Are sports drinks better than water? This is one of the most discussed topics of these days. There are people, who are supporting the sports drinks for having extra nutrients; whereas the other group of people is supporting the water, saying that there could be no substitute of this natural product. In this context, a comparison between sports drinks and water could give some helpful information in this healthy debate.

The debate starts from the point that after a hard workout, your body starts sweating profusely. This means, that during this time whatever water you had in your body, you are losing a majority of that. Body fluid loss can lead to dehydration causing serious after effects. So, to re-hydrate your body you need to fill up the lost water by drinking some kind of fluid. Now the question comes, that which drink you should take to replenish your loss of fluid? Whether water can perform to the level of sports drinks?

Before going to that, we must learn about the contents of sports drinks. Sports drinks are isotonic in nature, which indicates that they contain not only water, but also several useful nutrients and 6-8% of sugar. The sugar works as a carbohydrate to contribute in the deficit of energy during the workout. Among the nutrients, Vitamin B is an important part, which helps in absorbing carbohydrate. The other ingredients include amino acid, which works for transporting fats between the body cells and helps into the metabolism process. The small percentage of caffeine present in the sports drink helps to boost up mental alertness. So, all these nutrients work together for you, so that you can get back to the normal level of energy and hydration within few minutes after your hard workout.

On the other hand, plain water does not contain sugar and any other nutrients excepting minerals. That too, might differ from place to place. So, you never know, whether your body is going to be fully replenished after completing your hectic exercise session or not.

People who support sports drinks, they actually enjoy the benefit of the nutritional contents of this drink. According to their opinion, nothing can work as best as these electrolyte drinks. Other than refilling up the lost energy, these sports drinks also help to stay in shape and active for their additional nutritious contents.

However, people fighting for water have a feeling that water can act as a rehydration agent for the active exercisers. As per their logic, the sports drinks should be limited only for the people, who are hardcore athlete or serious sports persons. They believe that people following normal exercise routine do not really require extra support of electrolyte drinks; water can work best to replenish the considerable quantity of lost body fluid. In their opinion, this hype of sports drinks is intentionally developed by the manufacturers of sports drink to advertise and market their products.

Taking all these into consideration, I think it is better to stick with the nature, unless I really feel the need to provide something more to my body. Ultimately, people should stay healthy and happy by any means, which they think right for themselves.

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