Hydration: Whats your best choice?
Hydration, every athlete knows its important and yet few know and understand all of the options available to them. Three of the most common drinks consumed by athletes are water, Gatorade and coconut water. Each has their upside and each has their downside. Regardless of which you drink, make sure to stay properly hydrated before, during and after exercise or competition. Don't wait until you're already thirsty!
By the time your body signals thirst you are already dehydrated.
Hydration
Water vs. Gatorade vs. Coconut water
During a workout, hydration is a key element to ensure you get the most out of it. Although there are many outlets to hydration, three of the most commonly seen are: water, Gatorade, and coconut water. Although all help in keeping your body hydrated, all are different in their own way.
Water
· Pros
o No calorie
o No Fats
o No Sugars
o Convenient and accessible
o Cheap
o Can make basically any flavor through
· Cons
o No nutritional value
o No taste
o No electrolytes
Gatorade
· Pros
o Different flavors
o Tasteful
o Provides Electrolytes
o No Fats
· Cons
o More Expensive
o High sugar
o Not good nutritional value
o Higher calorie
Coconut water
· Pros
o Flavored
o Good dose of Potassium
o Provide some vitamins and minerals
o Provides electrolytes
o Contains Dietary fiber
· Cons
o Contain some fats
o Calories
o Higher sodium
Based on the comments above, you can see each of these liquids have their pros and cons. Our recommendation would be to choose water as your choice for hydrating. Although the other drinks provide some minerals and vitamins, they give you a lot of calories. When cutting weight, watching your calorie intake is very important. Most people wouldn’t want to waste calories for the day on a drink when they can eat something instead. Water allows you to stay hydrated without having to sacrifice any of the calories you’re allowed to intake to keep your weight down. Another key advantage water has over the other drinks is that is can be modified. You can add different things to flavor your water and give it taste. Popular items, like Mio and Crystal Lights, can be added to water to improve the flavor, while at the same time basically adding no calories. So overall, all of them provide you with rehydration, but water’s the route we would take.
