Tag Archives: sports drinks

Sports Drinks: Bad for Kids’ Health and Behavior

sports drinks

Scientists recently discovered an unsettling connection between sports and energy drinks and teenagers. There appears to be a pretty strong link between consumption of the beverage to bad behavior, according to a recent research study published in the Journal of Nutritional Education and Behavior. And while it may not be a surprise that kids hopped up on caffeine might misbehave more than those who stay clear of Redbull and the like, the same trend applies to sports drinks, which were used by about 33-percent of the teens polled.

What, exactly, are kids who drink these beverages up to?  The researchers concluded that both male and female teenagers who consume a high number of sports and energy drinks each week are more likely to smoke, drink other worse-for-you beverages, and actually spend more time in front of the computer or television.

Could Gatorade be the gateway drug for more bad behavior? (more…)

Posted on May 22, 2023 by Jessica Tholmer

Sugary Drinks Still Widely Available in Schools

It seems for every stride forward we make in improving our children’s diets, we manage to take one step back as well.

It’s been wonderful seeing a decline in the availability of soda in our schools. It has no place there and offers no nutritional value to students anyways. However, while sodas are on the decline, children still have easy access to other high-calorie, sugary beverages, which often do just as much damage as that bottle of Pepsi or Coke.

The number of students that can buy soda at school has dropped by nearly 50 percent since 2006. But according to July’s issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, one-third of U.S. elementary students can still buy sugary drinks.

As reported by Reuters earlier this week, findings from a University of Michigan study determined that sports drinks were the most common sugary drinks found in middle schools and high schools.

So it seems our youngest students are still being offered some sort of juice drinks and the upper level students are being offered sports drinks, all of which are very high in calories and loaded with sugar. The juice drinks serve very little purpose in a person’s diet, especially if they’re not 100 percent juice. In addition, sports drinks are not recommended for anyone unless they are doing intense exercise. (more…)

Posted on August 9, 2023 by Lacy

Bonavitas Introduces New Workout Recovery Drink Supplement

January is the time we want to put our best foot forward and make an impact on our health and weight loss goals. Millions of Americans are flooding health centers and yoga studios to get a jump-start on their fitness resolutions. Work outs tend to be harder this time of year in an effort to make up for the holiday food extravaganza, or simply because some of us have finally decided that this is the year we will actually get in shape.

Doing too much too soon can prevent people from realizing their fitness goals. To avoid burn out, fatigue and injuries, it is important to give the body the nutrients it needs, plus take plenty of time to rest and recover in between workouts.

Bonavitas, a nutraceutical company based in Provo, Utah has just launched a new muscle recovery drink that uses all natural ingredients to assist the body in replenishing its stores of electrolytes without causing a spike in blood sugar. The carefully designed Bonavitas recovery drink supplement helps to increase the effect of any workout, yoga or Pilates session by supplying just the right amount of nutrients at just the right speed of absorption. Void of unnatural ingredients such as aspartame, dyes and sucralose, Bonavitas supplements are safe, taste real and won’t build up toxins in the body.

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Posted on January 5, 2024 by Jill

Vita Coco Gets Sued for False Advertising

The makers of Vita Coco, the 100 percent natural re-hydrating coconut water, were served with a 5 million dollar lawsuit August 11th. A recent study by Consumerlab.com, a product testing company, found that Vita Coco and other all-natural coconut water drinks were not as hydrating as clever marketing may have indicated.

Vita Coco and other coconut water drinks have become popular in the past few years, noting their superiority to sports drinks in replacing electrolytes after exercise. Vita Coco ad campaigns in particular claim that their drink has 15 times the electrolytes found in sports drinks, which according to the current law suit is false.

Many health experts believe that while coconut water is a good source of potassium it is not an adequate source of re-hydration, especially if participating in heavy exercise like marathon training. Experts also say that unless you’re exercising strenuously for over an hour, there is no need for electrolyte replacement afterwards and that water is enough to replenish your system.

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Posted on August 16, 2023 by Jamie

Studies Doubt the Hydration Benefits of Coconut Water

Coconut water is the natural juice found in green coconuts. Over the past few years, coconut water has become a popular alternative to electrolyte-enhanced sports and energy drinks.

While many brands claim that there are numerous health benefits to coconut water as compared to other leading sports drinks, a recent study by product testing company ConsumerLab.com, suggested that those claims may not be entirely accurate.

“This is a major focus of the marketing for coconut water,” Dr. Tod Cooperman, president of ConsumerLab told the Huffington Post. “When you start making claims comparing it to sports drinks, you expect them to at least deliver on what they are promising. People should be aware that the labels are not accurate on some of the products, and they shouldn’t count on coconut water for serious rehydration.”

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Posted on August 9, 2023 by Maris

Teen Soda Consumption is Down

There’s potentially good news in regards to teens and their soda consumption. In 2024, 24 percent of teens in the U.S. drank at least one soda on a daily basis, which was down from 29 percent the previous year.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collected data on 11,429 high school students from across the country. Each of them filled out a questionnaire.

When other sweetened drinks were considered, the teens who drank at least one of those drinks each day was raised to more than 60 percent. However, even with that sharp rise when considering all sweetened drinks, the number is down from 1999, when it was more than 75 percent.

Now for the potentially bad news…

Since awareness of the health dangers of sweetened drinks has risen over the years, some experts are concerned that teens’ knowledge may have skewed the results, since they could have been deceptive in their answers. Or I say, maybe the movement of removing soda from schools is working. (more…)

Posted on June 22, 2023 by Jason

Helping Your Child Athlete with Hydration

Playing sports has a multitude of benefits for kids. Beyond the understood exercise, children learn time management, how to get along with other players, and most importantly, the necessity of teamwork. One of the most important, and least emphasized, skills that children will learn while playing sports is the necessity of proper nutrition and how it relates to both endurance and results.

Have you heard the saying, “You only get out of it what you put into it?” That saying seems tailor made for sports. As adults, we know the importance of fueling ourselves correctly, being certain to be adequately hydrated and well rested. These lessons are not usually at the forefront of a coach’s mind, however, and when you spend time ferrying your kids back and forth, it can often slip to the bottom of your priority list as well. After all, you’ve got to remember where the practice has been scheduled, remember to get the kids there on time AND the gear – something’s bound to slip your mind.

Arguably the most important aspect of the children/sports/nutrition triangle, and the one easiest to overlook, is hydration. Sure, we send our kids to practice and games with a water bottle – but do we make sure that they drink it all? And is the beverage that we’ve given them the best choice? How many of us have seen the swarm of players at the end of a game, grabbing a sugar sweetened drink pouch and thought to yourself, “Is that really the best beverage choice for a player who has just run for an hour?” Let’s take a look at hydration as it relates to the child or teen athlete.

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Posted on May 31, 2023 by Carmen

We Love Neuro Drinks

Water is boring. Why drink flavorless H20 when your tongue can be excited by bubbles or, well, flavor?

Unfortunately, with that flavor everyone craves usually comes a lot of excess calories and sugars, and despite the fact they come in liquid form, flavored beverages like tea and soda (even diet soda, which people seem to think because it is calorie free, it is an acceptable substitute for water) can dehydrate you rather than re-hydrate you.

Neuro has heard the plight of the under-hydrated adult craving flavor without junk, and offer a large array of tasty, hydrating waters that focus on every area of your health.

Not sleeping well? You’re covered. Libido needing a boost? Neuro’s got the stuff. Looking to drop a few pounds? You got it.

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Posted on May 29, 2023 by Kelly

We Love Gatorade G Fit

Gatorade is one of those products that just about anyone knows – after all, attend any sports game with your kids and it’s on the sidelines. That’s about the extent of my experience with the beverage. I’ve never been a big Gatorade drinker and neither have my children. One of the big problems I’ve always had with Gatorade is the amount of sugar in the beverage. For your serious athlete, a professional football or basketball player, it’s not going to be difficult to burn off that sugar. For me as a 41-year old woman, that sugar isn’t going to be burnt in the same manner – and sometimes, not at all. For this reason, I’ve mostly avoided the beverage.

The Gatorade  company has done extensive research and realized that they have cornered the market with regards to performance beverage: i.e., the drink you enjoy during exercise to replenish the fluids and salts lost while exercising. It’s the pre and post workout that they decided to look to, which is really a largely untapped market. In addition, they realized that the adult, non-professional athlete has different nutritional needs, with less sugar and more protein. Gatorade has created a new line to address this, called G Series Fit.

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Posted on May 23, 2023 by Carmen

We Love Gatorade G Series Pro

The elite athlete has different nutritional needs than the weekend warrior. We can all agree on that, yes?

Professional athletes train for hours every day and their dietary needs far surpass those of the typical exerciser. They have higher protein needs and require carb levels that will give them both short bursts of energy and long levels for endurance.

Gatorade, the company most well known for hydration beverages, has created a line of product for professional athletes called Gatorade G Series Pro. This line was created with elite athletes in mind, those who train for hours and face different nutritional hurdles than the rest of us. This line has different nutritional standards than the other lines Gatorade offers, the traditional Gatorade often referred to as G or G2 (the lower sugar version), the G Series Fit and the G Series Natural. G Series Pro is offered in the same three step line as the G Series Fit, with Prime, Perform and Recover. Prime was created for use an hour before training, Perform during and Recover for use within two hours after a workout.

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Posted on May 19, 2023 by Carmen

We Love Gatorade Naturals

Gatorade is a well known beverage, served at sports events everywhere, from preschool sports games to professional events. It’s arguably the most served beverage at sporting events, but many parents are not fans of it. The traditional G Series is often thought to be high in sugar, and in answer to this, Gatorade created a lower sugar version, called G2. This beverage wasn’t a perfect fit for many families, however, in that it’s sweetened with sucralose. Many families desire natural foods and beverages and Gatorade has created a new line of performance beverages to please the most discerning of athletes.

Called G Series Natural, the beverage is part of the Perform level, designed to be enjoyed while exercising. G Series Natural replenishes lost fluids and electrolytes exactly the same as traditional Gatorade. Containing only sea salt, natural flavors and natural sweeteners, this beverage meets the needs of athletes who don’t want artificial colors or sweeteners. G Series Natural is sweetened with sucrose and dextrose and has 50 calories per serving. For a lower calorie, yet still natural choice, G2 Natural is sweetened with Stevia, and has 20 calories per serving. Each bottle contains 2 servings. (Always read the label!)

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Posted on May 18, 2023 by Carmen