Is it in you?

Kids in America are now drinking more sports drinks than they are sodas or carbonated beverages, according to recent government and private research as well as available commercial data.

Is this a cause for celebration, a sign of good news? No, according to a University of Minnesota public health study released last fall. In this study, the U of M revealed that the sports drink phenomena has actually made the obesity epidemic even worse.

UM researcher Mary Story remarked, “For most kids, there is no reason for them to have sports drinks. It’s not going to increase their performance and it isn’t even a healthy drink.”

What is in a sports drink? There are three basic ingredients — hydration, carbohydrates and electrolytes. Those are fancy words for water, calories and salt.

England’s Oxford University had also conducted research into the value of sports drinks, as well as dozens of other universities and research companies. Oxford, as well as all the others, has come to the same general conclusion: Energy drinks rarely, if ever, deliver on their claims and because they are so high in sugar they lead to weight gain.

Research by the American Dietetic Association, Dietitians of Canada and the American College of Sports Medicine did reveal that there is a class of people who might benefit from a sports drink. If you are an athlete or laborer who works out hard, I mean really hard, for several hours a day, then sports drinks could benefit you. These people tend to lose a lot of salt and water from their bodies. However, if you aren’t in this group then the sport drinks will do you more harm than good.

For thousands of years, thirsty men and women drank water to quench their thirst and keep their bodies working. Where did sports drinks come from in the first place? In 1965, the University of Florida researched ways to replenish their football players during their practice sessions. As my son competed in track and field meets in central Florida on numerous occasions in late July and August during the 1990s, I know from experience that working out in that kind of environment can be a killer. The researchers came up with Gatorade, which produced by Stokely-Van Camp. The brand is now owned by PepsiCo.

As with any product, the more you sell, the more you make in profits. To effectively sell you must effectively advertise, which means convincing the public that they must have your product to make their lives better. An effective sports drink ad often involves the use of sports stars to insinuate that they are successful because they drink a certain product. Gatorade sold so well that rival Coke came out with Powerade to get in on the market. Together, they control the lion’s share of a $5 billion per year marketing bonanza.

The fact is that when people sweat, they lose water as well as salt. However, unless you are really, really sweating profusely over a long period of time, your body is well able to deal with it by the normal actions of good meals and water. As another matter of fact, the level of electrolytes in sports drinks is far less than the level of electrolytes in an average person’s blood flow. The only thing that sports drinks top water in is profitability.

Let’s say you don’t like water. What can a person drink besides water in an athletic context? Fruit juice is nutritious but because of the sugars, the water absorption rate is reduced so that’s out. Carbonated drinks put carbon dioxide into the blood stream and the acid in sodas can actually weaken bones so this would be a terrible idea. Coffee and tea cause reverse hydration because they act as diuretics which pulls water out of your bloodstream. Alcoholic beverages are probably the worst drinks there are when it comes to hydration.

If you are really adverse to drinking water, there is one drink that actually does what the sports drinks claim to do. The drink? Co- conut water.

Coconut water has great hydration power and it replenishes electrolytes as well as potassium, magnesium, calcium and phosphorus. It helps heart, kidney, skin and eye functions and boosts the immune system as well as the bones. On the down side, it is a bit more difficult to find and it is best right out of the coconut. As a water substitute, it would work great, but is not the most convenient item to rely on.

Besides the aforementioned problems with sports drinks, there are other problematic aspects of the product that the public is most likely unaware of. If folks read the ingredient labels on the bottles, there are other chemicals/ingredients in sports drinks beside the salt, water and sugar.

The FDA and other groups tell us that chemicals are perfectly safe as long as they are consumed within safety guidelines. While an FDA approval may allay most folks fears, it has been well established that every chemical that enters the body affects it on a cellular level. Maybe one dose of a certain chemical won’t hurt us, but what if that same chemical is in dozens of other products that we may ingest? This aspect is one that the FDA seldom, if ever, considers.

Currently, there are 3,000 chemicals approved by the FDA that have never been reviewed. When a company asks to include a new

I have played baseball, basketball and ran cross country for 12 years.

I am a native of Pea Ridge.

My most memorable season highlight is:

Going to state my freshman and junior years.

My plans after high school are:

Attend college, hopefully on a baseball scholarship

What’s playing on my iPod right now:

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