Sports Drinks?

GregGolden · #1 (**permalink**) 07-30-2006, 08:02 AM

I'm a swimmer and I practice 2-2 and a half hours a day. I also run about 2 miles a day on the treadmill, and was wondering, will sports drinks, say powerade, who only have about 15 carbs in a serving effect my sugars dramaticlly? Or will is just ballance in out in accordance with the exercise?

JediSkipdogg · #2 (**permalink**) 07-30-2006, 08:11 AM

It's pretty much sugar, so it will spike your BG up very fast. If you are running normal when you drink it, your BG may spike up high before it comes back down. Therefore I'd only recommend drinking a sports drink when you are running low, otherwise find something more slow acting to eat to cover your delayed excercise low.

Lex4153 · #3 (**permalink**) 07-30-2006, 08:32 AM

Propel is really good. It has 2 grams of sugar for the whole bottle I believe. Check it out.

Eri's mom · #4 (**permalink**) 07-30-2006, 08:58 AM

Yeah, Propel is great...Eri always has it in the house.
Her endo's told her not to drink either gatorade or powerade, but Propel is fine...

seacomp · #5 (**permalink**) 07-30-2006, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GregGolden

will sports drinks, say powerade, who only have about 15 carbs in a serving effect my sugars dramaticlly?

I don't know duh about sports drinks, but I know the answer. Test. Whatever positive answer you may get, you going to have to test after trying it to see that it actually works for you..

DeusXM · #6 (**permalink**) 07-31-2006, 04:23 AM

It really depends on how much exercise you're doing. Bear in mind though that Powerade and other sports drinks tend to be used as hypo treatments - because they raise your blood sugar very quickly even if you only drink a very small amount. They're basically raw glucose in water.

trailrunner · #7 (**permalink**) 07-31-2006, 08:13 AM

I do gatoraid or poweraid during long runs only. If I am running any thing under 8 miles, it's water only for me. I do carry GU ( energy gels) with me for hypo's After long runs I usually don't have any spike from the gatoraid. But everyones body is different.

HelenM · #8 (**permalink**) 08-01-2006, 05:19 AM

I've started using a isotonic drink whilst running distances over 7 miles, made up normally it should contain about 35 gm carb in 500ml but I make it up at half strength drinking about 750ml in a 3+ hour run during hot weather (I'm very slow). Its worked well and BS has stayed stable. I have read that using orange juice diluted to 50% with a pinch of salt works well.
But you need to test and find out what works for you. Certainly swimming lowers my BS more so if I were to exercise for that long in water I would probably need a higher carb percentage.