How and when do I use it?

• Sports drinks provide a convenient option for simultaneously addressing fuel, fluid and electrolyte needs before, during and after exercise.
• Use pre-exercise: may be part of the pre-exercise meal or consumed immediately before exercise to enhance fluid and fuel status.
  • Pre-exercise “slushies” may be part of pre-cooling strategies for exercise in hot environments.
• Use during exercise: promotes hydration, fuelling and reduced perception of effort during exercise.
• Use post-exercise: can contribute to refuelling goals but other foods/sports products should be considered to provide a more nutrient-dense approach to total recovery needs.
  • Hydration: promotes voluntary drinking and fluid retention to assist the athlete to achieve a fluid intake plan that keeps the fluid deficit incurred during exercise to an acceptable level. Opportunities to drink fluids during sporting activities vary according to the rules and practical features of the sport.¹³
  • Fuelling: carbohydrates consumed provide an additional fuel source for the muscle according to the requirements of each sporting activity. See Table 1 for recommendations.
  • Mouth sensing: 5-10 second exposure of mouth/oral cavity to carbohydrate every 10-20 minutes stimulates reward centres in the brain to make the athlete feel better. Effect is repeatable throughout exercise and can directly enhance performance of shorter events (45-75 min) as well as provide additional benefit in longer events.
• Delivery of carbohydrate consumed during exercise to the muscle is largely influenced by the rate at which it can be absorbed in the small intestine. Typically, ingesting glucose-based carbohydrates (e.g. sucrose, glucose polymers, maltodextrin) at rates in excess of ~ 60 g/h during exercise does not lead to additional performance benefits. In fact, because intestinal glucose transporters (called SGLT1) are saturated at this level, excessive carbohydrate intake can cause gut discomfort/problems that impair performance.
  • The gut can be ‘trained’ by consuming carbohydrates during exercise to maximise the number and activity of the SCGT1 transporters, thus enhancing glucose uptake and reducing gut symptoms.^14,15
  • In addition, some newer sports drinks and sports foods contain ‘multiple transportable carbohydrates’ - a blend of carbohydrates such as glucose and fructose which are absorbed via different transporter molecules in the intestine to overcome the usual bottleneck on a single transport system.
  • Studies have shown that when carbohydrates are consumed at high rates (> 60 g/h) during exercise to meet new guidelines for prolonged strenuous events, drinks containing multiple transportable carbohydrates are more effective than glucose-based products in maintaining gut comfort, promoting muscle carbohydrate oxidation and enhancing performance.¹⁶
• The composition of sports drinks provides a generic balance between fluid and carbohydrate needs across a range of sports. The relationship between fluid and fuel needs may vary according to the environment, the athlete’s nutritional preparation and the demands of the exercise.
  • If fluid needs are greater than carbohydrate needs: sports drinks with lower carbohydrate content or diluted sports drinks may be used.
  • If carbohydrate needs are greater than fluid needs: sports drinks with higher carbohydrate content may be used or supplemented with sports gel/ sport bar/ sport confectionery.

Table 1: Guidelines for carbohydrate intake during sporting activities ¹⁷