was long and heavy, such as in a game like football or hockey. The usual sweet/tart taste of a sports drink does not actually quench your thirst, so you'll drink more. That will ensure that your body is re-hydrated. You'll get more carbohydrates from a sports drink, but not as many as fruit juices offer.


Counter the Monster: Dehydration

Many people are aware that drinking water is important to maintain optimum health. In fact, survey results show that over 84% of American adults know that they need to drink at least 8 glasses of water everyday in order to prevent dehydration and to ensure that their bodily functions are optimized. However, according to the same poll, only 34% of the people surveyed really drink as much water as required. Furthermore, instead of gulping water, a lot of people prefer to drink coffee or cola, which can cause you to lose more water.

Dehydration is a very serious matter. This condition can cause dry skin, fatigue, headache, and constipation. Severe dehydration can even cause death. If you do not want to suffer from dehydration and its effects, read on and learn what you can do to counter this problem:

Drink At Least 8 Glasses Of Water Everyday

The most obvious way of dealing with dehydration is by drinking ample amounts of water. If you make sure that you get the right amounts of fluid in the body, you will be assured that your body will function properly. In just a few weeks of getting into the habit of drinking enough water, you will see improvement in your skin, urine color and even elimination of wastes. You will also have more energy to perform the things you need to do.

There are times when your brain tells you that you are hungry, when in fact you are only thirsty. So the next time you get the urge to eat, drink a glass of water first. If after a few minutes you still feel hungry, then maybe your brain is really telling you that your body needs food.


Drinking Habits and Dehydration

We drink soft drinks, sport drinks, energy drinks, vitamin waters, juice, milk, tea, coffee, and alcoholic beverages. These popular drinks may be enjoyable but are they providing the adequate body hydration that is the foundation of health and vitality? The answer is no.

Soft drinks, both colas and uncolas, have no real nutritional value. Acids are used to carbonate soft drinks and chemicals are often used to flavor these beverages. Damage to your teeth may occur. Bones may weaken with extensive use. Carbohydrates in soft drinks slow down the absorption of water in the body. Soft drinks promote weight gain. The diet soft drinks contain unhealthy sweeteners and additives.

Coffee and tea, both diuretics, tend to promote water loss. A diuretic is any substance that tends to increase the flow of urine, which causes the body to get rid of excess water. The term diuretic suggests that the kidneys are required to take more water out of your bloodstream even as you are taking water into your digestive system by drinking. If you add milk, sugar, or chocolate to your coffee or tea, the rate of water absorption is reduced even further.

Alcohol consumption dehydrates your body. Alcohol promotes water loss by depressing production of the anti-diuretic hormone called vasopressin. Vasopressin acts on the kidneys. It concentrates the urine by promoting the reabsorption of water and salt in the body. Vasopressin helps to regulate the concentration of fluids in the body. Interference with its function leads to an increased loss of body fluid from urination, which can lead to dehydration.


Friday, May 7, 2010

Are Sports Drinks the Answer?

It is undisputed that fluid and carbohydrate replacement is critical for optimal sports performance. Sports drinks manufacturers promote that the consumption of their products is necessary way to achieve this aim. However, long term dependence on sports drinks for fluid and carbohydrate replacement may not be the most suitable approach for many athletes.

There is an ever-increasing supply of research that implies that appropriate fluid intake is needed for optimal sporting performance. It is often suggested that a sportsperson may experience thirst only after a 2% weight loss ascribed to water but this amount of dehydration can diminish sporting performance by up to 30%.

For this reason, the sports drinks containing both carbohydrates and minerals have become ubiquitous. Studies show that water is most swiftly absorbed from the stomach when it contains around the same level of components as that of blood when it is referred to as isotonic. Normally sports drinks consist of around 5-8% of carbohydrate, which is considered to be around the optimal level for fastest rate for replacement of fluids. Drinking an isotonic sports drink will replace the lost fluid more rapidly than plain water but will also provide carbohydrate energy and necessary minerals (depending on the make up of the sports drink).

Drinks that with a concentration of more than 8% carbohydrate are often claimed to be more likely to result in upset stomachs.

Regardless that sports drinks have been around for quite a few years there is still some disagreement about how beneficial the use of the drinks is. Some of those who are against the regular use of them observe that some of the more favourable research is supported by those making and selling the sports drinks. However, it is probably valid to conclude that following the normal guidelines for consumption of the drinks may lessen the likelihood of underperforming. Yet during long distance sporting events (or training) in warm or humid weather simply drinking sports drinks with no consideration of the amount of carbohydrates consumed may actually lead to problems.


Leg Cramps and Electrolytes

Getting a cramp can be one of our worst nightmares .They come around so suddenly and they can even stop us from playing sports. Most of us would have witnessed someone experiencing a cramp before or even worse ourselves.

Picture this, you're playing sports or running and you are on top of your game today! And then all of a sudden your leg cramps up and you're down on the ground! Leg cramps can be extremely painful and most annoying. They will wake you up in the middle of the night or even when you're exercising. But what can we do about it?

Before we go into a way to solve this dreadful problem lets discuss how we get these cramps or commonly known as "Charley Horses".

The most common known reason as to why we get leg cramps is an Electrolyte deficiency which basically means we have lost certain elements that keep our body from functioning properly. These elements include Magnesium, sodium, potassium and chloride. When we sweat we lose these elements and that's why it's important to replenish them via Electrolyte replenishment drinks or supplements.

What can we do?

First of all, there are so many athletes and average fitness folk out there who after a workout only stretch for about 1-2 mins. This is crazy! If you think that 1-2 mins of stretching is enough then you need a slap in the face. It usually takes at least one full minute for a muscle to have a permanent stretch. That's 60 seconds PER muscle, not the entire stretching process. Make sure you stretch slowly; this will allow the muscle to lengthen gradually.



Sports Drinks or Energy Drinks?

In the last few years, a lot of debate has sparked about whether or not energy drinks make good workout drinks, and whether or not the so called sports drinks actually work. In this article, we'll try and take a good look at both - workout drinks and energy drinks - and weigh out the pros and cons of each drink type.

Sports drinks, also called rehydration drinks, are drinks that contain carbohydrate and salts to replace those lost in sweat during exercise. Their efficiency lies in the fact that an appropriate cocktail of carbohydrate, potassium, salt and sugar, together with electrolytes (electrically charged elements that ease hydration of the body) rehydrate the human body during exercise, better than water does. There are three types of rehydration drinks: Isotonic Fluid, Hypotonic Fluid, Hypertonic Fluid and they differ solely in the amounts of carbohydrate protein drinks, electrolytes and salts in them. These drinks are mainly taken during sports activities or shortly before them.

Energy drinks are drinks that contain high levels of caffeine and provide an energy boost, but, as caffeine (and other stimulants related to it, e.g. guarana on yerba mate) acts as a diuretic, dehydrating the human body, energy drinks are a no go for exercise. Energy drinks aren't workout drinks - caffeine isn't just addictive; it also dehydrates the human body, but even moderate dehydration (e.g. 1-2%) significantly reduces the overall muscle ability of the body, thus making your workout less effective.

Energy drinks also contain numerous vitamins that are thought to decrease the reaction time of the human brain. Caffeine typically sets in after two to three hours, so energy drinks are (if at all) taken an hour or two before the exercise. Caffeine acts as a stimulant and temporarily boosts your abilities--but do you really need that for workouts?

It is safe to say that sports drinks are far better for exercise than energy drinks, because sports drinks are lighter on the body; they have restorative functions; sports drinks work better on your well-being. While one might argue that an energy boost can improve the athlete's performance in competitions, there's little use to using energy drinks in sports that require a lot of energy, not to mention that all stimulants are banned from use in official competitions. Besides that, using energy drinks during longer activities like running a marathon can be plain dangerous because of the dehydration involved. Energy drinks, however, are by no means 'bad' - they are simply meant to be used at all-nighters and parties, not the gym.


Importance of Staying Hydrated

Whether you're taking a brisk walk or running a 26 mile marathon, sports hydration and stretching are extremely important to preventing injury and to maintaining optimum fitness. However, there are many myths about both these things that have crept into most people's thinking.

The number one myth about hydration is that you should let your level of thirst signal when you need to drink. This is absolutely untrue. Most athletes only replace about 2/3 of the water they lose when they follow this rule. Instead, drink fluids on a schedule. A general rule of thumb, depending on your weight and weather conditions is to drink 8 ounces of water about 15 minutes before beginning exercise and 8 ounces for each 15 minutes during your workout.

Another sports hydration myth is that everyone needs eight glasses of water a day. This may not be enough for some people who engage in higher intensity sports. It may be too much for sedentary people. This is because, although it is true that the average person loses 80 ounces of water a day, he or she also gains about 32 ounces of water from food. That means, in order to replace lost fluids a person only needs to drink about 48 ounces of water rather than the 64 ounces contained in eight glasses of water.

A recent study about over sports hydration has scared people into believing that you can get sick from drinking too much water during exercise. While this may be true in isolated cases, typically among endurance athletes, the average person will not get sick from drinking too much water unless they have an existing heart, liver or kidney problem. If you have one of these conditions, checking with your doctor about the proper amount of liquid to drink during exercise is advisable



Staying Hydrated for Activities Over 90 Minutes

After 90 minutes of exercise, or 30 minutes of exercise or activity in extreme conditions, the body begins to lose electrolytes, which must be replaced. Electrolyte replacement is extremely important to endurance athletes, like marathoners, who are at risk of hyponatremia or "over hydrating."

Hyponatremia can occur when an athlete drinks too much water, which fails to replace lost sodium and causes sodium levels to drop to dangerously low levels. The best way to avoid hyponatremia and sports dehydration during prolonged exercise is to increase salt intake and consume a sports drinks containing electrolytes like sodium and potassium and carbohydrates that re-fuel muscles.

For maximum hydration:

Drink water for the first 90 minutes of activity, then switch to a sports drink or if exercising in extreme heat or cold, switch to a sports drink after 30 minutes.

Weigh yourself before and after exercise, then consume 6 ounces of fluid every 15 minutes until your weight has returned to normal.

Drink 8 to 10 ounces of a sports drink every two hours. Frequent sipping will help prevent an upset stomach and maximize electrolyte absorption.

Between servings, drink water. In fact, dentists recommend rinsing your mouth out after drinking a sports drink to help prevent the sugar and acid from causing dental cavities.
Snack on salty foods.



Staying Hydrated in Activities Under 90 Minutes

But is water good enough or are there better options for sports hydration?

Activities Under 90 Minutes
When participating in any activity lasting 90 minutes or less, it's best to drink water. According to Wong, “Water is the best. If you’re not working hard enough or perspiring enough, then sports drinks are worthless. If you don’t need a sports drink, it’s just going to be extra calories.”

To ensure sports hydration:

Drink at least 8 to 16 ounces of water one to two hours before activity, but drink the last 8 ounces about twenty minutes before exercise.
During exercise, sip 4 to 6 ounces of water every 15 minutes.
Upon completion, enjoy another 8 to 16 ounces.

It's important not to consume massive amounts of water all at once during or immediately after exercise. During exercise, blood flow to the stomach is diverted to the muscles, which slows digestion.

It takes about 30 minutes after exercise has stopped for normal digestion to resume. Consuming too much water all at once can lead to a "water logged" feel, water sloshing around in the stomach, nausea and vomiting.