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What is really in
your sports drink?
By Nina E Anderson
Last edited: Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Posted: Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Water is good rehydration. Water
with electrolytes is better. Water
with electrolytes and some
carbohydrates is good for energy,
but what else are they putting in
those drinks?
Water is good for rehydration. Water
with electrolytes is better. Water
with electrolytes and some
carbohydrates is good for energy,
but what else are they putting in
those drinks? You have to be a
dedicated label reader to know which
ingredients in a food or drink
product are beneficial to your body
and which are harmful. Many
ingredients in sports drinks come
with a warning of health hazards if
taken in quantity. Although one dose
of a suspected carcinogen (such as
an artificial dye) may not harm you,
repeated use through ingestion of
gallons of a sports drink may
eventually cause symptoms.
As described in the book Anaylzing
Sports Drinks, additives are
designed to improve nutritional
value, help with absorption, prevent
spoilage, maintain freshness, act as
a preservative, retard bacterial
growth, provide cohesiveness, extend
shelf life, enhance visual
appearance, or act as a sweetener.
Additives are not necessarily
approved by the FDA. But, if they
only affect a small percentage of
the population they can appear on
the GRAS list (Generally Regarded As
Safe) and allowed as an ingredient.
Hopefully, you are not one of those
statistical percentages that got
sick.
Used as a deicing fluid for
airplanes, propylene glycol is added
to food and skin products to
maintain texture and moisture as
well as inhibit bacteria growth in
the product. Propylene glycol has
shown measurable toxicity to human
cells in culture. It has been
reported to induce seizures in
epileptics and cardio-respiratory
arrest. Reports also claim it
inhibits the growth of the friendly
bacteria in your intestines and
decreases the amount of moisture in
the intestinal tract leading to
constipation and cancer. Another
chemical additive quite often found
in sports drinks is PEG
(polyethylene glycol). Warnings from
the MSDS labeling indicate that �if
swallowed, give water and get
medical assistance immediately.
Avoid all unnecessary exposure and
insure prompt removal from skin and
clothing.� Side effects are listed
as nausea, bloating, cramps,
vomiting, chills, and anal
irritation. It also may interfere
with drug effectiveness such as
blood thinners, birth control pills,
and anti-inflammatories.
Most people are aware of the toxic
side effects of artificial colors
and flavors from coal tar
derivatives such as Red #40, a
possible carcinogen, and Yellow #6,
which causes sensitivity to viruses
and has caused death to animals, yet
these are commonly used in sports
drinks. Cochineal extract or Carmine
Dye is a color additive used in
food, drinks such as cola,
cosmetics, and to dye fibers red. It
is made of the ground up female
cochineal bugs from Central and
South America. University of
Michigan allergist, James Baldwin,
M.D., confirmed cochineal extract
triggered life-threatening
anaphylactic shock in some people.
Aspartame is a very popular sugar
substitute, having very adverse
effects on the human body. Aspartame
comes with a list of potential side
effects with the most profound being
the possible detrimental effect on
the neurotransmitters in the brain.
Headaches are a common side effect
of aspartame (sometimes camouflaged
as phenylalanine on the label).
Other symptoms may be joint pain,
depression, anxiety attacks, slurred
speech, cramps, vertigo and
dizziness. Scientific studies
performed on aspartame to establish
its safety prior to FDA approval,
revealed brain tumors and grand mal
seizures in rats during the studies.
When exposed to heat, aspartame
breaks down into toxic methyl
alcohol.[5] This can occur during
hot summer temperatures inside
uncooled warehouses where diet
drinks are stored and drinking them
may cause recurrent headaches,
mental aberrations, seizures, and
suicidal tendencies.
Another new sweetener is Acesulfame
K. This is becoming more prevalent
in some sports drinks. Tests show
that the additive causes cancer in
animals, which means it may increase
cancer in humans.[6] Sucralose is a
newer artificial sweetener produced
by chlorinating sugar. Few human
studies have been conducted as to
the safety of this product but
results in animals show a negative
effect on the thymus gland, enlarged
liver and kidneys, decreased red
blood cell count, aborted pregnancy,
and diarrhea. Although the
manufacturer claims that sucralose
passes through the body unabsorbed,
tests reported from the Japanese
Food Sanitation Council show that 40
percent of ingested sucralose is
absorbed. Many sports drinks include
favorable ingredients such as
vitamins (C, B, D), herbs (stevia,
rhodiola) and other beneficial
ingredients such as antioxidants
(grape seed extract, pycnogenol,
rhododendron caucasicum, Co-enzyme
Q10). Safer sweeteners may be added
as carbohydrates and include
glucose, fructose, high fructose
corn syrup, sugar, maltodextrin, and
dextrose.
We recommend not using sports drinks
(or any drinks) containing these
substitutes. It is not easy to find
substitutes except plain water and
most of us can only tolerate so many
glasses before we crave something
with flavor. There is an
effervescent tablet on the market
that you can put in your water than
not only makes it taste great but
also gives you lots of electrolytes.
It does not have any of the
ingredients in it that compromise
health, using stevia and natural
lemon lime flavors.
-Excerpted from Analyzing Sports
Drinks, What�s Right for You,
Carbohydrate or Electrolyte
Replacement?
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