HISTORY BEHIND SPORTS DRINKS

Ever since the beginning of times when human beings started evolving and surviving because of their competitive advantages, 'sports science' started being studied. Humans naturally started developing techniques and studied ways of performing better in everyday normal life activities that involved physical efforts. Whether it was military combat, development of hunting skills for food or the ancient Olympic Games of Greece, human performance and improvement have been examined somehow.

The study of human performance raised awareness for the study of substances that might help enhance body recovery, provide proper hydration and overall well being through a fitness journey. Sport nutrition is the way of study and practice of nutrition and diet as it relates to the sport or exercising performance. It is concerned with the type and quantity of fluid and food taken by an athlete, and also deals with nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, supplements and organic substances such as carbohydrates, proteins , nutrition and fats.

WHEN?

There are a few different claims on where and when sports drinks became a thing. Some will say that the industry had its birth around the 1920’s when a chemist named William Owen formulated Glucozade a sugar-water with citrus flavor which was aimed to deliver quick, digestible energy and fluids to sick people by a host of of common illnesses. There’s also the claim that, According to University of New Mexico’s professors, Jerry J. Mayo, and Len Kravitz, the origin of sports drinks date back to 1965 when professors at the University of Florida researched why the heat was affecting the performance of their football athletes. From their research it was discovered that the fluids, electrolytes and carbohydrates the players lost during practice and competition were not being adequately replenished. The scientists used these findings to formulate a carbohydrate-electrolyte beverage.

Regardless of its origin, the industry has grown to be a multi-billion dollar industry as of today and it only sees growth coming ahead. But since product development years ago, the three main goals of sports drinks remain unchanged: (1) to prevent dehydration, (2) to replace electrolytes lost in sweat, and (3) to provide carbohydrate for use during exercise (Coombs and Hamilton, 2000).

WHY?

As research show, the sports drinks industry was born to fulfill the need of the human body for quick and effective replenishment of electrolytes during ongoing performance activities. Despite its initial development focused on professional/high level athletes, sports drinks are highly available at a low cost for the everyday person and pretty much available everywhere now. The question is: Why would an athlete or everyday consumer that is not looking to perform activities at a top-elite level or exercise several hours a day be a consumer of sports drinks?

The truth is, within the past few decades, society has become more fast paced and more self aware of everything. People are starting to worry more about having a healthy lifestyle and workout routines. Aligned with work life and a busy daily schedule, the tendency to look for quick and healthy alternatives for a balanced diet started to appear and so did the healthier foods, drinks and snacks. In the sports drinks case, the industry shifted from being focused on professional athletes only towards everyday normal people. Products started being developed and marketed to on-the-go individuals looking to live a healthier lifestyle. The big problem here is that many brands still use the same formulas, which might cause a huge controversy in terms of what the non elite athlete body really needs and is taking advantage of.

A good way to think of these big names in industry standard isotonic drinks is that they claim to offer the perfect ‘balance’ for the delivery of digestible carbohydrate energy, some electrolytes and fluids to meet all of the main requirements of an exercising body. Despite its good intentions and idea at first, this means that they are in fact the masters of no particular function. Despite their apparent versatility, they end up neither delivering energy nor fluids and electrolytes as effectively as products designed specifically to do one or the other for the everyday consumer or weekend warrior. People’s physiology, exercise habits and confounding factors (like the weather) all vary. This means that a single product with a set composition is hardly going to work for all people, in all scenarios.

Other companies, such as Hydra-Guard “Premium Sports Drink”, were able to tailor the formula of a sports drink for example, to not only what professional athletes seem to benefit from, but to everyday-normal people do as well. Hydra-Guard “Premium Sports Drink”, is strategically formulated with the 5 major electrolytes to replace the fluids that we lose through sweat at optimum levels. That means that even if you are not a professional athlete that is working out at a very intense level for let's say, 2-3hours/day, you are still going to be consuming just enough electrolytes, calories and sugar as your body really needs. The product is also Low-Calorie, Low-Sugar, and has no artificial flavors or anything.

As cited on this article, we should always be careful, aware and watch for what we are consuming in terms of calories and sugar intake. If your fitness goal or lifestyle plan is to live a healthier life you have to be constantly watching for those things in your diet and therefore making the efforts to take advantage of brands such as Hydra-Guard “Premium Sports Drink”. Another thing to take into consideration is the truthfulness behind the labels and serving sizes that the big brands are marketing.

If you are interested in knowing more about Hydra-Guard, you can use the code PM10 on the online shop and get 10% OFF on your next purchase, and don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter for exclusive content and promotions!