In recent years there has been a fever for the sport of base, marathon, triathlon or any form of fitness. This has led to some erroneous reasoning by many amateurs and even professionals, especially in relation to sports nutrition and hydration. A clear example is the electrolyte drink for athletes.

When we talk about electrolyte drinks or sports drinks, we refer to special drinks to hydrate after sports. They are usually low sodium drinks and rich in mineral salts such as potassium. Its goal is to replace fluids and electrolytes after a hard workout.

However, there are two keywords to analyze the benefits and disadvantages of isotonic: sugar and intensity. The first word refers to the ingredient present in most sports drinks, while the second comes to assess the need or not to rehydrate with these drinks depending on how demanding and prolonged the exercise session has been.

Sugar, the "secret" ingredient:

Most isotonic drinks have large amounts of sugar. Although light or Zero versions are already sold, sugary ones still have the most market share, and this is not good.

Refined or industrial sugar is one of the great plagues of our time. In a world in which cardiovascular diseases are becoming the leading cause of death, reducing obesity is a priority. Much of the blame for this epidemic of obesity in the West is sugar, the secret ingredient of isotonic drinks.

The health authorities have already raised the alarm against these sodas, although electrolyte supplement still maintains a healthy appearance that can lead to deception.

Let's say it is necessary to hydrate with liquid and replenish electrolytes at the same time. This is possible without the need to eat sugar in large quantities. However, the manufacturers of soft drinks - sports or not - prefer to include this component in their drinks. Why? No doubt to improve the taste and make them more addictive.

Thanks to the latest research in nutrition, industrial sugar has replaced fat as the main culprit of health problems and obesity.
It is not necessary to drink refined sugar after sports or at any time of the day, so if you want to drink an isotonic drink, better to take electrolyte supplement. In the case of having a very intense training for a long time, perhaps your body needs to recover blood glycogen levels quickly.

Even so, it is better to resort to natural sugar present in foods such as fruit than to industry, which in any case contains empty calories without vitamins or nutrients.