Your Questions Answered - Do I Need a Sports Drink During Exercise?

Q: Should I drink a sports drink during exercise?

A: Maybe. Intense, continuous exercise lasting longer than one hour requires refueling from foods and/or fluid (e.g. sports drinks). Per hour, the body burns up about 30 - 60 grams of carbohydrates -- sports drinks can deliver easy to digest carbohydrates to sustain intense exercise.

Or if you rather stick with water and add some carbs with food - look for quick digesting carbs like: 1/4 cup raisins (30 grams carbs), 1 package Honey Stinger energy chews (29 grams carbs), 12 Rold Gold Honey Wheat Pretzel Sticks (33 grams of carbs) or 1 medium banana (27 grams carbs).

Another time that can make a sports drink worth your while is when exercise is less than 60 minutes and is in extreme heat or if there are multiple training sessions or games in a day (e.g. tournaments). Otherwise, water will do the job!

When it comes to what you're drinking, how much your are drinking is as important as what you are drinking -- plan to sip fluids throughout your workout to stay hydrated, here are some general guidelines to follow:

Start your workouts hydrated, sip on mostly water throughout the day and monitor your urine, the gal: have pale lemonade color urine. During exercise, children and teens: have 4 - 6 ounces of fluid every 15 - 20 minutes during exercise; adults have 6 - 8 ounces of fluid every 15 - 20 minutes during exercise. After: refuel with 16-24 ounces of water for each pound of weight (aka sweat) lost!

Keep active!

Another Reason to Skip Diet Drinks

Drinking diet soda is linked to depression? And drinking coffee may keep you happier? Yes, according the results from a National Institutes of Health study. The study evaluated beverage consumption (teas, fruit punch, soda, diet teas, coffee...) of over 264,000 adults (ages 50 to 71) from 1995-1996. The researchers then went back to that same group ten years later to ask about how many had been diagnosed with depression? The answer: 11,311 had been diagnosed.

What was striking about the results is: Those who had 4 or more sodas per day were 30-percent more likely to have depression. Those who had 4 or more cans of fruit punch per day were 36-percent more likely to develop depression. The biggest risk of depression was among those drinking diet soda, diet teas or other artificially sweetened beverages. Those that had 4 or more cups of coffee per day had a 10-percent lower risk of developing depression.

The bottom-line: replace sugary and artificially sweetened drinkings with unsweetened options like:
- water
- plain coffee or tea
- decaf herbal teas
- water
- mineral water
- seltzer water

The results of the study will be officially presented in March 2013 at the American Academy of Neurology's annual meeting.

Eat, Drink, and Still Shrink

The rush of the holidays has ended, yet there are more parties around the bend, first up... Super Bowl! Then onto Valentines Day, St. Patrick's Day, and the list goes on. Try these strategies to allow yourself to eat, drink, and still shrink!

• Snack first: Going to a party hungry can wind up being a recipe for disaster, before heading out, grab a quick snack. Aim for about 200 calories or less. Quick ideas: a cup of low fat Greek yogurt, an apple and piece of 50% reduced fat cheddar cheese, or a fruit and nut bar.
  



• Game Plan: Upon arriving at the party, check out the food line-up and create a game plan. Where do you want to spend your calories? If you're a sweet lover, take it easy on the appetizers and save some wiggle room to enjoy a dessert or two!




• Balance: If you're planning the party when preparing your menu, think about balance. A mix of splurge items with plenty of lighter options too like: fruit kabobs, hummus and fresh vegetables, a roasted vegetable platter, or mini cups of trail mix.




• Water: After each alcohol containing drink, have a glass of water. This will help to keep you hydrated and lessen the number of drinks you have. Or better yet, volunteer to be the designated driver!

Refreshing Summer Drinks

On average Americans swallow down over a 5-pound bag worth of sugar per month! That breaks down to about 23 teaspoons of sugar per day. A majority of sugar intake comes from what we drink. Here is a watch out: a 16-ounce sweetened iced tea has about 16 teaspoons of sugar!

Shake up what you're sipping on this summer with these refreshing options:

1. Unsweetened Tea: Sip on green tea, passion tea, or ginger peach tea instead of sugar heavy weights. When grocery shopping look for unsweetened bottled teas and for at home made a pitcher of your favorite type to keep on hand.


2. Mineral Water: A personal favorite type of mineral water is Gerolsteiner. Look for mineral water varieties that have fresh flavors added like lemon, lime, or other citrus fruits. Mineral water offers light carbonation without any added calories. Look for these on restaurant menus and in the grocery store too!

3. Add Fresh Flavor: What do cucumber, lemon, lime, raspberries, and strawberries have in common? They all can add refreshing fresh flavors to a glass of water without adding virtually any calories. Keep an assortment on hand and it is a perfect solution for effortless entertaining.

4. 120 or less: Help your waist line with light drink options like: red wine, white wine, champagne, light beer, or vodka & club soda... all weighing in at 120 calories or less.




Check out a segment that I did this week on the 10! Show in Philadelphia:

View more videos at: http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/?__source=embedCode.

NEW TODAY! 2010 Dietary Guidelines!

The long awaited 2010 Dietary Guidelines were released today! Here is a re-cap of the key messages:
1. Balancing Calories:
- Enjoy your food, but eat less.
- Avoid oversized portions.

2. Foods to Increase:
- Make half your plate fruits and vegetables.
- Switch to fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk.

3. Foods to Reduce:
- Compare sodium in foods like soup, breads, and frozen meals - and choose the foods with lower numbers.
- Drink water instead of sugary drinks.

Take a look at the above list and figure out what areas you need to focus on! While these steps sounds very simple, they are totally effective ways to boost your health. Interesting that the key changes didn't include exercise... don't forget to keep (or get) moving too!!

The SIGG Water Bottle Controversy

I am a huge proponent of taking a water bottle with you on road trips, around town, shopping, etc... it's a perfect way to stay well hydrated. If you're tired of plain old water, add a splash of lemon juice for a flavor boost.

Now, typically I would suggest to purchase a eco-friendly bottle like a SIGG Water Bottle. Come to find out, if you bought a SIGG prior to August 2008, the bottles liner contained a liner, which had BPA! EUGH! Good news, if yours was purchase after August 2008, the company claims that they are BPA-free. Lucky for me I purchased mine after August 2008 but if you didn't... upgrade to a newer BPA-free version! OR Swap to a Nalgene which are now BPA-free.

For more information on the SIGG Water Bottle Controvesry: http://www.shape.com/health/your_health/preventive_strategies/the_sigg_water_bottle_controversy

Staying Hydrated & My Favorite Water Bottle

Don't wait until you are thirsty to drink! Why? By the time your body signals thirst you are already about 1% dehydrated. That may not sound like a big deal but if you're an athlete it is! In fact, by the time you are just 2% dehydrated your performance can decline by 15% OR MORE! So, drink fluids (mostly water) throughout the day! Click here to check out my favorite type of water bottles!