When we do any type of physical exercise or activity it is beneficial for our heart weight, weight loss, and even for our overall fitness but at the same time, it makes our body sweaty, and thus a lot of fluid is released from our body at that time. However, sweating is good for our body because it helps maintain our body temperature but sometimes excess natural minerals are lost from the body and it can lead us to problems like dehydration and heat stroke. In this article, I will tell you about isotonic drinks and the health benefits which you can get from isotonic drinks during exercising.
What are Isotonic drinks?
The energy drink which is a mixture of water, carbohydrates, and electrolytes is known as an isotonic drink or isotonic sports drink. These drinks contain a very high concentration of carbohydrates which usually comes from sources like sucrose, fructose, and glucose. An isotonic drink is like a powerhouse of all those natural nutrients which our body loses with sweat fluid. It helps us in preventing injuries during exercising and also keeps illness caused due to loss of excess fluids at bay.
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People who are involved in physical activities like weight training, cycling, sports, etc. usually experience fatigue which is due to the loss of muscle carbohydrates. Isotonic drinks will help in boosting the endurance of your body so that you can keep going for a longer period and once you start consuming isotonic drinks, your muscles can delay the fatigue and bring 20% improvement in your performance.
Health Benefits of Isotonic drinks
Isotonic drinks are usually considered as a powerhouse of health benefits as certain health benefits are found in isotonic drinks which help them differ from other health drinks. Here are some of the prominent health benefits of isotonic drinks are mentioned below:
- Source of Electrolytes
The best benefit of isotonic drinks is that they are a good source of electrolytes. Electrolytes help in maintaining a healthy acid-base balance in human body cells which are made up of sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, bicarbonate, phosphate, and sulfate. In 1998, a study published in the Netherlands International Journal of Sports Medicine compared caffeinated drinks, low sodium mineral water, and an isotonic carbohydrate-electrolyte solution to find out its effect on elite cyclists. There, the volunteers who were given isotonic drinks hold more magnesium, calcium, and sodium in their bodies and this is enough to compensate for the sweat and urinary loss that happened during their physical activity.
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- Reserve of Glucose
An isotonic drink is very beneficial for athletes as it is rich in carbohydrates glycogen. The carbohydrates glycogen found in isotonic drinks gets easily converted into glucose which is then stored in our muscles. This Reserve of glucose needs less oxygen to burn for fuels in generation in comparison to other protein or fat. If you are involved in a workout and weight training, then carbohydrates stored in your body will decrease at a rate of three to four grams per minute so your body can easily get tired. Generally, our body takes 24 to 48 hours to naturally replenish those reserves but if you consume isotonic drinks then the glycogen balance will return to your body more quickly.
- Maintain Hydration
As we all know that drinking water during exercising and any other form of physical activity is necessary because you sweat a lot. But excess water may lead to bloating and also water does not contain carbohydrates or electrolytes. Therefore, including drinks with higher carbohydrate levels in your workout decreases the rate at which your stomach gets empty. Drinks like isotonic drinks take the same time as water to empty your stomach and they reduce urine output, encourage fluid retention and also prevent dehydration. So it is better to opt for an isotonic drink during exercising than the normal water.
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- Raise Endurance
According to research done by the University of Edinburgh, it takes a lot of effort in measuring the effectiveness of isotonic sports drinks on young athletes who take it both before and during the exercise and the results that were published later in the European Journal of Applied Psychology in 1990 shows that the athletes who were under isotonic hydration represented high-intensity consistently and their stop-start activity was also increased by 24% in comparison to those athletes who drank a placebo solution.
The Final Words
Isotonic drinks offer many benefits for sports persons and people who work out so it is a good replacement for the mighty water. If you are planning to get some beneficial drinks during your bodybuilding journey then isotonic drinks will be perfect for you. In last, I hope this artilcle is sufficient enough to clarify the information about Health Benefits of Isotonic Drinks.
