SPORTS DRINKS - GOOD OR BAD?

When you are working up a big sweat at the gym or are down the park for a cross country run, your body loses water, electrolytes, and minerals such as chloride, calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium. If you lose too much, your body runs the risk of dehydration. Those who train hard can find relief with sports drinks, but they do come with a dental warning.

As well as losing water and electrolytes through sweat, your body also rapidly uses up stores of glucose. This is the body’s most efficient source of energy. During hard training, carbohydrate can be depleted at a rate of three to four grams per minute. Over a period of two hours or more, less in hot periods, the body will exhaust its energy source. Sports drinks supply carbohydrate and effectively enhance performance.

What's in a Sports Drink?

There are three types of sports drinks all of which contain various levels of fluid, electrolytes, and carbohydrate: isotonic, hypotonic and hypertonic.

Sports Drinks - Good or Bad

Isotonic drinks contain fluids, electrolytes and six to eight per cent carbohydrate. These quickly replenish fluid, electrolyte and carbohydrate stores and are the preferred choice of rehydration for most high-endurance training athletes. Hypotonic contain fluids, electrolytes, and a low level of carbohydrate. These also quickly replenish fluids and electrolytes, but the low carbohydrate levels make the drink more suitable for less intensive training sessions under two hours. Hypertonic, meanwhile, has a high level of carbohydrate along with electrolytes. These are normally used after exercise to supplement daily carbohydrate intake and to top up muscle glycogen stores. These are only really needed for long distance running. While sports drinks help athletes rehydrate after a long training session, if consumed on a regular basis they can lead to dental decay. These drinks have been proven to cause irreversible damage to dental enamel, according to a study in the journal General Dentistry. Dental enamel is the thin, outer layer of hard tissue that helps maintain the tooth structure and shape, while protecting it from decay.

Look After Your Teeth

The study continuously exposed enamel from cavity-free teeth to a variety of popular sports drinks, as well as non-cola drinks such as lemonade and iced tea, for a period of 14 days. The exposure time and enamel damage was comparable to approximately 13 years of normal drink consumption. The study blamed the enamel erosion on the additives and organic acids in sports drinks. These organic acids are potentially highly erosive to dental enamel because of their ability to break down calcium, which is needed to strengthen teeth and prevent gum disease. As a result, dentists advise caution when sipping sports drinks over long period of time. They recommend limiting the intake of sports drinks and choosing water or milk instead to help preserve tooth enamel. When drinking them, they also advise that they are consumed as fast as possible, preferably through a straw to limit contact with teeth.