Re: You know what really grinds my gears...
Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 2:24 amLootifer wrote:People who drink Powerade Zero.
Seriously I hate stupidity when it manifests itself in consumption of a pointless product.
[rant about how pointless powerade zero is]
Right!
The thing with powerade zero is it contains electrolytes, but no calories. On the surface that seems fine. Many products are like this. HOWEVER unlike coke zero or pepsi max or other zero calorie drinks powerade zero is marketed as a sports supplement; you dont see ads for coke zero on the wall of a gym.
Now marketing it as a sports supplement is fine; free market and all that. But my problem is people consuming it as a sport supplment. These people are flat out fucking retarded. They should have their voting rights disabled as they have quite clearly shown the inability to critically think. Let me explain why.
Electrolyte sports supplments are very useful things. In fact many coaches and sports nutritionists will actively tell their athletes to consume them. The reason is they work: during hard exercise your body depletes many things, two of which are energy and electrolytes (basically salts). Within 20 minutes of exercise your body is going to want these things, in fact our bodies have been created or evolved to have the ability to absorb these things at a much quicker rate than we normally would stright after exercise - by doing so we are also assisting the training process (i.e. building muscle/improving CV system etc).
Now there are two types of exercisers: those who work hard, and those who turn up to the gym and do f*ck all*. Only those who work hard actually need to drink powerade or any other sports drink; those who do f*ck all dont because they dont deplete their electrolyte or energy levels in any meaningful way. Powerade Zero is useless to both these types (but is aimed at both). The first group would be shooting themselves in the foot by drinking powerade zero because they need the glycogen injection into their muscles - regardless of motivation (weight loss/fitness/whatever) you dont really want to neglect this as it will hurt your progress - in fact the energy top up is more important than the electrolyte top up. The second group should just be drinking water; they do not need the electrolytes; in fact if they want something other than water drink coke zero or some other low-cal fizzy drink: it usually tastes better (I dont drink either, but generally speaking).
TL;DR: There is no one who needs to drink powerade zero for sporting purposes. Thus anyone who does is a fucking toolface moron.
[/rant about how pointless powerade zero is]
* I am being unfairly harsh on casual or low-pain exercisers: dont get me wrong, I like what you are doing and encourage you to keep doing it; but just think: If you could get another wear out of your gym gear at a push (you wouldnt of course, but its not dripping in sweat) then you dont need to drink powerade.
Actually, Powerade/Gatorade/sports drinks (anything that tries to sell you "electrolytes") are pretty much modern day snake oil and are a waste of money unless you're a marathon runner or strenuously exercise more than 6 hours.
From my a&p book:
Unfounded notions and rumors about water and salt requirements during exercise abound. Sweat is a hypotonic solution that contains Na+ in lower concentration than the ECF [extracellular fluid]. As a result, a person who is sweating profusely loses more water than salt, and this loss leads to a rise in the Na+ concentration of the ECF. The water content of the ECF decreases as the water loss occurs, so blood volume drops. Clinically, this condition is called volume depletion. Because volume depletion occurs at the same time that blood is being shunted away from the kidneys, kidney function is impaired and waste products accumulate in the blood.
To prevent volume depletion, exercising athletes should drink liquids at regular intervals. The primary problem in volume depletion is water loss, and research has revealed no basis for the rumor that cramps will result if you drink while exercising. Salt pills and the various sports beverages that claim "faster absorption" and "better electrolyte balance" have no apparent benefits. Body reserves of electrolytes are sufficient to tolerate extended periods of strenuous activity, and problems with Na+ balance are extremely unlikely except during marathons or other activities that involve maximal exertion for more than six hours. However, both volume depletion (causing acute renal failure) and water intoxication (causing fatal hyponatremia [low sodium concentration in serum]) have occurred in marathon runners.
Some sports beverages contain sugars and vitamins as well as electrolytes. During endurance events, solutions containing less than 10 g/dL of glucose may improve one's performance if consumed late in the event, when metabolic reserves are exhausted. However, high sugar concentrations (above 10 g/dL) can cause cramps, diarrhea, and other problems. The benefit of "glucose polymers" (often cornstarch) in sports drinks has yet to be proved. Drinking beverages "fortified" with vitamins is actively discouraged: Vitamins are not lost during exercise, and the consumption of these beverages in large volumes could, over time, cause hypervitaminosis.
-Frederic H. Martini, Ph.D., Judi L Nath, Ph.D., Edwin F. Bartholomew, M.S.
-TG