What are the advantages of sports drinks?

By: Ms. Reema Bhatia (Nutritionist)

Sports drinks have become quite popular especially amongst the youngsters. The recommendation of these drinks depends of various elements like the type of sport, its duration, the nutritional status of the player and much more. The commercial drinks available in the market mainly comprises of carbohydrate, electrolytes and water. The athlete’s dehydration status also plays a key role in deciding the needs of these drinks.  Let us discuss the benefits –

1. These drinks contain ginkgo extracts which improves your memory and it also stimulates the thinking process. This extract improves cognitive and thinking skills. It also helps in the making improvements in the blood circulation in the ears, brain and eyes.
2. Some drinks have fruits and herbs that comprise of Acai berries. They have antioxidant properties that protect the cells of the human body from getting damaged.
3. These drinks are also good energy sources. They have sufficient amount of sugar. The breakdown of sugar helps the body to gain the much needed fuel in order to function adequately. But, in order to avoid the problem of high sugar levels, ensure that these drinks are consumed in proper quantity.

Though it seems odd, but the choice for sports drinks should be made cautiously. First and foremost, collect all the necessary information regarding these drinks through your friends, family members and the internet. With so many fake websites offering counterfeit information about these drinks, make sure that you have chosen an authentic website to gather the information. There is no harm in consulting a good doctor.