Researchers warn against using energy and sports drinks
The adverts state that energy and sports drinks enhance performance and increase the efficiency and efficacy of the body; however, researchers have warned that sports drinks can actually be harmful for health, due to their sugar content and high number of calories.
Researchers from Harvard and Oxford universities have warned that brands responsible for drinks such as Lucozade and Powerade are misleading athletes and gym enthusiasts by claiming that drinking their products will improve their performance and scaring them into thinking that their body is constantly at risk of dehydration; in fact, researchers claim that there is a risk of drinking too much liquid, which contributes to a condition known as hypernatremia, which causes the brain cells to become swollen.
Figures suggest that there has been a significant increase in the value of the energy drinks market in the UK; in the last year alone, the market grew by 10 percent to around £1 billion. Each year an estimated 440 million gallons of the sugary liquid are consumed, which equates to enough fluid to fill 400 Olympic swimming pools.
The study, which was published in the British Medical Journal, investigated 104 products, including sports drinks, protein shakes and training products and analysed more than 400 claims relating to health and wellbeing; a host of athletes and well-known sporting figures, including Wayne Rooney and Alan Shearer, have promoted the drinks, but researchers found that there is very little evidence to support the claims that such drinks enhance health or sporting performance in any way.
The drinks are aimed at athletes, but they have become incredibly popular with people who do not participate in sport, especially young people and this is problematic, as they are very sugary and contain a high number of calories; dentists and doctors are worried that young people are increasing their risk of obesity, dental diseases and general health problems by consuming energy drinks instead of water or sugar-free drinks.
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2175662/The-sports-drink-myth-They-dont-boost-energy-harmful.html
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