Q: How much fluid does your body really need a day?
A: What is remarkable is the variability in fluid needs based on our diet (many foods, in particular fruits and vegetables, contain a lot of water) and individual physiological needs. The Institute of Medicine, for instance, says that a normal adult male and female with an average intake of food needs about 100 and 73 fluid ounces, respectively.
Q: Which is better for the average person during exercise — water or sports drinks?
A: Water. Only a marathon runner or very long duration athlete needs sports drinks. For the non-long-distance runner or biker, they provide calories and no other benefits over water.
Q: At what point do calories in sports beverages work against what you burn with exercise?
A: It is very hard to burn enough calories to offset a 60- to 120-calorie beverage. You need 15 minutes of swimming, 10 minutes of running or 30 minutes of walking for a 165-pound person. Someone who weighs 120 pounds needs 45 minutes of walking or 20 minutes of running.
Q: Have the beverage choices people make gotten better or worse during the past decade?
A: They have gotten worse. In the last 10 years in America, people have upped by 21 ounces the amount of fluids we consume, and they've all been caloric. That's 100 or 200 more calories per day, but we have essentially consumed the same amount of water since 1988 and are no more active.
Q: What about sports drinks for children?
A: Absolutely not. In the 1950s, we used to think we needed to give kids salt pills in the summer, but we have so few children who are outside being physically active for eight or 12 hours a day that it's not an issue anymore. Kids don't have that need except if they are in extreme heat, in extreme sun, being physically active all the time, and that's pretty rare. With the processed foods-rich diets that kids consume, there is excessive salt in their diet.
Steve - Mr. Popkin has given us some great advice and words to live by, especially for kids.
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