Many Different Beverages Can Help You Stay Hydrated

 

Much of the marketing of sports drinks focuses on their ability to keep you hydrated by replacing water and electrolytes lost through sweat.

Staying Hydrated

How much you sweat can vary based on many factors, including how long and intensely you exercise, your training level and your environment.

The rate of sweating in humans may range from about 10 fluid ounces/hour (0.3 liters/hour) to 81 fluid ounces/hour (2.4 liters/hour) (19Trusted Source).

What’s more, it’s recommended that athletes do not lose more than 2–3% of their body weight through sweat during exercise (10Trusted Source).

However, it’s debated whether sports drinks are more effective than water at keeping you hydrated.

Other Options to Stay Hydrated

One study compared 13 different beverages, including sports drinks and water, to see how well they hydrated the body (20Trusted Source).

Researchers provided 33.8 fluid ounces (1 liter) of each of these drinks and collected urine over the next several hours.

They found that milk, orange juice and an oral rehydration solution provided the highest amount of hydration.

Oral rehydration solutions are specifically designed to cause fluid retention and contain higher levels of sodium and potassium than a normal sports drink.

An interesting finding from this study was that there was no difference in the hydrating ability of water, sports drinks, tea and cola.

In fact, some beverages that are typically considered to be dehydrating, such as coffee and beer, hydrated the body about as much as water.

In fact, other research has indicated that coffee can help keep you hydrated, contrary to popular belief (21Trusted Source).

It’s important to note that most drinks can contribute to your daily fluid requirements and help keep you hydrated.

This doesn’t mean that you should drink cola or beer during exercise, but it demonstrates that a wide variety of beverages can provide hydration throughout the day.

Enjoying Your Drink

Another factor to consider is that your enjoyment of certain beverages could affect how much you drink.

Research has shown that the flavor of sports drinks causes athletes to drink more than if they were consuming water alone (22Trusted Source, 23Trusted Source).

As a result, drinks that taste better may be beneficial for increasing fluid consumption in those possibly at risk of dehydration.

Summary

While sports drinks may help keep you hydrated, many other beverages can too. Water and sports drinks provide a similar amount of hydration, although the flavor of sports drinks may cause some individuals to drink more.