Sports Energy Drinks

Bradley Wiggins - Amazing Achievement!!

It was great on Sunday watching Bradley Wiggins cross the finish line of the 99th Tour de France as overall winner. What made the day even better for Team Sky was that Mark Cavendish won the sprint on the day, his 23rd stage win. While Bradley Wiggins took much of the attention, Team Sky showed that it really was a team effort in the end. Wiggins could have just let up in the last few laps of the Champs-Elysees, savouring the moment, waving to the crowd - but instead he was leading the peloton into the final sprint to help tee up Mark Cavendish to sprint to the finish for the win. It was an amazing achievement for British cycling and with Chris Froome finishing second overall, I don't think we'll ever see such a dominant performance from a British team in the Tour de France. It's incredible to think that some of these guys will be getting up, dusting themselves off and starting training for the Olympics, which starts in just four days time.

Keeping on the subject of sport, the BBC's Panorama ran an episode last week in conjunction with the BMJ about "The Truth Behind Sports Drinks" (it'll still be available on BBC iPlayer for a week or so). Sports marketing is big business, praying on the needs of sportsmen and women seeking to improve their performance, or just as a "fashion accessory" to be seen using whilst taking part in sport. Energy drinks such as Lucozade and Powerade make claims on the adverts and packaging about "boosting performance" and are becoming an "essential piece of sporting equipment". They advise people to drink before they feel thirsty. This is all a new concept. In the 1970s, runners were discouraged from drinking too much for the fear that it would slow them down. When the evidence is carefully scrutinised, it doesn't hold up. A lot of the studies cited are sponsored by the companies wishing to promote their products and the evidence is weak. What the promotion of these products has achieved is to undermine the importance of thirst. This is the basis that the only symptom of dehydration is thirst. Drinking too much can lead to exercise associated hyponatraemia, with 16 marathon deaths recorded due to a drop in sodium levels. The most effective way to prevent hyponatraemia during marathin running is said to be to prevent having a positive fluid balance. When the BMJ asked the major manufacturers of sports drinks to supply evidence, only GSK (who make Lucozade), supplied evidence. Other problems arising from sports drinks are the risks of obesity (people drinking too much - one in four American parents believe sports drinks are healthy for their children), and increasing numbers of patients with diabetes. So in conclusion, the evidence is not all there - sports drinks are not all that they are cracked up to be, and only drink water when you're thirsty. Plus it'll save you a lot of money!