Should low calorie 'sports' drinks like Ultima be on the course at marathons and long distance tris?

tricoachmartin · November 21, 2009, 3:23am

Here’s an article I wrote for a local paper. What do people think?

In the Long Run: A time and place for ‘sports’ drinks
There are so many “sports” and “energy” products out there that I don’t blame athletes for getting confused sometimes.

It seems preying on this confusion is the very intent of marketers desperate to find a point of difference for their product.

A wealth of independent scientific research and knowledge is available on sports nutrition and physiology, but it too often gets buried and muddled under the weight of money, marketing and promotions.
At the California International Marathon in two weeks, Ultima Replenisher will be available on the course as the official sports drink of the event.

On the company Web site, a professional triathlete admonishes other sports drinks for using sugar and salt and flaunts Ultima as being packed full of electrolytes.

While excess consumption of sugar – a carbohydrate – in your day-to-day diet is bad for your health, it is widely accepted that carbohydrate supplementation during prolonged exercise delays the onset of fatigue.
Kind of a useful thing during a marathon, don’t you think?

Just as bizarre is the demonizing of salt – or sodium chloride – which is also an electrolyte. Most of you know during exercise you lose sodium chloride in the form of sweat. Replacing this sodium is recommended by scientists to avoid muscle cramps and hyponatremia .

Otherwise, low concentrations of other electrolytes are found in sweat, so it follows that sodium may be the one electrolyte of some use in a drink designed for endurance sports. I agree sports/energy drinks are over consumed in America by the general population but let’s not forget why and for what they were developed for in the first place.

While I understand money margins are tight for race directors, professional athletes and coaches, they have a responsibility not to mislead the athletes they serve by promoting products that make unscrupulous claims.

Martin Spierings won the Santa Cruz Sprint Triathlon this year and coaches endurance athletes. His column on running and triathlon appears monthly in Outside. Contact him at http://www.tricoachmartin.com or try the discussion on his blog at http://tricoachmartin.blogspot.com.

Spierings, M. (2009, November 20). In the Long Run: A time and place for ‘sports’ Drinks. Santa Cruz Sentinel. Retrieved from http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/sports/ci_13830540

Record10Carbon · November 21, 2009, 3:36am

Why not bring your own drink? I hear ad’s all the time for shit…but when I go to the store I only get what I need…I never ever leave unhappy.

tricoachmartin · November 21, 2009, 3:47am

I think the point of having drinks on the course is that you don’t have to carry our own.

jackmott · November 21, 2009, 3:55am

one tidbit you might add is that drinking a sports drink actually depletes your electrolyte levels, it doesn’t increase them.

it does deplete them marginally less than water though.

Record10Carbon · November 21, 2009, 3:55am

I think, that as an RD - you are wrong. If you want something special - bring it. If you want water then that is what you can expect at best…beyond that, be thankful of what you get. Many events get Hammer, PowerBar and others to sponsor them…but if you need something special - bring your own.

Myself, I have Hammer at my events, I race mostly WTC events and have Gator on the course…I will bring my own InfinIT thanks…I have no issues with that and prefer to carry my own calories.

jackmott · November 21, 2009, 3:59am

yeah, a marathon is, at worst, like 6 hours

a couple gels or sport beans in your pocket + water on course and you can survive

and if you are going fast that will be plenty of fuel

I think, that as an RD - you are wrong. If you want something special - bring it. If you want water then that is what you can expect at best…beyond that, be thankful of what you get. Many events get Hammer, PowerBar and others to sponsor them…but if you need something special - bring your own.

Myself, I have Hammer at my events, I race mostly WTC events and have Gator on the course…I will bring my own InfinIT thanks…I have no issues with that and prefer to carry my own calories.

daveinmammoth · November 21, 2009, 4:12am

I think you may be as bad as the people you are sorta bashing…

You make blanket statements like, "Replacing this sodium is recommended by scientists to avoid muscle cramps and hyponatremia . "

Which scientists say this? You should be more specific like “The Academy of Sports Physicians recommends…”. As far as I know, replacing electrolytes has not been shown to reduce muscle cramps or prevent hyponatremia. I can likely find a “scientist” that says just about anything. What exactly is a “scientist” anyway?

I do though agree with you in general - I like calories (all carbs) and I like some salt. I just don’t agree 100% how you wrote it. I did a marathon a couple years ago - the replacement fluid was water and an electrolyte drink (VERY few cals) = useless in my opinion. I don’t need electrolytes in a marathon - I need water and some cals, so I carried a few gels and drank water.

Dave

tricoachmartin · November 21, 2009, 4:13am

Well of course I’d suggest taking gels now I’m aware that Ultima doesn’t provider anything more useful than water. My concern is that it masquerades as a ‘sports’ drink and that some people might get duped that it is providing them what most normal sports drinks do - calories and salt.

Doesn’t feel like the athlete is being put first if you just stock the aid stations with whatever your being paid to.

MeltingPot · November 21, 2009, 4:20am

one tidbit you might add is that drinking a sports drink actually depletes your electrolyte levels, it doesn’t increase them.

it does deplete them marginally less than water though.
I submit to the peanut gallery another exhibit as to why internet forums are havens of not only the misinformed, but the blatantly incorrect. I suppose though if you feel the need to respond to enough posts to keep up with that 10+ per day average, you can’t always post on things which you understand.

tricoachmartin · November 21, 2009, 4:23am

Good question. Scientists are people that go to University, stay there for many years, learn about stuff like exercise physiology and conduct independent research. If they are really good they get PhDs and have their work published in peer reviewed scientific journals.

Here’s just one of the article on hydration back up by lots of research.

http://www.uni.edu/dolgener/Advanced_Sport_Nutrition/fluid_intake.pdf

Google scholar is also a great resource when you are trying to get to the truth of the matter.

napapjd · November 21, 2009, 4:26am

My concern is that it masquerades as a ‘sports’ drink and that some people might get duped that it is providing them what most normal sports drinks do

That’s a key point. I’d never heard of Ultima until I was running the Dean Karzanes Silicon Valley Half Marathon. I assumed it provided calories. Now, it didn’t really matter to me that it didn’t, since I was only doing the half, but I’d guess there were a lot of people doing the full marathon who assumed the were getting more than artificially sweetened water with that stuff.

Currently, CIM says on the website that it will provide Ultima Refresher, but does not note that it is a no-calorie drink. Would be easy for them to throw that in there, just so people know. (BTW, CIM will provide GU @ miles 13, 20 and 23. Which means I only have to carry one, since I like a GU at 5 and 15 miles.

Pete
Portland, OR

jackmott · November 21, 2009, 4:30am

sigh, here you go:

http://www.sportsscientists.com/2007/11/sports-drinks-sweat-and-electrolytes_27.html

I submit to the peanut gallery another exhibit as to why internet forums are havens of not only the misinformed, but the blatantly incorrect. I suppose though if you feel the need to respond to enough posts to keep up with that 10+ per day average, you can’t always post on things which you understand.

daveinmammoth · November 21, 2009, 4:53am

That link appears to be fairly well written overall, yet conflict of interest here: “The author is a member of the Sports Medicine Review Board of the Gatorade Sports Science Institute.”

“A wealth of independent scientific research and knowledge is available on sports nutrition and physiology, but it too often gets buried and muddled under the weight of money, marketing and promotions.” Where does Gatorade fit in here?

Some comments on sodium from your reference:
“Therefore, there is not presently a well-documented need to include sodium in fluid replacement drinks ingested during exercise, at least in terms of fluid and sugar absorption into the body (Rehrer et al., 1993; Hargreaves et al., 1994; Vrijens and Rehrer, 1999; Rehrer, 2001). Yet, given the potential for sodium to stimulate thirst and drinking and since it is lost in sweat, the potential logical benefits outweigh the low risk. Therefore, it is recommended that sodium (20–40 mmol l71) be included in fluids ingested during exercise, especially when it is prolonged (longer than 1 h). When exercise is performed for several hours, or when large amounts of sodium are lost in sweat, it is especially important for athletes to include sodium in fluid replacement solutions to minimize hyponatraemia. It is prudent to suggest that sodium be included in fluids consumed during exercise lasting more than 2 h or by individuals during any event that stimulates heavy sodium loss (more than 3–4 g of sodium).” And more on sodium from your reference: Sodium should be included in fluids consumed during exercise lasting more than 2 h or by individuals during any event that stimulates heavy sodium loss (more than 3–4 g of sodium). Although the benefits of drinking fluids containing sodium are not clear during shorter-term exercise (less than 2 h) or when sweat loss of sodium is low, there does not appear to be a significant negative effect of drinking solutions containing up to 40 mmol l71 sodium. Sodium contained in pills or food is not discouraged, provided it is consumed simultaneously with sufficiently large volumes of fluid. I read what they wrote as being along the lines of “no studies show this clearly but we think that taking sodium seems reasonable”. To me - your writing sounds like “sodium prevents muscle cramps and hyponatremia” - again neither of which has been shown (to my knowledge) - and neither of which is supported by any studies in that reference (and there are a couple hundred references there!) that I could find. Dave

MeltingPot · November 21, 2009, 4:58am

SIGH…OR you may want to continue your fine Googling skills and read some other studies which would dispute your position. Keep up the good work though as all the top athletes in the world are doing it on just water. I hear that’s what Meb, Crowie, Macca, et al,… are doing.
Adrogué, H.J., and N.E. Madias (2000). Hyponatremia. *New Engl. J. Med. *342:1581-1589.

Backer, H.D., E. Shopes, and S.L. Collins (1993). Hyponatremia in recreational hikers in Grand Canyon National Park J. Wilderness Med. 4:391-406.

Gardner, J.W. (2002). Death by water intoxication. Military Med. 5:432-434.

Zehlinger, J., C. Putterman, Y. Ilan, E.J. Dann, F. Zveibel, Y. Shvil, and E. Galun (1996). Case series: hyponatremia associated with moderate exercise. Am. J. Med. Sci. 311:86-91.

Eichner, E.R. (2002). Exertional hyponatremia: why so many women? Sports Med. Digest 24:54-56.

Zambraski, E.J. (1990). Renal regulation of fluid homeostasis during exercise. In: C.V. Gisolfi and D.R. Lamb (eds.) Perspectives in Exercise Science and Sports Medicine. *Vol. 3, Fluid Homeostasis During Exercise. *Indianapolis: Benchmark Press, pp. 247-280.

Noakes, T.D., G. Wilson, D.A. Gray, M.I. Lambert, and S.C. Dennis (2001). Peak rates of diuresis in healthy humans during oral fluid overload. S. African Med. J. 91:852-857.

Speedy, D.B., T.D. Noakes, T. Boswell, J.M.D. Thompson, N. Rehrer, and D.R. Boswell (2001). Response to a fluid load in athletes with a history of exercise induced hyponatremia. *Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. *33:1434-1442.

Montain, S.J., M.N. Sawka, and C.B. Wenger (2001). Hyponatremia associated with exercise: risk factors and pathogenesis. *Exerc. Sports Sci. Rev. *3:113-117.

Hew, T.D., J.N. Chorley, J.C. Cianca, and J.G. Divine (2003). The incidence, risk factors, and clinical manifestations of hyponatremia in marathon runners. Clin, J. Sports Med. 13:41-47.

Record10Carbon · November 21, 2009, 8:24am

JackMott is a tool…he knows nothing…to hell with his real life resume…we have idealogs and internet jurys to please.

IRONwolf · November 21, 2009, 8:47am

what exactly is Jack Motts real life resume??? out of curiosity.

Former_User · November 21, 2009, 11:44am

one tidbit you might add is that drinking a sports drink actually depletes your electrolyte levels, it doesn’t increase them.

it does deplete them marginally less than water though.

Sports drinks deplete electrolytes? explain please.

*** never mind, saw discussion above, I’m good

jackmott · November 21, 2009, 1:07pm

MeltingPot, I never suggested you sould drink only water.

I suggested that drinking gatorade to replenish electrolytes won’t work. When Macca Chugged gatorade in Kona to try and get more salt down, that probably was a mistake

but the carbohydrates in sports drinks are certainly useful in efforts over 90 minutes.

the point is that if you think you need more electrolytes, you need a salt pill, not gatorade.

and I didn’t do any googling to pull up that link. I had it memorized =)