Recommendations for Hydration and the Role of Sports Drinks in Performance - Literature review Example

Recommendations for hydration and the role of sports drinks IN PERFORMANCE Literature review Sportsdrinks represent a quickly growing and productive industry, with a broad variety of brands and manufacturers working within a highly aggressive market. These brands may claim to contain superior advantages over their rivals, but almost all of them are formulated in the same fashion (Snell et al., 2010). The formulation of the drinks is geared towards dehydration prevention, supply of carbohydrates and electrolytes, and there is the intention of them being highly palatable to the athletes and have some effect on their personal performances during action (ROBERT et al., 2010). The ability of the athletes to keep their body temperatures within some given boundaries even when temperatures surrounding them are very different is known as thermoregulation (Snell et al., 2010). If the body of the human body fails to maintain the average temperatures at any given time and the temperatures rise above the standard rates, the result is a condition known as hyperthermia (Geesmann, Mester and Koehler, 2014). The condition usually happens when the human body is exposed to constant temperatures of 55 degrees Celsius. The opposite of hyperthermia is hypothermia and it occurs when the body is exposed to low temperatures for an extended period. It is very fortunate that sports science has gone a step ahead to find out the ways that regular ingestion of fluids is important for the performances of the athletes. During the actual sporting activities, hypohydration tends to impair the ability of the body to regulate heat that leads to increased heartbeat rates and body temperatures. The exertion that is perceived increases making the athlete to experience more fatigue than in normal situations (Cox et al., 2006). The requirements of fluids by individual athletes vary between exercise situations and the loss of fluids is affected by genetics of the athlete, the body size and fitness. In addition, the environment and exercise intensity where the exercise is being carried out affect the loss of water from the athlete’s body. It is natural for sweat loss to increase as the exercise intensity increases (Cox et al., 2006). The functioning of the athlete’s mental capability is lowered during this period and it normally leads to negative implications for motor control, concentration and decision-making. There is also slowed gastric emptying that leads to stomach discomforts. The effects sated always lead to the impairment of the exercise performance (Wilson et al., 2006). Hypo hydration affects almost all the types of exercises adversely and more so when they are performed in hot conditions and the excessive impacts have been detected on cases of low fluid deficit of about 2%. It has been found that taking liquids regularly when exercising, the athletes are in a position to prevent the decrease in concentration and skill levels, prevent excessive elevations in body temperatures and heart rates, improved perceived exertion and improve the performance of the athletes. It is therefore recommended for every coach to give his or her players lots of fluids during the periods of exercising for the replacement of lost liquid from the athlete (Cox et al., 2006). In sports, nutrition is used for maximizing the performance of the athletes (Wilson et al., 2006). To be successful in sports, three major factors determine the success, the factors that determine the success of athletes is genetic endowments, the state of training and the nutrition of the athlete. Of the three factors, genetic makeup cannot be changed. To improve the performance of the athletes, specialized exercise training must be done and one of the major components of the training programs is nutrition (Byars, Greenwood and Simpson, 2008). Athletes and other fitness enthusiasts all need the same vital nutrients that non-active people need with diverse increases in their caloric needs and these are usually found in most of the sports drinks that the athletes use. These people also need some improvement in macro and micronutrients. It therefore becomes necessary to explore and assess the increased nutritional needs of the athletes before, at the time of, and after major championships for achieving best sports routine and enhancing their performances (Byars, Greenwood and Simpson, 2008). The activities that are related to health fitness include cardiovascular training and activities such as aerobic activities like swimming, jogging and hiking too. Other activities include stretching, heavy resistance training, extended resistant to some particular muscles and appropriate body composition (Costa et al., 2014). In an example, one may come up with a goal to lose his or her body fat. To achieve this objective, the persons are required to come up with some regular exercise programs. These programs would include a selection of more nutrient dense foods and sports drinks in the diets of the people involved to support increased demand for the activities (Costa et al., 2014). Fitness that is related to sports involves skills that are essential for sports accomplishments. The skills are sport-specific neuromuscular motor skills like agility, accuracy and timing, balance, strength, speed, endurance and power. Specificity of the training involves training the mentioned elements as well as the wellbeing elements that will be directly required for the particular sport (Byars, Greenwood and Simpson, 2008). Carrying these activities successfully requires the athlete to have taken quality food and other materials that may help them to maintain their hydrations levels and boost their performances. The ABCDE method can be used to assess the nutritional status of the sportsmen and sportswomen. There are some anthropometric that include taking the weight and heights of athletes. There is also biochemical analysis that includes the analysis of blood and urine tests of the athletes. Clinical assessments tend to include the recognition of signs and symptoms of the deficiencies or excesses (Wilson et al., 2006). The test result is applicable to show that the athletes are lacking and the correct drink containing the right ingredients for the athlete is given. In order to achieve quality life and maximum performance, it becomes necessary to place the focus on the task of an active person and an athlete would go ahead in learning how and what to eat and drink at a given time (ROBERT et al., 2010). First, it is imperative to know the bodys nutrient requirements, secondly, categorization of the body needs and learning the foods and drinks needed to meet the needs during endurance periods (Wilson et al., 2006). Thirdly, learning how to think critically about the choices made in food and drinks is important, reading labels and evaluating the foods. Equipped with these scientific inputs, the athlete gets ready to create a personalized food plan and the type of drinks that he/ she wants (Snell et al., 2010). When on international championships and events, the athletes should be given the adequate information about the kind of foods and drinks that will be available for them and how the selection has been done and mostly that of the drinks to be served (ROBERT et al., 2010). The information is critical because any changes in the diet can significantly affect the performance of the athletes. Based on these facts, it gets important for the athletes to get used to the foods and the drinks that they will be served with during the games early in advance. There might even call for education of the athletes on the type of foods and sports drinks to be offered and how they will affect their performance positively (Wilson et al., 2006). Recommendations for Healthy Hydration and Nutrition for Athletes It is usually very impossible to prescribe a particular plan for fluid replacement that meets the needs of all the athletes. It is however very fortunate that the athlete are able to easily estimate their personal liquid requirements by taking their weights before and after doing their exercises. An addition on the weight of any given fluid and food that is consumed in times of exercise sessions provides an estimate total fluid loss for the session. After knowing the athletes sweat losses, a good plan is then prepared that will help the athletes in achieving better liquid replacement in the successive exercise sessions. It is however advised to start drinking early in exercise and adopt a good pattern of taking small amounts of liquids regularly than trying to tolerate massive volumes once. The tolerance of the athletes varies from one person to the other. From experiences in the field of nutrition, the athletes have used different diets on various occasions before, during and after the events. Some professionals have been studying the trends in the performance of the athletes and have made some recommendations regarding their nutritional practices (Costa et al., 2014). Some of the recommendations that have been made include, the importance of nutrition in the performance of sports should be highly acknowledged. After recognizing the importance, the facilities that are essential in the sector should be given to making sure that he athletes gets the required amount and kind of nutrition and sports drinks (Weitkunat et al., 2012). Several studies have confirmed that the performance of the athletes can be impaired when they become dehydrated. The endurance athletes should always take sports drinks that contain high carbohydrates and electrolyte contents during and after their training or the real competition (Wilson et al., 2006). Taking high carbohydrates values, mostly favors consumption and sodium favors the retention of water in the body of the athletes. Taking appropriate sports drinks during competition is highly desired compared with fluid intake after or prior to working out or competition only (ROBERT et al., 2010). Sportsmen infrequently replace fluids fully because of the massive sweat loss. During training or the actual competition, proper hydration is usually required and essential to enhance performance (Snell et al., 2010). High quantity of fluids are needed by the athletes in avoiding the possible thermal stress, maintaining plasma volumes, delays fatigue and also prevents injuries that are associated with the hydration and sweat loss comes from sports drinks (Wilson et al., 2006). On the contrary, taking excessive amounts of sports drinks before, during and after endurance events may bring about electrolyte depletion and lead to a condition known as hyponatremia (Snell et al., 2010). It is commonly advisable for the individual athletes to replace the sweat lost by taking sports drinks that contain about 4 percent to around 8 percent of carbohydrate solutions and electrolytes at the time of training and competition to improve their performances (Weitkunat et al., 2012). It is highly recommended that the sportsmen take about 500 ml of fluid solution one to two hours prior to the competition and continue taking cold drinks at some regular intervals to replace the lost body fluids through sweating (Snell et al., 2010). For exercises that will last longer than one hour, it is advisable for the sportsmen to take between thirty to sixty g/h and drink between 600 and 1200 ml/h of a carbohydrate solution and Na (+) (0.5 to 0.7 g/L of fluid.) keeping up with proper hydration sometimes before, during, and after a competition might help the athletes in reducing the fluid loss (ROBERT et al., 2010). The balance might also help in performance maintenance, lower submaximal exercise heart rate, maintain the volume of plasma, also reduce heat stress, exhaustion due to heat and reduce the possibilities of any heat stroke (Snell et al., 2010). Athlete selection should be done based on scientific assessment for better physic gifted with innate physiological efficiency. Adequate programs on scientific training should be developed with appropriate nutritional inputs rich in carbohydrates in order to maximize the performance. Body weight and composition should be appropriate for any specific sport for which the athlete will participate in the sizes and the weight of the body should be developed through training and nutrition (ROBERT et al., 2010). Again, in most of the training situations, those athletes participating in the same event should receive the same training programs. The categorization will lead to a varied training load received by the athletes due to their difference in their weights. Therefore, there is need to adopt individual training schedules (PFEIFFER et al., 2012). The health practitioners should assess any changes in the body composition, weight and micronutrient balances of the athletes and how they respond to the diet and the training from time to time. It is for this reason that the athletes are made to keep their dietary history and all the training schedules and submits copies of the mentioned to the training institute (Murray, 2007). The diets given to the athletes should be approved and categorized depending on the body weights and the vigor used during the actual game by the athlete. Female athlete’s nutrition is not different from that of their male counterparts. Despite all these, care should be given in respect to the calcium and the iron intakes due to the additional physiological requirements of the female athletes. Additionally, all the meals given to the female athletes should be rich in folate, B12 and Zinc (Meadows-Oliver and Ryan-Krause, 2007). For junior athletes, the nutritional requirements are very different. The athletes particularly require many proteins approximated to be about 2g per Kg of body weight. The vast amounts of proteins are required to take care of the muscle mass development in the junior athletes (Murray, 2007). The proteins are also essential for generating muscles and taking care of all the additional requirements that arise due to sports activities. It is, therefore, important for these athletes to take snacks in the morning, have their lunch and dinner at regular intervals and accompanied with plenty of fluids (Mathew, Casamassimo and Hayes, 2002). The professionals have also recommended for variations in diets to be made based on the phase of training to solve the issue of dehydration. Following the principle of calorie intake should be equal to calorie expenditure; the requirement of the nutrients will be lower in the transition phase than any other phase. The analogous variations in the diets should be done based on the intensity of the training (Mahon, Hackett and Davies, 2010). Managing the weight of the athletes in sports is given priority. The reason weight is given high priority because adding can affect the performance of the athlete. The prime way to ensure that the athlete does not add weight is through exercise, taking proper sports drinks and appropriate nutrition (Kazemi et al., 2010). The sportsmen diet must be balanced in accordance to micro and macronutrients. When fed with a balanced diet, the athletes will not need to use any supplements on themselves. It remains a fact that excess of any nutrient be it protein, calcium, iron or any other will lead to an improvement in the performance of the sportsmen and sportswomen (ROBERT et al., 2010). Moreover, excessive mineral intake or any vitamins can be toxic in nature. For athletes with cases of nutrient deficiencies, the use of supplements will be desirable but must be used on medical advice (Mahon, 2014). Again, weekly menus should be prepared by strictly using the indicated ingredients to add up to the recommended calories. The meals served should constitute a broad range of foods and fruits to give a right choice to the athlete. The full package of the nutrients can only be available when variety of food is served (Mahon, 2014). The athletes must only be allowed to eat from the mess and not from anywhere else to allow for nutrient intake control. Educating the athlete on what he or she should take is also important to avoid any misunderstandings during the training period (Kazemi et al., 2010). The nutrition professionals at the training camps should meet the athletes in small groups alongside their coaches and give them a few tips on nutrition. It has been recommended that each training center should have at least three nutrition professionals (Snell et al., 2010). The organizers of the training camps must make sure that there are a number of messes in the centers rather than having a single mess that will not take care of the needs of the athletes (Kavouras, 2005). The menus in the mess will be required to be devised in a way that will prove calories for each category of sports. The result will be an assurance of the athletes food corresponding to the energy usage for a particular sport during training (Kazemi et al., 2010). For the athletes to make the appropriate selection of the type of foods that they take, the value of the calories of each food served must be indicated on the food counter. The chefs involved in the process of cooking for the athletes must be trained properly in the preparation of various dishes that are both nutritious and tasty. The food must not be overcooked or too oily (Kavouras, 2005). During international tournaments, it is usually hard for the athletes to find the type of foods that they have been used to taking. Due to this, an orientation course becomes necessary before the kickoff (Snell et al., 2010). The course aims at introducing the athletes to the kind of foods that has excellent availability at the event venue. The foods served at the event should have a definite focus on the carbohydrates intake for the maximization of glycogen stores (Geesmann, Mester and Koehler, 2014). For events that will take place in the morning, the meal served at the night should be of high carbohydrate value and the breakfast should be light. If the events ought to take place in the evening, the breakfast and lunch should be of high carbohydrate values and should be followed by some light meals or snacks (Cox et al., 2006). Fluid balance for the athletes is usually crucial. In trainings that are considered to require heavy trainings, some considerable amounts of water are lost from the human body (Geesmann, Mester and Koehler, 2014). The loss must be made up for continuously and with immediate effect because it is always accompanied by loss of electrolytes through human sweat. Taking sports drinks that are rich in sodium chloride and potassium chloride is the best way for the athletes to keep fit (Cox et al., 2006). The practice of maintaining fluid balance is a vital factor in the preservation of various body functions and support in the exercise performance of the athlete. In times of exercise, lots of fluids are lost through sweating. Fluid deficit always occurs when the athlete fails to consume enough fluid to replace the lost fluid (Geesmann, Mester and Koehler, 2014). To help the athlete develop a fluid intake plan both during and after the exercise period, the athletes need to know more about the extent of their sweat losses. All these recommendations are aimed at maintaining the hydration levels of the athletes. The dietary of the athletes combined with how they use the sports drinks available for them makes it possible to keep their hydration constant and, therefore, improve their performance during their different sporting activities. All the recommendations must be followed to latter in order to avoid the hydration issues. Sports drinks and athlete performance Sports drinks serve the purpose of maintaining and restoring the electrolytes as opposed to the energy drinks. The drinks tend to improve the performance of the athlete during training and the actual sports activities. A number of sports drinks contain about 4-8 % carbohydrates, some amount of sodium and potassium and even the newer one sin the market contain proteins. For the sportsman, if the quantity of energy given by the calories in these drinks is too high, then the hydration status of the athlete may be disturbed by inadequate absorption. Drinks associated with sports tend to make an excellent fuel and hydration choices because they are mostly solutions of carbohydrates. The drinks tend to boost the endurance performance for long exercises compared to taking water only (Cox et al., 2006). From past research, it has been found that, sport drinks are capable of improving endurance to about 20 percent and more during long lasting workouts that take an hour or more (Costa et al., 2014). Most of the sports drinks offer a mixture of carbohydrates sources like sucrose, glucose, galactose and fructose. Some other drinks may contain maltodextrin (Byars, Greenwood and Simpson, 2008). Research done on these drinks has concluded that, taking drinks that offer a mixture of carbohydrates have ability to improve the energy amount in the human body and eventually get to the muscles as body fuel. The drinks provide the intestinal tract some different types of sugars and the rate of carbohydrate absorption is improved. The result is an improvement for carbohydrates in the muscles that act as fuel for exercise leading to improved performance (Costa et al., 2014). The consumption of excessive sports drinks usually leads to some gastrointestinal disorders and discomforts. In extreme cases, it may lead to development of a condition known as hypernatremia. The condition causes symptoms that are similar to those of dehydration and it is potentially life threatening (Geesmann, Mester and Koehler, 2014). The condition is not common but it occurs in prolonged endurance events in cases of large income of low sodium drinks consumption and sweat losses are small. Female athletes with long race times are at high risk of experiencing this condition. The group of athletes has small sweat losses and lots of time to burn massive fluids during the main event. The consumption of sports drinks with plenty of sodium lowers the risk of an athlete to be attacked by this condition. The effective sports drinks together with the ingredients that they contain play a significant role in energizing the athletes and making them improve their performances. They play an important role in maintaining their hydration status and therefore resulting in an excellent performance of the athletes. An estimated 23% of sports warriors use sports drinks for their performances. Conclusion Despite the recommendations made on the nutrition of the athletes, there is still a need for a bigger inquiry regarding sports drinks and skill maintenance in various sporting areas. Additionally, the dosage and the formulation protocol of search studies may form the key areas to place some focus on. According to my observation, sports drinks are not necessarily the panacea they are often made out to appear by the manufacturers and advertising cooperates. However, they always have their uses in the right situations, like long-duration endurance events or competitive sporadic race sports. To completely deal with the issue of hydration and dehydration to the athletes, proper nutrition must be adhered to accompany by taking the right quantities and types of drinks. Good nutrition is necessary for keeping the body fit and making sure that correct amounts of calories are burned during the sporting activities. It, therefore, becomes paramount to have the combination of the two to ensure that the hydration of the athletes is effective. Drugs that enhance the performance of the athlete must be strictly avoided since they bring injuries to the athletes and have been banned by the international Olympic committees, sports organization and the sports councils. References Byars, A., Greenwood, M. and Simpson, W. 2008. Comparing two sports drinks effects on indices of aerobic performance. J Int Soc Sports Nutr, 5(Suppl 1), p.P13. Costa, R., Gill, S., Hankey, J., Wright, A. and Marczak, S. 2014. Perturbed energy balance and hydration status in ultra-endurance runners during a 24 h ultra-marathon. Br J Nutr, 112(03), pp.428-437. Cox, C., Ruby, B., Banse, H. and Gaskill, S. 2006. Hydration status and water turnover of dogsled drivers during an endurance sled dog even in the Arctic. International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 65(1). Geesmann, B., Mester, J. and Koehler, K. 2014. Energy Balance, Macronutrient Intake, and Hydration Status During a 1,230 km Ultra-Endurance Bike Marathon. IJSNEM, 24(5), pp.497-506. Kavouras, S. 2005. Fluid and Electrolyte Needs During Ultra-Endurance Events. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 37(Supplement), p.S283. Kazemi, F., Gaeini, A., Kordi, M. and Rahnama, N. 2010. Erratum to: The acute effects of two energy drinks on endurance performance in female athlete students. Sports Sci Health, 6(1), pp.43-43. Mahon, E. 2014. An Assessment of the Hydration Status of Recreational Endurance Athletes During Mountain Marathon Events. American Journal of Sports Science, 2(4), p.77. Mahon, E., Hackett, A. and Davies, I. 2010. An observational study assessing the hydration status of recreational endurance athletes during a mountain marathon. Proc. Nutr. Soc., 69(OCE6). Mathew, T., Casamassimo, P. and Hayes, J. 2002. Relationship between Sports Drinks and Dental Erosion in 304 University Athletes in Columbus, Ohio, USA. Caries Res, 36(4), pp.281-287. Meadows-Oliver, M. and Ryan-Krause, P. 2007. Powering Up With Sports and Energy Drinks. Journal of Pediatric Health Care, 21(6), pp.413-416. Murray, B. 2007. The Role of Salt and Glucose Replacement Drinks in the Marathon. Sports Medicine, 37(4), pp.358-360. PFEIFFER, B., STELLINGWERFF, T., HODGSON, A., RANDELL, R., P–TTGEN, K., RES, P. and JEUKENDRUP, A. 2012. Nutritional Intake and Gastrointestinal Problems during Competitive Endurance Events. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 44(2), pp.344-351. ROBERT, C., GOACHET, A., FRAIPONT, A., VOTION, D., Van ERCK, E. and LECLERC, J. 2010. Hydration and electrolyte balance in horses during an endurance season. Equine Veterinary Journal, 42, pp.98-104. Snell, P., Ward, R., Kandaswami, C. and Stohs, S. 2010. Comparative effects of selected non-caffeinated rehydration sports drinks on short-term performance following moderate dehydration. J Int Soc Sports Nutr, 7(1), pp.28. Sports Drinks, Milk vs Hypoglycemia. 2000. The Physician and Sportsmedicine, 28(7), p.0. Weitkunat, T., Knechtle, B., Knechtle, P., C. and Rosemann, T. 2012. Body composition and hydration status changes in male and female open-water swimmers during an ultra-endurance event. Journal of Sports Sciences, 30(10), pp.1003-1013. Wilson, M., Smith, N., Chattington, M., Ford, M. and Marple-Horvat, D. 2006. The role of effort in moderating the anxiety– performance relationship: Testing the prediction of processing efficiency theory in simulated rally driving. Journal of Sports Sciences, 24(11), pp.1223-1233. Read More