Sports drinks provide options for athletes who need to replace body fluids lost during exercise. These drinks play an important role in rehydration and rebalancing your electrolytes during and after strenuous exercise or athletic events. The industry has expanded since the most famous sports drink Gatorade hit the market in the early 1970s. Now each variety of sports drinks serves a specific purpose and meets a particular need, in addition to boosting your body's fluid levels.
Hypotonic Drinks
Hypotonic drinks have the lowest quantity of carbohydrates, but they replace fluids quickly. In addition to water, they may contain sodium and potassium to enhance rehydration. These drinks are for athletes who do not perspire a lot during athletic activities. The Iowa State University Extension states that these drinks have less than 19 g of carbs per 8 oz. serving.
Isotonic Drinks
Isotonic sports drinks fit the needs of the average athlete. They have fluids that quickly rehydrate your body and add carbohydrates to replace stored glycogen lost from muscles during workouts, exercise or athletic activities. The addition of sodium and potassium helps your body balance the flow of fluids within cells and tissues.
Hypertonic Drinks
The main purpose of hypertonic sports drinks is to increase your body's glycogen levels after you finish athletic activities that require endurance. These drinks provide 50 to 70 g of carbohydrates per serving, enough to supplement your daily intake from food sources. They rehydrate and deliver essential electrolytes to your tissues quickly, so you can use them after strenuous exercise and with isotonic drinks during exertion, according to the British Broadcasting Corporation.
Sports Drink Alternatives
Water does not contain electrolytes, minerals or carbohydrates, making it less effective for rehydration than many popular sports drinks. Fruit juices are adequate substitutes for sports drinks when you dilute them to obtain the same or similar effect of the ingredients in sports drinks. You can use orange juice to create all three of the types of sports drinks. For a low-carbohydrate hypotonic sports drink, Evergreen State University suggests 100 ml of orange juice concentrate with 1 liter of water and a pinch of salt. To make an isotonic drink, combine 200 ml of orange juice concentrate with 1 liter of water and the pinch of salt. To create a hypertonic drink using orange juice, increase the amount of orange juice concentrate to 400 ml without changing the quantities of your other ingredients.
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