Health Risks Related to Sports Drinks

Each one of us has been gifted with only one body. It’s not something we can replace yet a lot of us neglect our bodies and are willing to introduce anything and everything to it. Whenever we consume any processed food or drink, we must find out what the pros and cons are. Do the harmful effects far outweigh any benefits it may have? These are important questions to think of when buying foods and drinks. If you make informed decisions as a consumer, you use your purchasing power to steer the market in the direction of healthier options.

Let’s take sports drinks (or energy drinks as they are often called) as an example. Large corporations like Pepsi which owns Gatorade, a popular energy drink, spends millions of dollars each year to market this product as a healthy choice for those who are actively involved in sports. So much so that top sports players are hired as brand ambassadors to advertise these drinks. Kids and adults alike spend hundreds of dollars a year on a product that is not even good for them.

There are many healthy alternatives to these energy drinks, one being coconut water. So the question is why don’t people want to drink a natural drink that contains essential electrolytes and minerals. The answer is marketing. In today’s media-driven world, you can market unhealthy options and advertise their so-called health benefits and people will buy it.

Notice in the image above that each bottle of Gatorade has 35 grams of sugar, artificial flavors and many other unnatural ingredients. Unfortunately, other energy drinks are no different. One of the problems with these energy drinks is that if the person consuming them often is not actively involved in sports will develop a toxic buildup of the minerals in the drink. But even if you are working out daily, these drinks can lead to overhydration which, in turn, results in a condition known as hyponatremia. Hyponatremia refers to low levels of sodium in the blood, some of its symptoms being dizziness, headaches and even seizures. Fructose, on the other hand, results in obesity, liver fibrosis, diabetes and decreased brain function.

The benefits of water as a sports drink may seem like a no-brainer but we often overlook the benefits of this abundant source of energy. Among many other benefits, water increases energy levels, flushes out toxins, boosts immune system, aids in digestion and restores essential minerals.