One of the most popular questions I get from parents in general is "what do you think about the POWERade, Gatorades, or fill in your favorite sports designer drink." What a great question and I'm going to keep this short and sweet. Gatorade was originally formulated for ADULTS. Although the designer drinks have become very popular, I just don't believe that they need to be in the drink dispensers at our schools or brought to your child's 50 minute soccer game period. They just don't need it.
Hydration Rules of Thumb
This is based on research and training from Nancy Clark, sports nutrition guru:
- Fitness exercisers (those who exercise 30-60 minutes, 4 days a week) can mostly hydrate and rehydrate with plain old water, milk, orange juice etc.
-Endurance athletes depending on their sweat rate, intensity, and duration of exercise, may need to replete hydration with electrolytes but determining exactly how much of the electrolytes is a science that needs to be prescribed by a dietitian who specializes in sports nutrition. The sports drinks in the grocery store are not individualized enough.
-Children, who mostly fall under the fitness exerciser category, would do much better rehydrating with water. If they exercise for longer than an hour and have a high sweat rate, I'd rather they focus on whole foods to obtain the potential electrolytes they've lost. Remember those orange slices our parents used to bring to baseball and soccer? They were on to something.
Electrolytes lost in sweat
The American Council of Exercise approximates that the average person loses 500 mg of sodium per pound of sweat. Think about this. One pound of sweat. How in the world do we determine the percentage of weight lost is sweat? Either way, Gatorade provides 165 mg of sodium and 45 mg of potassium per 12 oz of its product and PowerAde provides 150 mg of sodium and 35 mg of potassium per 12 oz of its product. How can we even determine that this is the need or that this will satisfy your need? Sounds like a crapshoot to me.
The Dangers of Sodium/Water Disruption
Sodium and water have a relationship. Sodium retains fluid and regulates how much water stays in and around your cells. If you eat or drink too much sodium, you can run the risk of retaining too much fluid which can put stress on your organs. At the same time, if you over-hydrate you can dilute the sodium in your body. If your blood sodium levels get below a certain number, you run the risk of this serious medical condition. Signs and symptoms are nausea, vomiting, headache, confusion, extreme fatigue, muscle spasms, seizure, and even coma. Although this is a rare condition, we do see this more and more at sporting events when an athlete over hydrates.
The Verdict:
Don't give your children a product that wasn't designed appropriately for them. Do you give your kids your multivitamin or allergy medication? Of course not! Then why would you give your children a product that may have more of something they need (and I'm not just talking the electrolytes here). Encourage your children to drink water and if they are a sweater or you feel they run the risk of dehydration visit with a dietitian or your PCP. We can determine a prescription that will be safe for them.
Disclaimer:
There are many hydration products on the market. I chose the two most popular and widely known to talk about in this blog. Please keep in mind that most hydration products, unless created for children, are designed for adults. Although he products are not designed for children they market heavily to the young athlete. Let's start giving the board of education hell about making these unnecessary products so accessible!
In Good Health,
Amy
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