- When exercising intensely for over an hour, a drink with 4%-8% sugar (50-80 calories in an 8oz. serving) can promote fluid retention and delay fatigue. Salt is not strictly necessary at this level - it makes the drink more palatable, but the body has enough salt without replenishment.
- When exercising intensely for 4-8 hours the salt replacement becomes more important and a drink that replaces salt as well as carbohydrate can be beneficial.
- Sports drinks are widely advertised and widely available. Check the ingredients to see if it has more sugar than needed, and dilute it with water if it is too sugary.
Sports Drinks
Check the labels of commercially available sports drinks to find the sugar content. You may wish to buy dry mix and mix it to the appropriate strength.
Do It Yourself Sports Drink
A homemade mix is easy to do, the following is from the UC Berkeley Wellness Letter:
Dissolve a tablespoon of sugar and a pinch of salt in a tablespoon of orange juice or in two tablespoons of lemon juice. Add 7.5 ounces of cold water and stir.
More Sports Drink Recipes: including powdered mix to take along.
What About Juice or Sodas?
Juices and sodas are generally 10% sugar - too sugary. Juice sugar is fructose which is harder for the stomach to digest than glucose. The sugar sits in the gut attracting water out of the tissues - exactly the opposite of what you want to happen. Carbonation may produce unpleasant belching or a bloated feeling.
Energy Drinks
Drinks on the market tout ingredients such as taurine, guarana, ginseng, caffeine and all kinds of supplements for energy. These may indeed give the long distance walker a boost, but should be tested on training walks to watch for any unpleasant side effect such as stomach upset or cramping. Never use anything new or untried on a long distance race such as a half-marathon or marathon.
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