The Valley heat can’t keep Arizonans from heading outside. Whether it’s for work, play or sport, many will endure the sun and likely become dehydrated.
When it comes to dehydration, the debate between sports drinks and regular water goes back for years.
Is it true that sports drinks like Gatorade and Powerade are better for re-hydration? For this, we asked Dr. Joshua Parker at Express ER in Texas.
"Gatorade and Powerade and the sports drinks have salt in them to replace what you lose while you're active and working outside,” he said.
That salt is important, because when you sweat, Parker says you lose salt and sugar. If your body’s salt or sugar levels get too low, it could be dangerous.
And although water is still the best method for hydrating overall, if you’ve been sweating and haven’t eaten, maybe grab a sports drink.
But even then you have options. Many sports drinks offer low-calorie options, but when should someone reach for those instead of a normal sports drink?
"For someone who's working out in an effort to do cardio and maybe lose weight, you maybe want to switch out to a G2 or Powerade Zero because there's less sugar,” Parker said.
Sports drinks can also provide a balance of water and other drinks, making it easier to avoid drinking too much water.
"You can [drink too much water]. You have to drink quite a lot of water for that to be a problem, but we do see that sometimes,” Parker said.
So do sports drinks truly help re-hydrate your body? We can go ahead and verify that is indeed the case.