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Taking a Look at Sports Drinks

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Sports drinks are drinks consumed by athletes and professional sports men and woman to rehydrate and replace energy. Sports drinks contain varying levels of fluid, electrolytes and carbohydrate which all play a role in rehydrating and replenishing the body after strenuous physical activity. There are three types of sports drinks on the market; isotonic, hypotonic and hypertonic. Isotonic drinks provide the athlete with fast fluid replacement which was lost by sweat, these drinks provide a boost of carbohydrate, this type of drink is the most preferred by athletes as these contain glucose which is the body’s preferred source of energy. Hypotonic drinks are the same as isotonic but don’t contain the carbohydrates this is ideal for athletes who want fast hydration but don’t need the energy boost. Hypertonic sports drinks are said after exercise to top up muscle glycogen stores using carbohydrates. The thing that all these different types of sports drinks have In common is that they are designed to improve or maintain athletic performance, and prolong dehydration. The isotonic and hypotonic drinks both contain electrolytes potassium and sodium; electrolytes are very important in the body with many functions.
An electrolyte is another word for charged solution which has become charged by loosing or gaining electrons. An electrolyte solution is one that commonly contains acids, bases or salts as their ionic solute, an electrolyte solution must contain ions. These types of

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