Originally Posted by
axolotl
Evidence please? You might be right, but I'm not aware of proof that these products provide any significant advantage to eating and drinking properly when exercising strenuously.
"These products" is not even remotely important. As I suggested earlier, you can roll your own with some maltodextrin powder or similar methods. Nor am I here to do
PR for Gatorade.
Also, I for one am less concerned with the electrolytes than with carbs/calories. On a side note, I hope it's obviously that I am not suggesting a sports drink as a
substitute for proper nutrition. Rather, the advantage is that you are getting the fuel and a handful of specific nutrients faster than if you wait 4 hours between eating. From what I can tell, the scientific research on this has a pretty long pedigree, back to the 70s
AFAIK.
As to why that's important...
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=bonk+cycling
Originally Posted by
chasm54
As to the supposed advantages of sports drinks over conventional foods, if they exist at all - I agree with others that the marketing is mainly hype - they seem to me to reside entirely in convenience.... It is perfectly possible to do this with water and suitable food, even while in motion.
To reiterate, sports drink are not and should not be used as a
replacement for real food. Still, if you're going to avoid bonking, most people need around 250 calories per hour while cycling -- a bit more than half of what a typical person burns when riding for an hour.
"Real" food has an advantage in that you aren't consuming empty calories, and are getting other nutrients. However it can be hard to find food that is high in calories and still healthy.
So, you can either stop and eat 5 apples every hour, or have a sports drink (or a gel) and eat a real breakfast, lunch and dinner.
