• Question: Do any sport drinks effect your health?

    Asked by cool cory to Richard, katy, Stuart, Lauren, Anais on 9 Mar 2016. This question was also asked by kin, barney~max, Noja.
    • Photo: Lauren Laing

      Lauren Laing answered on 9 Mar 2016:

      Hi Cory:
      I have never researched this, but like most things I imagine in large quantities they cannot be good for you. When you eat or drink foods containing sugars, the digestive system breaks down the digestible compounds into sugar, which enters the blood. As your blood sugar levels increase, your pancreas produces the hormone insulin. Insulin prompts the cells in your body to absorb the sugar from the blood for energy or storage. This in turn reduced the levels of sugar in the bloodstream.

      When your sugar levels drop too low, the pancreas produces a hormone called glucagon. This hormones triggers the liver to start releasing stored sugars. It is this balance between insulin and glucagon which ensures the sugar levels in the body are maintained at the right level for your organs to function well.

      The problem with eating or drinking too much sugar is the human body is not made to consume excessive amounts of sugar. The majority of the excess sugar becomes metabolised into body fat; too much processed sugars can also affect the balance of insulin production and can affect the health of your liver. Consuming too much sugar has also been linked to diseases such as type 2 diabetes, which occurs when the body can’t make enough insulin or can’t properly use the insulin it makes.

      I would say sports drinks are a great way to get the energy you need when you are doing sports, or feeling unwell. But, I wouldn’t drink too much at once!!

      The other scientists might have a good insight on this?!

    • Photo: Anais Kahve

      Anais Kahve answered on 10 Mar 2016:

      Everything in moderation! To answer your question, sports drinks are good when you do sports. This is because when you do sports you lose water and salts and sugars (electrolytes). So that you don’t get too dehydrated you need to replenish the water and salts that you have lost. Sports drinks are great for this. That’s why when you run a marathon you mustn’t drink too much plain water because you can die. This is because after a marathon you would have lost huge amounts of water. In order to keep water in your body you need salts. If you drink water without salts then you actually lose more water and become even more dehydrated. But you mustn’t drink sports drinks when you’re not doing sports because you’re not losing large amounts of salts and sugars. Too much sugar (and fat) can cause diabetes. This is because your cells become unresponsive to insulin which means that your cells stop taking in glucose. This is dangerous because all of our cells need glucose to survive.

    • Photo: Stuart Atkinson

      Stuart Atkinson answered on 10 Mar 2016:

      Wow, I think Lauren and Anais have summed this one up for everyone else! It does make me wonder when I see people drinking isotonic glucose drinks on a daily basis, thinking they’re good for your health!!!

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