Are Sports Drinks Safe and Effective?

Commercial influences may have corrupted American College of Sports Medicine hydration guidelines.

That’s one of my personal fave videos of late. Got all the things I love: sweeping historical context, corporate malfeasance, myth busting—you name it! Hope it was as good for you as it was for me :)

More videos on hydration if you get thirsty:

Thanks for watching. I hope you’ll join in the evidence-based nutrition revolution!
-Michael Greger, MD FACLM

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[NutritionFactsOrg]

Just a reminder: If you have any health or medical questions, please post them on NutritionFacts.org for our health support volunteers to answer. Thanks for watching! -NF Team

[q..q]

Damn it doc I wasn't ready for a test. I was just trying to enjoy my spinach banana smoothie in peace.

[DebateCentrals]

Shawn Baker says you shouldn't listen to Dr. Greger because he isn't as muscular as him 😂

[oskartang]

I sip water or lemon water during my regular intensive weight training. No sports drinks nor protein powder. For the diet, I follow Daily Dozen.

[theveganmerman]

I think Adam Ruins Everything went over this and pretty much said the same thing just drink when you’re thirsty. And then yeah Gatorade pretty much funded their own study

[TheBerkeleyBeauty]

I was a high school athlete in the 80s and all we drank was water and we NEVER had a problem with “low electrolytes”. I used to tell my kids all the time (both high school and college athletes) that they didn’t need all that expensive crap in the bottles and to just drink enough water. What a scam🙄.

[zbridgjpxupzm]

2:48 true maybe for light exercise in moderate temperatures. It is definitely NOT true for rigorous exercise and long distance running or hot temperatures...

[DimaRakesah]

My husband is a martial arts instructor and is forever telling his kids not to drink sports drinks, just water. Now we have this video to refer to, thanks Dr. Greger!

[alchemista]

Thank you! Thank you.
I have taught Body Fluids & Renal Physiology for decades and whenever I was asked about this topic of hydration during exercise my answer has been PHYSIOLOGY.
If your hypothalamus & your kidneys work, your body will respond appropriately and you will be all set.

[jeristowell]

Ran my fastest marathon and BQ for Boston and only drank when I was thirsty. It's true you can over drink. When ever I did sports drinks I ended up with stomach issues.

[marujitadiaz]

I've been preaching in the desert about this for years. To be precise, in the Runner's World forums about eight years ago. It's nice to have now this specially-made video to back it up.

[erikl]

This video reminds me of that series of videos where Dr Gregor said we need to avoid rice because we will get arsenic poisoning, and that it is a REALLY big issue world wide. Someone should tell the greatest runners on earth that they’ve been doing it all wrong. Hey Kenyans, a Phd wrote a paper and it turns out- you don’t really need water, sugar, or sodium when running for long periods.

[jRising]

I think this just confused the heck out of AND I totally saw sanitation coming a mile away. The eradication of smallpox was mostly due to sanitation not inoculation.

[trainingtall]

This is some eye-opening stuff! Wow! And the science has been there all along...

[goldwolf]

Thanks for doing all this research. I’ve known this info but never bothered to look up the sources. You saved me hours of reading.

[luluthegrape]

I got 100% on the quiz! Thanks Anatomy and Physiology!

[Slash]

Can you make a video about the long-term effects of ADD medications like vyvanse and adderall on the brain?

[sarahbakesy]

Do you have a video on Energy drinks? If no please do! I would like to know what they do to the body and this is one of the only sources i trust.

[GuacamoleKun]

I drink according to thirst and I seem to drink a lot more than others. And some people I know seem to get dehydrated.

[metalguru]

So if you're thirsty and dehydrayted it's better to take water with sugar and salt than plain water? In what ratio? Anyone know?