Isotonic drink: Optimizing hydration for performance and recovery
A 2% weight loss due to dehydration during exercise reduces an athlete's physical capacity by 20%. Hydration before, during and after exercise is one of the keys not to neglect for your sporting success.
What is good hydration?
Good hydration allows you, not only to replace your water losses effectively, to replace the electrolytes (or mineral salts) lost during exercise but also to provide quick sugars to stimulate the metabolism.
The sport practiced, the intensity of the exercise and the environment of use (notably external temperatures) will have an impact on the athlete's water needs. Exercise drinks are particularly used in endurance efforts such as running, swimming or triathlon – but other drinks can be used for shorter duration efforts.
To learn more about the role of hydration in sport, you can consult the article “ Hydration in sport ”.
What is an exercise drink?
Exercise drinks are necessary for the athlete's proper hydration before, during and after training.
In sports practice, the main function of these drinks is to hydrate athletes while restoring electrolytes, carbohydrates and other nutrients that were used during exercise, so as to maintain or improve endurance performance . [The Impact of Sports and Energy Drinks in Performance]
They are made using essential electrolytes such as sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, phosphate and magnesium, which are eliminated through sweating during training and/or competition.
Exercise drinks can be classified into three types according to their osmolarity which depends on their carbohydrate and electrolyte content: hypotonic , isotonic and hypertonic drinks.
[An Overview of Functional Beverages]
What is osmolarity?
Osmolarity is a measure of the amount of osmotically active particles in a solution, such as sodium and glucose . The reference base for comparing osmolarity is that of the internal medium, the blood plasma, in which the dissolved substances “bathe”: a drink is said to be isotonic when its osmolarity is close to that of the blood plasma, hypotonic when it is lower. to this and hypertonic when it is greater.
In the mechanism of hydration, we observe a movement of substances from the most concentrated solution (hypertonic) to the less concentrated solution (hypotonic) and water goes the opposite way. [health-and-nutrition.com]
Depending on the athlete's needs, they may therefore choose a drink with a suitable osmolarity. However, it is not always easy to know what type of drink to use and when to use it.
When to use isotonic, hypotonic and hypertonic drinks?
- Moisturizing drinks are recommended for all sports and even more so for endurance sports that can last several hours, such as marathons, triathlons or long-distance cycling... Here are the characteristics, benefits and indications of each drink.
- Isotonic drinks have osmolarities ranging from 275 to 295 mOsm / kg of water. The carbohydrates and electrolytes (especially sodium) they contain have concentrations similar to those in the human body. Generally, an isotonic drink contains 8% carbohydrates.
This maximizes the rate at which glucose (energy) is absorbed by the body. The purpose of these drinks is to restore water, sugars and salts lost during sports practice. [A Comprehensive Study on Sports and Energy Drinks]
Use : Isotonic drinks are recommended during medium and long distance running as well as in sports with a prolonged effort duration of more than 90 minutes and where dehydration and depletion of carbohydrate reserves can limit performance. [An Overview of Functional Beverages]
- Hypotonic drinks have osmolarities lower than 275 mOsm / kg water and contain only low levels of carbohydrates (sugars) and electrolytes (minerals, mainly sodium), lower than those in the human body. This low concentration of carbohydrates and sodium accelerates the body's absorption of water, maximizing rehydration . [Product development of new soft drinks and fruit juices]
Use : Hypotonic drinks provide hydration because they increase voluntary fluid intake. They are ideal for rapid rehydration , when the goal is hydration rather than providing large amounts of energy.
They can be taken by gymnasts who need liquid without carbohydrate intake or during sports practice (football for example) of less than an hour and of low to moderate intensity . [An Overview of Functional Beverages]
They should be your preferred option on prolonged endurance efforts like marathon running, long hikes in hot weather , when you need a drink to rehydrate quickly and effectively. [precisionhydration.com]
- Hypertonic drinks have osmolarities greater than 295 mOsm/kg water and contain higher levels of carbohydrates than the human body to replace those used during prolonged intense exercise and generally do not contain electrolytes. [An Overview of Functional Beverages]
Use: Hypertonic drinks should not be used to maintain hydration because the high amount of carbohydrates will slow gastric emptying and the absorption time of the drink in the intestine. These high-carb drinks are ideal for supplementing your daily carbohydrate intake .
They can be taken after training, as a recovery drink , to improve muscle energy reserves (glycogen) and during ultra-distance running. [An Overview of Functional Beverages]
Hydratis, a hypotonic or isotonic drink enriched with minerals and trace elements
Hydratis was designed with the objective of promoting a sufficient level of hydration at all times when our needs are increased, particularly in sport.
The flexibility and ease of use offered by Hydratis allow you to create a hypotonic or isotonic drink, enriched with mineral salts such as magnesium and potassium as well as trace elements such as zinc and manganese.
Potassium contributes to maintaining good cell hydration. Magnesium and potassium contribute to proper muscle functioning by reducing physical fatigue and preventing cramps. Zinc contributes to the proper functioning of the immune system and supports metabolism in times of mild dehydration. Manganese has antioxidant properties to fight against oxidative stress in cells. [The Hydratis formulation]
Hydratis offers you the possibility of using an isotonic or hypotonic drink depending on your needs: for an isotonic drink we advise you to put 2 tablets in a glass of water and for a hypotonic drink 1 tablet in a glass of water.
Hydratis does not contain any coloring or preservatives, it is a vegan and gluten-free product.
