Everything Parents Need to Know about Sports Drinks versus Other Rehydration Solutions

 

It can be confusing when you’re shopping for a sports drink for your athlete and are confronted with an entire aisle of options. There are sports drink mixes and bottles, oral rehydration solutions in bottle and packet form, electrolyte tabs and mixes, and blends designed to promote recovery. Choosing the right one can feel impossible.

Here, TrueSport Expert Kristen Ziesmer, a registered dietitian and board-certified specialist in sports dietetics, breaks down the difference between the drinks marketed towards athletes and explains how you can help your athlete find the right mix for their needs.

First, Let's Define the Four Common Drinks/Drink Mixes You Might See in the Sports Nutrition Aisle.

Sports drinks: A blend of water, a form of sugar, and electrolytes designed to help athletes replenish muscle glycogen as well as vital electrolytes like sodium and potassium lost via sweat during exercise. (Example: Gatorade)
Oral rehydration solutions: This blend of water, sugar, and electrolytes is designed to treat dehydration. It's typically recommended for people experiencing severe nausea or diarrhea as a way to replenish fluid levels. (Example: Pedialyte)

Electrolyte drinks: These low- to no-calorie powders and tablets add sodium, potassium, and magnesium as well as flavoring to a water bottle. While electrolytes are important, especially for heavy sweaters, these tablets won't contain the carbohydrates that your athlete needs. Many sports drinks and oral rehydration solutions now offer sugar-free or low-sugar versions of their drinks, and in those cases, would shift from being sports drinks/oral rehydration solutions to being electrolyte beverages. (Examples: nuun, LMNT)

Recovery drinks: These drinks will typically contain a blend of carbohydrates and protein in order to promote muscle repair as well as glycogen replenishment. These are meant to be used post-exercise, not during activity or during a break in a competition, and they may cause gut distress if they are used during activity. (Examples: Gu Roctane Protein Recovery Mix, Klean Athlete Klean Recovery)

Are Sports Drinks and Oral Rehydration Solutions the Same?

While these drinks have a lot in common, their balance of carbohydrates and electrolytes are optimized for different purposes. An oral rehydration solution will often have a much higher sodium and potassium content compared to a sports drink, while a sports drink will generally have a higher sugar content. Drinks like Gatorade are formulated with athletic performance in mind, while most oral rehydration solutions available in drugstores are formulated with sick children in mind.

Ziesmer also notes that oral rehydration solutions like Pedialyte tend to be significantly more expensive than most sports drinks, which may be an issue for some caregivers. See below for a simple recipe to make your own sports drink at a much lower price point.

Which Drink Mix Should My Athlete Use?

Studies have found that there's no difference in fluid retention between sports drinks and oral rehydration solutions when used during exercise—so both will be beneficial on the field. The primary difference is in the sugar content: The amount of sugar will vary from brand to brand, but generally, oral rehydration solutions contain less sugar than sports drinks. A standard Pedialyte serving contains nine grams of sugar while Gatorade contains 22 grams, which means that Pedialyte may not provide enough fuel for a longer competition or race if it's the only thing consumed.