The 10 Biggest Sports Nutrition Myths
- By Matt Fitzgerald
- Published Jan. 29, 2013
- Updated Jan. 29, 2013 at 12:05 PM UTC
7. All sports drinks are the same.
So much research has been done on sports drinks that many products share the same basic formula—the combination and concentration of ingredients that are proven to work. But there are some significant differences that make some products generally more effective than others and make different sports drinks better for different individual athletes. For example, the addition of a small amount of protein to the typical sports drink formula, with a 6-8 percent concentration of carbohydrate, has been proven to increase endurance and reduce exercise-induced muscle damage. But a small fraction of unlucky athletes cannot tolerate protein ingestion well during running and therefore must use traditional sports drinks without protein.
FILED UNDER: Nutrition TAGS: carbohydrate intake / Dehydration / Hydration / Nutritional Supplements / performance nutrition / Sports Drinks